Whisky Magazine
Celebrating whiskies of the world

Issue 72 of Whisky Magazine out now!

Issue 72 Out Now

Read - Buy - Subscribe

Quick Links

Buy back issues
Cocktails
Distilleries
Find a whisky
Forums and chat
Independent bottlers
Magazine archive
News
Nosing & Tasting Course
Subscribe
Tasting notes
Whisky and food
Whisky Glossary



Search

Join Whiskymag.com Now
MAGAZINE
SUBSCRIBE
STORE
FEATURES
WHISKIES
DIRECTORY
FORUMS
This Issue (72)  |  Subscribe  |  Back Issues  |  Authors Index  |  Category Index
Issue 41   |  Buy this issue   |  Other issues
Whisky Magazine Issue 41

Whisky Magazine Issue 41

Published on 16/7/2004

Whisky Tastings

Isle of Arran First 1995, Limited Edition

The early releases were promising, and this one has mat.....

Dewar Rattray Auchentoshan 1990, 13 Years Old

I would never have identified this as an Auchentoshan. .....

Gordon & MacPhail Traditional

This one really does have subtlety. A lovely, delicate .....

Dewar Rattray Bruichladdich 1991, 12 Years Old

Savoury. Summery. A picnic malt. Or eating freshly shuc.....

Dewar Rattray Longmorn 1990 14 Years Old

I loved the aroma. After that the stern, impenetrable p.....

Dewar Rattray The Macallan 14 Years Old

A very odd Macallan. Perhaps a very odd cask......

Wild Turkey Sherry Signature

Bourbon and sherry? Is this allowed? I'm not sure it sh.....

Eagle Rare 17 Years Old

The nose suggested an astringent palate, but there is s.....

Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel

Delicious. Dangerously drinkable. Bigger and richer tha.....

Evan Williams 23 Years Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

A lovely bourbon, but I prefer it younger......

George T. Stagg

Ideal for Thanksgiving or Christmas. If you don't like .....

Henry McKenna Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Shy. Diffident. But with its own delicacy......

Old Charter The Classic 90, 12 Years Old

Biscuits and gravy and a shot of Charter 12. The breakf.....

Old Charter Proprietor's Reserve

Finally made it to lunch......

Old Rip Van Winkle's 15 Years Old, Family Reserve

Big . Rich. Hearty. Robust......

Pappy Van Winkle 20 Years Old, Family Reserve

The family propensity to fall asleep seems to have stru.....

Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve, 23 Years Old

Big and robust but very drinkable and soothing......

Van Winkle Special Reserve, 12 Years Old

Well balanced. Easy to drink. Not especially complex......

W.L. Weller 12 Years Old

Would I take a bath in this? Well, perhaps a shower......

Contents

p5

Let’s dive in at the deep end

Only one thing: they drank my entire bottle of Laphroaig

A colleague of mine recently decided to hold a whisky tasting for some non-whisky drinking friends. He presented them with four whiskies covering a range of tastes, and when he came back to work on th...

By Dominic Roskrow in the section From the Editor

p11

The ‘quaiching’ of a President

Michael Jackson recalls his part in Ron’s downfall

Fulsome though they were, the tributes to President Reagan omitted one of his greatest services to humanity. He was a Keeper of the Quaich. Not many people know that. I played a small part in this bu...

By Michael Jackson in the section Musings with Michael Jackson

p12

It’s all a matter of angles

Dave ‘The Brush’ Broom on potting, pirates and promotions

If the truth be told, I’ve never been particularly good at snooker. The myopia doesn’t help. Neither does the fact that I usually only end up playing it at the end of what has already been an extremel...

By Dave Broom in the section A dram with Dave Broom

p18

Bladnoch is a strong South Westerly

It takes some getting to but Scotland’s most southern distillery is worth the effort. Even when it’s silenced

After driving for some hours, I decided that the quickest way to get to Bladnoch is probably to fly to Belfast, hire a car, take the ferry back to Stranraer and potter along to the distillery – from w...

By Mystery Visitor in the section Mystery Visitor

p20

Casting an eye to the future

This month’s debate looks at the future role of age statements on bourbons

The Panel Frank Coleman, Senior vice president for public relations, Distilleries Council of the United States (FC) Charles Cowdery, Whisky Magazine American correspondent (CKC) Dominic Roskrow, Whisk...

