Pip Hills explains how his Scotch Whisky Directory can help you improve your tasting skills
There can be no doubt that science is a big improvement on astrology, necromancy and reading tealeaves as a way of predicting the future. It has its limitations, though, and is a victim of its own success when it comes to the big picture.
A century ago Jules Verne and H G Wells could predict flying...
Whisky Tasting
from Issue 52 published on 30/11/2005
Pip Hills has compiled a directory comparing the taste profile of some leading malts and blends – and has reached some startling conclusions. Here he explains
If your only source of information was the pages of this magazine, you might think that most folk who drink whisky drink malts, not blended whiskies. If your source was overheard conversations, you would get the same message.
It’s not uncommon to hear people in upmarket bars comparing malts, but it...
Whisky Trends
from Issue 45 published on 21/1/2005
Just exactly how doyou pronounce the name of that whisky you’re so keen on? Pip Hills guides you through some Gaelic, Scots and Nordic basics
For some years now, I have been getting a curious sort of phone call. It usually comes from overseas and it generally takes the same form. There is a few minutes’ chat, and then we get around to the real purpose of the call: a whisky is mentioned and my caller will ask if he or she has got the pronu...
Whisky Pronunciation
from Issue 30 published on 7/4/2003
Pip Hills looks at who owns what in the world of whisky
A friend of mine, who teaches economics at a university, tells me that he often uses the Scotch whisky industry as an example of what he calls the post-modern economy. I don’t much like the description, which smacks of daft literary theory, but I take his point. The ownership of Scotch whisky exhib...
Distillery Focus
from Issue 29 published on 24/3/2003
Pip Hills penetrates the smokescreen surrounding the complexities of tasting, flavour and how to describe them in a way we can all understand …
Let’s begin by looking at wine. These days, lots of supermarket bottles carry a detailed description of the flavour of the wine on a back label. You may have noticed that the taste of the wine seldom, if ever, resembles this elegant description. When that happens, there are two possibilities: either...
Whisky Tasting
from Issue 20 published on 16/12/2001
Pip Hills, author of Appreciating whisky, elucidates on the subject of tasting whisky- a seemingly simple exercise that requires a wee bit of thought before being fully appreciated.
The editor has asked me to write a few words on taste and tasting. It’s a big subject and the basics have been well covered elsewhere, so I will restrict myself to a few topics which I think may be of interest. They are of interest to me, anyway, and hopefully will be to those of you who have progre...
Whisky Tasting
from Issue 16 published on 16/6/2001
the final instalment of Philip Hills' abridged extract from his fascinatin new book Appreciating Whisky.
The chemistry of maturation is a pretty tough subject which, if you don’t already know a lot of chemistry, will require a good many years of study. However, there are certain basic things which happen to alcohol which you ought to know about and can be outlined fairly briefly.
Aldehydes
When an alc...
Whisky Tasting
from Issue 13 published on 16/12/2000
Philip Hills writes an introduction to the first part of an abridged extract from his fascinatin new book Appreciating whisky
The great Doctor Johnson once said that no man but a blockhead ever wrote - except for money. I take it as a compliment that the editor should think I may be one of the blockheads, since he has asked me to explain why I wrote Appreciating Whisky. I suppose it's obvious that money was not uppermost...
Whisky Tasting
from Issue 12 published on 16/11/2000
