This issue BBC Radio London DJ and all-rounder Nigel Barden looks at cocktails
Polly’s Special, Blood and Sand, The Vibrators, Rattlesnake, Casanova, Gloom Lifter and Zig Zig Sputnik. I know you’ve spotted it; a list of whisky based cocktails with a couple of 1980s rock bands thrown in for good measure.
If you did spot the cuckoos in the whisky nest, Zig Zig Sputnik and The V...
By Nigel Barden
from Issue 46 published on 10/3/2005
‘Ritchie Blackmore’ steps up to the mark at the last minute and gives his view of the world
It’s Christmas here and I’m not happy. Yes, I’m well aware that by the time you read this the festive season will be a long forgotten memory and if you happen to be reading this in America, you’re
well on your way to the next holiday season.
But try and picture the scene. I’m at home minding my own...
By Ritchie Blackmore
from Issue 45 published on 21/1/2005
Guest writer Andrew Jefford smokes out the truth on the issue of peat in whisky
When I was a lad, I used to look at the books on my parents’ shelves with a sense of wonder. I loved both reading and writing; books were the unhidden treasure of my childhood. The desire to write one, naturally, became an ambition.
There was only one problem. How would I ever know enough? The proc...
By Andrew Jefford
from Issue 44 published on 25/11/2004
In the latest in our series of pieces from guest writers, John Haydock– the master – is back
Readers of Whisky Magazine will be delighted to learn that my recuperation from the trauma of my ‘Quite Possibly the 10 Best Malt Whiskies in the World’ masterclass at the inaugural Baghdad Whisky Live (“well,” as my old industry chum Rupert mused, “you have to admire them for their chutzpah”) is al...
By John Haydock
from Issue 43 published on 23/10/2004
This month’s guest writer is market analyst Tom Stinson
At Manchester Piccadilly railway station they have turned the area outside platform 13 and 14 in to what they laughingly describe as a lounge.
The concrete and glass area has been fitted with seats and some thigh high sloping metal bars which you’re meant to lean on. There’s a Costa Coffee and a WH...
By Tom Stinson
from Issue 42 published on 3/9/2004
American writer Terry Sullivan is the latest guest journalist to grace our pages. And he has some pretty cool industry insiders as contacts…
We number among our faithful readers some of the finest whisky makers,connoisseurs and spirits industry executives in the world. Luckily, we also number among our readers a few humbler folk—those who sweep up and empty the trash bins in the offices of those very executives.
Herewith, some new prod...
By Terry Sullivan
from Issue 41 published on 16/7/2004
We have invited four of the best drinks writers to take it in turn to write for us. First up, award-winning journalist Andrew Jefford argues that whisky is a matter of tastes
It’s never comfortable to be a heretic. Agreed, I’m not going to be burned at the stake, disembowelled or thrown into Laphroaig’s lauter tun for my apostasy, but even self-exclusion is a lonely business. To ease the burden, I’m going to tell all. For the best Socratic reasons: if we don’t ask questi...
By Andrew Jefford
from Issue 40 published on 4/6/2004
Dominic Roskrow argues that we should act now to beat the censorship lobby
The highlight of Whisky Live for me came at the end of the masterclass by The Easy Drinking Whisky Company. The trio, fronted by former Macallan maestro David Robertson, had been mixing Scotch with all sorts of strange things, including bourbons. It was brave stuff.
They admitted later that they ha...
By Dominic Roskrow
from Issue 39 published on 1/5/2004
The last three months of 2003 were as lively as it ever gets in the sedate world of whisky.
Dominic Roskrowlooks at how whisky seemed to get everywhere for a while
I bet there are loads of people who enjoyed seeing Diageo turn green last month. And what a strange end to 2003! After nine months of living in a bubble the whisky world started doing a good impression of a London bus route; no big whisky stories for ages and then three come along at once.
Cardhu w...
By Dominic Roskrow
from Issue 37 published on 23/2/2004
Editor Dominic Roskrow celebrates the end of his first year by getting his own column
At long last, here it is – my very own column. By the time you see it, it will be completely decorated with words and sentences. Right now, though, it’s all gleaming and new, and this paragraph is, metaphorically speaking, the first splash of paint in the top left hand corner.