By Dominic Roskrow in the section Whisky Debate

p22

Heady days as drinkers seek out quality

These are very special days indeed for whisky

These are very special days indeed for whisky. We might well have laughed at the marketing men in the 90s when they told us about the way consumers were moving from standard products to premium ones. ...

By Dominic Roskrow in the section Special Report

p24

Is bourbon coming of age?

Is there a perfect age for American whiskey – and are different age expressions driving the market or in danger of harming it?

The world of bourbon faces a major dilemma – how does it reverse years of decline and make such a proud drink acceptable again but do so without sacrificing the very qualities that make the product so...

By Dominic Roskrow in the section Special Report

p28

How Maker's made its Mark

When TW Samuels VI first produced Maker’s Mark he was dismissed as a crackpot. But he succeeded in changing the image of bourbon forever, and the sector is still benefiting Dominic Roskrow reports

To fully understand just how revolutionary Maker’s Mark was when it was launched you have to go back not just 50 years to that time, but further back still. To 1946, in fact, when the classic film It’...

By Dominic Roskrow in the section Special Report

p32

Whisky at ease with itself (Yamazaki)

At Yamazaki the distillery and church stand next to each other in harmony. Dave Broom witnesses whisky making at its noblest

Jet-lag does weird things to the brain, makes it seem as if you are existing in some dream state. Though you’re screaming with tiredness, you’re wide awake. The mind is subtly dislocated from reality...

By Dave Broom in the section Distillery Focus

p36

Let's take a walk on the fragrant side

The smells of Islay reflect on some of its wonderful whiskies. Martine Nouet takes you on a sensory journey across the island and introduces its flora and fauna

Westering home and a song in the air”, says the song about Islay. It could as well be: “Westering home and whisky in the air”. Not only because the ‘island of whisky’ shelters seven distilleries (and...

By Martine Nouet in the section Whisky Experience

p40

Out with the old, in with the new? Not quite...

Can whisky-making be taught properly at university, and is our understanding of science leading to better whisky? Gavin Smith looks at the issue

If you walk into any pub on Speyside where retired distillery workers congregate and ask them whether things were better in their day, you’ll receive the resounding answer ‘yes!’ Partly, of course, th...

By Gavin D. Smith in the section Whisky Trends

p44

Back from the brink for Scapa

The Scapa distillery on Orkney is to be reopened full time after years of neglect Dominic Roskrow visited it

If the owners of Scapa distillery needed a sign that its time was finally up they got it during a tempestuous evening on Orkney last August. During a storm lightning took the electricity out. Permanen...

By Dominic Roskrow in the section Whisky Trends

p47

Finding fellowship in café society

Jefferson Chase stops for a drink at Carson McCullers’ Sad Café

When Carson McCullers wrote The Ballad of the Sad Café in 1941, she was 24 and had already seen enough of life’s hard knocks to know whereof she wrote. Born Lula Carson Smith in Columbus, Georgia, Mc...

By Jefferson Chase in the section Whisky Literature

p50

A spicier side of Ireland

Celebrity chef Paul Rankin has always used whiskey in his recipes. Dominic Roskrow took a cooking lesson with him and visited his restaurant, Cayenne

Beware lobsters with attitude. I have one in front of me. It’s moving. Celebrity chef Paul Rankin has congratulated me for the firm way I have picked it up, though he does note that I have gone for t...

By Dominic Roskrow in the section Whisky and Food

p56

Magnificent Seven meet the Famous Five

Chivas billed it as the great Glenlivet Tasting Showdown. Our man Ian Buxton popped along to see what it was all about

The idea seemed simple enough – but there was a twist. A panel of seven expert tasters would assess five expressions of The Glenlivet and compare notes. However, to spice things up, each of the five w...

By Ian Buxton in the section Whisky Spotlight

p58

Something fishy or a salt on the senses?

Ian Wisniewski explores the phenomenon of marine characteristics and asks why we can taste the sea when we drink some malts

The flavours we find in malts are inevitably a personal matter, reflecting the individuality of our palates, though the question of marine characteristics in malts is an increasingly public, and contr...

By Ian Wisniewski in the section Whisky Production

p74

Found on the marketing department floor

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 ...

By Terry Sullivan in the section The Last Word

Copyright Whisky Magazine © 1999-2008. All rights reserved. To use or reproduce part or all of this article please contact us for details of how you can do so legally.