Contents
p5
Another fascinating 12 months in the world of whisky, then. The trend for small independents buying distilleries from large multinationals goes on. Announcements of new smaller-scale distilling projec...
By Marcin Miller in the section
The Miller's Tale
p7
Michael Jackson fulfils a fantasy
Like most small boys, I wanted to be a big man. Specifically, I wanted to be a big man called Dave Valentine. Why didn’t they pick him for England? “Because he is Scottish,” explained my Dad.
At eigh...
By Michael Jackson in the section
Musings with Michael Jackson
p8
Tequila, Italian death drinks, replica pubs and bad country and western …
Dave Broom discovers the surreal side of Japan
Do you eat many potatoes in Scotlando?” As a conversation opener it was up there with the very best. The fact that it came from a geiko who had just christened me Antonio and was now ordering a round...
By Dave Broom in the section
A dram with Dave Broom
p17
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 descripti...
By Pip Hills in the section
Distillery Focus
p20
Whisky Live Japan goes from strength to strength and is getting weirder as it does so. Marcin Miller mixes it with Tokyo’s finest
A good cocktail is all in the shaking, as one Tokyo bar owner took great delight in explaining to me during my recent visit to Japan.
Exactly the same ingredients, shaken in the same quantities but i...
By Marcin Miller in the section
Whisky Events
p24
The Kentucky Bourbon Festival is one of the year’s whiskey highlights. Damian Riley-Smith brought back a suitcase full of fond memories
The rollercoaster ride that is the Kentucky Bourbon Festival more than met expectations yet again. Kentucky, often mistakenly left off the US
tourist map, is the heartland of hospitality, subtle beaut...
By Damian Riley-Smith in the section
Whisky Events
p26
The market for whisky in India is huge. Tom Bruce-Gardyne examines its colourful, unconventional nature
Thank God for Spain!” was a cry that echoed round the boardrooms of the great whisky corporations in the 1990s. With the American market in fullscale retreat, dropping by six million cases that decade...
By Tom Bruce-Gardyne in the section
Indian Whisky
p30
Dr John Teeling is teetotal, he runs on caffeine, and he’s making waves in the world of Irish whiskey. Peter Mulryan talks to the man behind the company
Depending on which part of the whiskey industry you work in, time is either your friend or your enemy. To a master blender, it’s a decade before some whiskeys start to get interesting, on the other h...
By Peter Mulryan in the section
Irish Whiskey
p34. 35
James Bond is drinking whisky again. More specifically, he’s drinking Talisker – and the relationship is benefiting both of them. Dominic Roskrow reports
The bar’s crowded and noisy when Bond enters, but he is noticed immediately. He is dressed perfectly, tux and bowtie spotless, hair groomed
to perfection.
His target – in more ways than one – is at t...
By Dominic Roskrow in the section
Whisky and Film
p38
Gavin D. Smith takes a look at the by-products of whisky-making, and where they end up
As whisky consumers, we give a great deal of thought to what goes into our drink, but very little thought to what does not. Yet were it not for effective management of the by-products of distilling, t...
By Gavin D. Smith in the section
Whisky and the environment
p44
Rare and delicious whiskies are just waiting to be discovered
Whisky Live 2003 runs on 7th and 8th March at the Royal Horticultural Halls, London SW1, and is the United Kingdom’s premier whisky tasting event. Organised by Whisky Magazine, last year it attracted ...
By Brigid James in the section
Whisky Live
p47
Jefferson Chase on a sharp-penned Canadian who both writes and drinks whisky – Mordecai Richler
In 1899 a man named Robert Barr wrote an essay arguing that Canadians couldn’t write literature because they drank too much whisky. Ninety-nine years later, Jewish-Canadian author Mordecai Richler pub...
By Jefferson Chase in the section
Whisky Literature
p49
Martine Nouet argues that one of the advantages of bad weather is that you can drink strong spirits to keep out the cold
Eveybody fights the rigours of winter in their own manner. Modern conveniences have spoilt us with houses that are (too) well-heated. But think of the old times when peat or log fires were the only wa...
By Martine Nouet in the section
Whisky Cocktails
p58
Peter Mulryan looks at the increasingly rare art of triple distillation
The theory is simple. You put your wash into a pot still and gently turn up the heat. Alcohol boils at a lower temperature than water, so it’s the first to evaporate. This liquid is collected and the ...
By Peter Mulryan in the section
Whisky Production
p82
In Issue 27, Martin Isark argued that whisky aged in the bottle. His views have provoked a storm of opposition. Here Peter Wood makes the case against Isark’s theory
So, Martin Isark has uncovered an industry conspiracy to conceal from us drinkers the fact that our malt changes in the bottle? He is in good company, if a little late in the piece, for back in 1967, ...
By Peter Woods in the section
Whisky Production