I know it’s not very ...
By Dominic Roskrow
from Issue 36 published on 28/12/2003
John Haydock, Whisky Magazine's new columnist, hops aboard the "tasting-note gravy train" to join his whisky writing chums on a rather profitable journey.
For whatever reason I’ve never managed to embark the tasting-note gravy train that so many of my eminent whisky-writing colleagues manage to ride so prosperously on. I know it’s not easy – spending all your waking hours tasting the contents of parcels of whisky that are sent gratis to your door by f...
By John Haydock
from Issue 16 published on 16/6/2001
The story so far: Kevin accidentally stole a lorryload of Glenweenvil, and had to hide it at the distillery. The stolen whisky was passed off by Ruth as a newly-discovered stash of pre-war Glenweevil. After suitable doctoring withother malots it was sold as Glenweevil Limited Releaese. Kevin was subsequently arrested by Sergeant Maclean, and his release has been engineered by Ruth. Now read on...
Andrew here. Young Kevin slouched into my office this morning. I observed that there was no need for him to knock, but I fear the comment was wasted on him.
‘You’re pleased to be out, I daresay,’ I said, referring to his recent period as a guest of Sergeant MacLean at the station. He kicked the fil...
By Andrew Mcvie
from Issue 5 published on 4/8/1999
The story so far: Kevin has been arrested for the theft of a lorryload of Glenweevil. The stolen whisky was passed off by Ruth as a newly-discovered stash of pre-war Glenweevil. After suitable doctoring withother brands it was sold as Glenweevil Limited Release. Kevin's arrest by Sergeant Maclean, however, threatens Andrew with disgrace. Now read on.
Andrew here. Ruth came to work today in a black leather ensemble I don’t remember having seen before. I said, ‘Look, Ruth, about Kevin –’
‘Sergeant MacLean is incorruptible,’ she said. ‘He’s also allergic to prawns.’
‘Rather a non-sequitur, if I may say so.’
‘It’s nothing of the sort. Honestly, A...
By
from Issue 4 published on 13/6/1999
The story so far at our fictional distillery: the theft of a lorryload of Glenweevil was closely followed by the discovery by Ruth of several casks of (allegedly) pre-war Glenweevil in an old warehouse. The distillery's new owners are thrilled with the 'Limited Release' Glenweevil. Only Kevin is unhappy. Now read on...
Andrew here. Your Company Personality of the Year. How about that? There I am in the company magazine, smiling away, with a glass of our new whisky. The caption says, ‘Andrew McVie, recently promoted to Team Leader of five distilleries ranging from the Orkneys to the Lowlands by way of the Islands, ...
By Andrew Mcvie
from Issue 3 published on 13/5/1999
The story so far at our fictional distillery: under the new ownership Andrew had to reapply for his own job. Ruth has informed Andrew of the discovery of several casks of pre-war whisky in an old cellar at the distillery. Earlier; a lorryload of Glenweevil was stolen. Now read on...
Andrew here. Or ‘Andy’, as our new English owners apparently prefer to call me. ‘Hi, Andy,’ said this slip of a girl, arriving from the airport with the rest of them. ‘Remember me? I’m Virginia. You’ve forgotten, haven’t you? I was a distillery guide, you can’t have forgotten me. Three years ago, w...
By Andrew Mcvie
from Issue 2 published on 16/3/1999
To prove that Whisky magazine has its ear well and truly to the ground, we would like to introduce our fly-on-the-wall, worm's-eye-view of the Scotch whisky industry. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental as, indeed, is any resemblance to the Scotch whisky industry.
Let me introduce myself. I’m Andrew McVie. Or McCV, as the manager of our visitor centre, Ruth, so wittily put it this morning. ‘Don’t remind me,’ I said.
She said, ‘I will remind you. You have a pack of English, our new owners, landing at the airport in half an hour, and have you reapplied for you...
By Andrew Mcvie
from Issue 1 published on 12/1/1999
