Contents
p
Martine Nouet finds a whisky dessert for each of the seasons: Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring
Each and every Scot has the reputation of being a sweet tooth. It fits their great sense of enjoyment and the nature of their national drink.
Have a look at our tasting notes : we often find Christma...
By Martine Nouet in the section
Whisky and Food
p5
The Islay-Jura ferry wasn’t working.
The Islay-Jura ferry wasn’t working. My party and I thought it best to leave it a while. Clearly, we wouldn’t make the midday crossing. Anticipating that it be a while before the ferry was running ag...
By Marcin Miller in the section
The Miller's Tale
p11
Wherever I go, I am reminded of the islands and the glens…but they exist only in my
mind, confesses Michael Jackson
Alaska appears to be attached to the wrong country, even in normal circumstances. The last time I was there, it contrived to have slipped even further out of register.
It seemed to have turned into ...
By Michael Jackson in the section
Musings with Michael Jackson
p12
When is a Cardhu not a Cardhu? Dave Broom investigates
Say you have the fastest-growing single malt in the world, but that distillery is at full capacity. How do you continue to increase the brand’s sales and not change its age statement?
That’s the dile...
By Dave Broom in the section
A dram with Dave Broom
p16
Whisky enthusiast and scientist Alex Kraaijeveld responds to The Macallan’s defence of the authenticity of its antique whiskies in the last issue
With great interest, I have been following the debate about potentially fake Macallan bottles, both in Whisky Magazine and on their website forum, www.whiskyworld. com. My interest comes from being a ...
By Alex Kraaijeveld in the section
Whisky Fakes
p17
Thousands turned out for Germany’s Limburg Whisky Fair. Brian Townsend was amongst them
It is an old saying that the Germans always take everything they do very seriously. Well, in recent years the Germans have discovered malt whiskies and they take them very seriously indeed, especially...
By Brian Townsend in the section
Whisky Events
p20
Welcome to our new section, World of whisky.
These pages aim to take a less reverent look at the world of malts and to highlight some of the strangeness that all plays a part in making the subject such a unique and fascinating one. Among the areas covered will be:
Discovering whisky: A look at some aspects of whisky that are special or unusual.
At the coal face: We ask the people who sell whisky – the retailers – what they would recommend if asked for a particular style or type of whisky. Diamond drams:Three of the best chosen by a special guest You couldn’t make it up: The wackier side of whisky and its creation Many of the stories that make up this section have come to us by chance, and we’re always keen to have more. So if there’s anything that has amused or surprised you, we’d love to hear about it. Just email us at editorial@whiskymag.com
Diamond drams: Duncan Elphick
Duncan Elphick is the proprietor of the Craigellachie Hotel, famous for its whiskies across the world. Here he selects three personal favourite bottles.
GLENFARCLAS 29-Y...
By Dominic Roskrow in the section
World of whisky
p23
Bruichladdich’s Jim McEwan is set to bring his whisky tasting sessions into your home. Mike Gerrard reports
Islay is the kind of island where you see otters washing themselves just offshore in the bays at the end of the day. Near Port Ellen is what the Ileachs know as Seal Bay, and as the sun goes down, a y...
By Mike Gerrard in the section
Whisky Online
p24
Ruffling a few feathers? The Whisky Magazine Mystery Visitor tries out the Famous
Grouse Experience
Glenturret Distillery has the distinction of being the first visitor centre to be reviewed by the Mystery Visitor, right back in the launch issue of Whisky Magazine. But things have moved on at Glentu...
By Mystery Visitor in the section
Mystery Visitor
p26
An extended tasting area and showroom at London’s Vintage House reflect how malt whisky is evolving as customers demand more choice. Dominic Roskrow reports
If you ever need proof that the whisky market is evolving fast, look no further than The Vintage House in London’s fashionable West End.
It was featured in the very first issue of Whisky Magazine som...
By Dominic Roskrow in the section
Whisky Spotlight
p28
Gavin D. Smith looks at the event that inspired the world-famous whisky novel by Compton Mackenzie
Whisky Galore! The expression is familiar the world over, and conjures up images of cunning Hebrideans ‘liberating’ whisky from a wrecked ship, and subsequently hiding bottles in a variety of ingeniou...
By Gavin D. Smith in the section
Whisky Escapades
p32
France remains an exciting and intriguing territory for whisky. Tom Bruce-Gardyne reports
All fashions are fickle by their very nature. Some endure longer than others, but eventually ‘the next big thing’ will come along to sweep away
what once reigned supreme.
This is the way of the world...
By Tom Bruce-Gardyne in the section
French Whisky
p36
Whisky cocktails can work, and they could help bring younger drinkers in to the world of malts. A team of Whisky Magazine writers put a selection of them on public trial
Cocktails. Just the mention of them has many whisky lovers spluttering in to their glasses.
And undoubtedly adding a fruit bowl and any number of other sweeteners to a single malt can be truly stomac...
By in the section
Whisky Cocktails
p44
Ian Buxton discovers the charms of Royal Brackla, also a RAF base at one time
Few, if any, distilleries can claim the historical importance of Royal Brackla, yet few are as little known. Located right in ‘Macbeth country’ (Cawdor Castle is less than a mile along the road), arou...
By Ian Buxton in the section
Distillery Focus
p48
Burn Stewart has a global presence after its recent purchase by a Caribbean based
company. Peter Mulryan finds out what its plans are
Idon’t know about you, but I just hate traffic jams, which is why I am sitting on the M9 distracting myself by compiling a list of the World’s best bars.
There’s Abaco in Palma, Neary’s in Dublin and...
By Peter Mulryan in the section
Whisky Trends
p51
Jefferson Chase looks at John Barth’s The Floating Opera and a day in the life of a would-be suicide case
Born on Maryland’s Eastern Shore in 1930, John Barth is one of contemporary American fiction’s most influential, if not most well-known
writers, a forerunner of postmodern novelists like Thomas Pyncho...
By Jefferson Chase in the section
Whisky Literature
p52
What is it with whisky and clichéd images of Scotland? Richard Jones starts the fightback…
In a previous life I had the dubious pleasure of judging the monthly Scotch malt whisky competition for a national supermarket chain.
The competition required entrants to buy a bottle of the featured...
By Richard Jones in the section
Whisky image
p64
Ironically few subjects are likely to make a whisky aficionado’s blood boil quicker than that of chill filtering. Ian Wisniewski presents the arguments
It’s all very well for the militant malt brigade to criticise the industry for chill filtering, but as consumers we also have to take our share of collective responsibility. Okay, not all of us are sq...
By Ian Wisniewski in the section
Whisky Production
p74
Brian Palmer, editor of Islay’s local paper and lead drummer in the pipe band, gives a unique, teetotaller’s view of the island’s whisky festival
Every year, Italy, France and Spain hold three-week national cycling tours, despite the amount of traffic disruption and financial outlay that such
tours involve. And the reason that they are so keen ...
By Brian Palmer in the section
Islay