Contents
p5
As I write, the football season in the UK has just come to a close. Which prompts me to ask a question. Is Highland Distillers to whisky what
Manchester United are to European football’s Champions Lea...
By Marcin Miller in the section
From the Editor
p11
Now expose your palms and check for salt, romance or poetry, says Michael Jackson
In one of my several lives, I was briefly acquainted with Clive Barnes, who was at the time senior drama critic of The New York Times. As the only ‘serious’ broadsheet in New York, The Times thrust up...
By Michael Jackson in the section
Musings with Michael Jackson
p12
Dave Broomembraces a rock ’n’ roll lifestyle in Speyside’s hippest town
Things were going well. The VIP room was suitably dim – indeed it seemed to be suffused with that strange orange light last seen in the freak-out sections of 1960s films.
I was holding, pinkie raised...
By Dave Broom in the section
A dram with Dave Broom
p21
Whisky Magazine is to launch a new feature next issue – but we need your help. Dominic
Roskrow explains
Is it about nosing serious drams in masterclasses? Does it mean St Patrick’s celebrations, Hogmanay and the Kentucky Derby? Perhaps it’s Guns N’ Roses, Mick and Keef, Willie Nelson or Richard Harris?...
By Dominic Roskrow in the section
World of whisky
p22
The Speyside Festival was both a blur of activity and a civilised and leisurely jaunt through the heart of the whisky world. Dominic Roskrow reports
Over the years, there have been many occasions where I’ve looked around me and asked ‘how on earth did I get here?’
Admittedly, most of them have involved alcohol, strange floors and couches, and in ...
By Dominic Roskrow in the section
Speyside
p24
Did Whisky Magazine’s secret agent really feel like a VIP on The Macallan’s special tour?
On more than one occasion in this column, I’ve aired my theory that too many distillery tours are too similar. With growing interest and knowledge, especially in malt finishes and ages, it’s time to g...
By Secret Agent in the section
Whisky Travel
p26
The Road Hole Bar in the Old Course Hotel, St Andrews, carries a bottle of single malt from every Scottish distillery, as Brigid James discovered
The Old Course Hotel is home to world-renowned golf courses, such as the eponymous Old Course, and accommodates high-profile guests, from Tiger Woods to Hugh Grant. The Road Hole Bar is located within...
By Brigid James in the section
Whisky Travel
p28
Brian Cox appears in two of the summer’s biggest blockbuster films. He spoke to Vivien Devlin about his love of Scotland and Scotch
By 1995, with his 50th birthday approaching like a grey cloud over the horizon, Brian Cox had quickly come to realise that he had reached the
pinnacle of his acting career in Britain.
By then he alre...
By Vivien Devlin in the section
Whisky Interview
p32
Lynn Seldon charts the history and success of a bourbon made beyond Kentucky:
Virginia Gentleman
Those who think Kentucky has a monopoly on bourbon whiskey in the United States haven’t talked to the descendants of Abram Smith Bowman – or tried his bourbon. Founded in 1935 by Bowman and his two so...
By Lynn Seldon in the section
American Whiskey
p36
Whisky with food is becoming increasingly popular. Dominic Roskrowgets a taste for it
If ever there were a meeting of cultures, it came a few years back at Britain’s most famous horse race, The Grand National. We had been taken on a luxury train to Liverpool by the sponsors Martell, ha...
By Dominic Roskrow in the section
Whisky Events
p40
Martine Nouet finds good use for the harvests of summer, combined with whisky
We are all looking forward to the holiday season to unwind and relax. If you are as restless as I am, and love being busy as a bee, follow me
into the kitchen. Harvest time has come. Let’s make the be...
By Martine Nouet in the section
Whisky and Food
p44
M. F. Jamesonlooks into the past, present and future of Tasmanian whisky production
In a far-away seaport, buffeted by polar winds and dotted with Georgian architecture, barrels of single malt lie slowly maturing. The whisky rests in a bonded store near the ruins of a longabandoned d...
By M. F. Jameson in the section
New World Whisky
p48
Singer and whisky lover Robin Laing was fascinated to discover that New Zealand has a long whisky-making tradition when he toured there recently. Here he tells its story
Afew months ago I was touring New Zealand and found myself becoming captivated by the story of New Zealand whisky – ‘New Zealand what?’ Aye, that’s right – Kiwi cratur!
But The South Island is probab...
By Robin Laing in the section
New World Whisky
p51
Peter Mulryan talks to Dave Phelan and Pat Rigney, the men who broke the mould producing a charcoal-mellowed Irish whiskey, Clontarf
Last summer, I was in one of the most popular pubs in the middle of ultrahip west Cork. It was a Wednesday afternoon (whisky writers don’t have real jobs), and I was leaning on the bar that, over the ...
By Peter Mulryan in the section
Irish Whiskey
p54
Jefferson Chase examines Ian McEwan’s use of whisky as emotional crutch in his novel The Child in Time
Ian McEwan is not only one of Britain’s most highly-lauded contemporary writers, but the one most fascinated by horrific, perverse scenarios. So I can’t help imagining that he was listening to The Cla...
By Jefferson Chase in the section
Whisky Literature
p65
Ian Wisniewski asks that all-important question: does the way a still is heated affect the final product?
The focus tends to fall on the influence that a still’s shape, size and accessories such as boil bowls or purifiers have on the character of the new make spirit. But the rate of distillation is also c...
By Ian Wisniewski in the section
Whisky Production
p74
Ever wondered about the demands of being a whisky superstar? John Haydockoffers his answerphone contents up for scrutiny
You don’t have to be a world-famous whisky superstar like yours truly to need an answerphone, but when you are, it sure beats the hell out of having to accept a Mannochmore Martini when you know that ...
By John Haydock in the section
An acidic finish
