Contents
p5
The best way to sell booze is, in my opinion, to let people try it. However, because of the potency of our chosen spirit, sampling needs to take place under controlled circumstances. And let’s not for...
By Mairi MacDonald in the section
From the Editor
p7
Michael Jackson reports from the centre of the universe
Jumping Joe Danno’s last voicemail contained four worrying words: “Retirement home” and “Las Vegas”. He sounded uncharacteristically anxious, and that seemed to have made the machine nervous. It chewe...
By Michael Jackson in the section
Musings with Michael Jackson
p8
Dave Broom considers the reasons for whisky's lack of popularity among young people in norhern Europe, and what should be done about it
It was in Jerez where it was brought home to me. We’d been out for a meal and a few bottles of fino had been dispatched, leading us on to a nightcap … or three, which is how I came to be standing in a...
By Dave Broom in the section
A dram with Dave Broom
p14
John Morton recounts his experience on the Royal Mile.
The courtyard of Edinburgh’s City Chambers seemed like a sanctuary amidst the sea of madness that is The Royal Mile in August. I climbed the grand staircase up to the the inaugural Whisky Fringe, whic...
By John Morton in the section
Whisky launches
p18
Martine Nouet shares her impressions of three rare 1964 Bowmore releases
Bowmore is taking a step back in time with the release of its last remaining casks filled in 1964, a year made legendary by the success of Black Bowmore, now a big auction hit. The initial launch of t...
By Martine Nouet in the section
Whisky launches
p18
Jefferson Chase explains how you can't take the whisley out of country-and-western
To say that whiskey has influenced country-and-western is like saying that Catholicism influences the Pope. The list of country-and-western
drinking songs runs from Cigareets, Whusky and Wild, Wild Wo...
By Jefferson Chase in the section
Whisky Days Out
p22
Marcin Miller visits Colin Scott, Master Blender at Chiva Brothers to learn about the subtle art of alchemy
Let’s avoid the stuff you all know about already. The stuff about blending being the backbone of the industry, that blending accounts for up to 95% (estimates vary) of total whisky sales and so on. Yo...
By Marcin Miller in the section
Whisky Production
p28
Gavin. D. Smith examines the legacy of the philanthropic Andrew Usher and sons, blending pineers
On 23rd August of this year, 22 of Scotland’s leading whisky blenders assembled at Kyndal’s Glasgow headquarters, each bearing a sample of specially blended 16-year-old whisky. The samples were duly v...
By Gavin D. Smith in the section
Whisky Production
p34
Dave Broom and company survived a hike up the Paps of Jra to tell the tale. Just
Sheltering from the rain and the wind in the doorway at 7am, I was already wondering if this was such a great idea. The storm had been blowing for most of the previous two days, the wind had groaned a...
By Dave Broom in the section
Whisky Travel
p38
Martin Isark uncovers the conspiract: whisky does in fact evolve in the bottle, not just the barrel
It happens all the time. Suddenly, new information on food, health, exercise –whatever – confounds all our long-held beliefs, making it necessary to readjust. And it’s happened with whisky. For decad...
By Martin Isark in the section
Whisky Production
p44
Bunnahabhain is the foil to Islay's claymore, finds Ian Buxton
I once threw my dinner in the sea at Bunnahabhain. Staying at the distillery, I befriended some local fishermen and swapped the contents of their creel (two fine edible crabs) for luxury shortbread.
...
By Ian Buxton in the section
Distillery Focus
p48
Ian Wisniewski looks into that vital ingredient in whisky production so often overlooked-barley
The main talking point is always a distillery’s water source, with the influence of the stills, peating levels and wood policy more recent additions to the debate. But what about barley, which seems t...
By Ian Wisniewski in the section
Whisky Production
p52
Martine Nouet introduces two superb whisky recipes courtesy of innovators from the famous grouse experience and trhe Macallan
Continuing with our mouthwatering tour of distillery restaurants and catering, hungry visitors will not regret calling in at Glenturret Distillery, near Crieff. The distillery has undergone a few chan...
By Martine Nouet in the section
Whisky and Food
p61
Jefferson Chase looks at a female writer and renowned wit not scared of a drop of more of the hard stuff: Dorothy Parker
The pantheon of female whisky writers isn’t large, a fact attributable less to Y chromosomes than to socialisation. Dorothy Parker is the witty
exception. Born in 1893 in New Jersey to Scottish-Jewish...
By Jefferson Chase in the section
Whisky Literature
p82
John Haydock id rather sharply reminded of hid 'contractual obligations' to whisky Magazine
From P. T. Ale, The Archiestown Office of Messrs Sparge,
Badger & Joe:
Dear Mr Haydock,
Further to our earlier conversations, it is with regret that I must write to you to remind you of your strict o...
By John Haydock in the section
An acidic finish
