Contents
p5
Glenmorangie House lies some seven or eight miles from the distillery, and driving up to it on a dark and windy night is like driving back in time.
We arrive late, and already guests are coming down...
By Dominic Roskrow in the section
From the Editor
p11
Michael Jackson crosses paths with HRH Charles
Prince Charles was heading in my direction. It was, indeed, envisaged that we should meet. His People had spoken to My People, in the way that these matters are arranged. The Prince and I would talk a...
By Michael Jackson in the section
Musings with Michael Jackson
p12
A writer in every port or a port in every writer? Davie Broom visits Cape Town
Apparently the surf was sick, which means good in the same way as bad used to. So there you go. Travel broadens one’s linguistic skills as well as one’s mind.
I gamely resisted plunging in – for star...
By Dave Broom in the section
A dram with Dave Broom
p17
Our mystery visitor made the long trek to Tomatin and found a distillery not geared up for the tourist or casual visitor
Whatever else they were thinking about when they built Tomatin, it wasn’t tourists. Located just 18 miles south of Inverness, and handy for the main A9 road from the south, Tomatin is not the tourist ...
By Mystery Visitor in the section
Mystery Visitor
p20
This month's round table looks back at the past year and looks forward to the year ahead
The Panel
Ian Buxton,
Whisky Magazine writer (IB)
Chuck Cowdery,
Whisky Magazine American
correspondent (CKC)
John Glaser,
Compassbox (JG)
Annabel Meikle,
Scotch Malt Whisky Society (AM)
Dave Robe...
By in the section
Whisky Debate
p22
The Welsh Whisky Company is in business and impressing whisky experts with its product. Charles MacLean visited it
Like all good whisky tales, the story of the revival of distilling in Wales begins in a pub.
It was 1997. Brian Morgan, an economist who was at the time working for the Welsh Development Agency (he i...
By Charles MacLean in the section
Whisky Trends
p24
The Celtic fringe of Britain has a long tradition for some of the world’s finest whiskies. Ireland and Scotland have refined their creations over centuries, so why has it taken so long for Cornwall to catch on and produce its first single malt whisky? Jamie Smith finds the answer lies, of all places, at a cider farm
Somewhere in a dark, cobbled cellar not far from Cornwall’s craggy north coast something very exciting and, for many, long overdue is taking place.
In a dark, damp cellar, Cornwall’s first malt whisk...
By Jamie Smith in the section
Whisky Trends
p26
Martine Nouet looks at the whisky industry in Northern France – and plots its Celtic roots
Aland with a profound sense of identity, Brittany became part of French kingdom only in the 16th century. With its own Celtic language – the
exact replica of the Cornish one – its culture deeply root...
By Martine Nouet in the section
Whisky Trends
p28
This year’s Kentucky Bourbon Festival was the first since the legendary Booker Noe passed away. But as Dominic Roskrowreports, he was remembered in the best possible way – with a whiskey
Ivan the Terrible, the Mean Jeanie, Karl the Snarl… America’s hurricane season did its best to put a dent in this year’s Kentucky bourbon Festival, but it failed miserably.
Indeed by the time country...
By Dominic Roskrow in the section
Whisky Events
p30
Ian Buxton visits Balblair
As the internal arrangements and vessels are like the other distilleries in the district, it is not worthwhile to recapitulate them” commented an
unusually blunt Alfred Barnard on his visit to Balblai...
By Ian Buxton in the section
Distillery Focus
p34
Robin Laing takes a gentle stroll with his friend through Speyside
Donald’s career path has taken him to the South East of England, close to the engine room of political power. This path has distanced him, in my opinion, from those magical places in Scotland where ea...
By Robin Laing in the section
Whisky tales
p36
Andrew Jefford’s Peat Smoke and Spirit is the best whisky book published this year. In this extract, he writes about trhe constitution of peat itself
So what are they exactly, these dark sods which Norrie has been cutting for 44 years, and his Uncle John Campbell cut for a lifetime before that, and which Islay’s farmers have been cutting to keep th...
By Andrew Jefford in the section
Whisky Literature
p40
As ways of making drinking a cerebral pastime, whisky chess takes some beating. Alex Kraaijeveld explains how it works
Have you ever heard of shot glass chess? It’s a game of chess played in which glasses of different shapes and sizes serve as pieces.
The glasses are filled with either a clear (for ‘white’) or a colo...
By Alex Kraaijeveld in the section
Whisky Trends
p42
Grouse and the Gloags, part 1: Charles Maclean tells the history of a bird, a brand and a dynasty. For a profile of a thoroughly modern Matthew Gloag, see page 46.
My great-great-great-grandfather, Matthew Gloag the First, went into the wines and spirits trade in the early 1800s. Actually, he wasn't the first at all, since he had been named after his grandfather...
By Charles MacLean in the section
Whisky Profile
p44
Amber is the new restaurant at the Scotch Whisky Heritage Centre, and unsurprisingly whisky features high on its agenda. Martine Nouet visited it
It is hard to think of a better place than the Edinburgh Scotch Whisky Heritage Centre for Scotland’s first whisky restaurant.
The news about the opening of Amber restaurant and its dedication to whi...
By Martine Nouet in the section
Whisky and Food
p47
Time’s Arrow is a lifetime journey in reverse. And of course,anything so perverse is food and drink to Jefferson Chase
To put the cart before the horse, I must confess I’ve never been a big fan of Martin Amis, son of Lucky Jim author and Macallan aficionado Kingsley Amis. Despite his polished style and sharp eye for h...
By Jefferson Chase in the section
Whisky Literature
p48
Chicago has its fair share of whiskey bars. Scott Longmantakes a tour
Let the Italians and the Norwegians fight about who found the place to begin with: it was a bunch of malcontents from Plymouth, England who
first settled the United States. And somehow, that early Ang...
By Scott Longman in the section
Whisky Trends
p55
In the latest in his series, Richard Jones talks to Mary O’Shea, who is a whisky consultant at Heathrow Airport
My day varies according to the time of year and the different flights that are scheduled at the airport,” begins Mary O’Shea, whisky consultant at Heathrow Airport.
“At the moment my shift starts at ...
By Richard Jones in the section
A day in the life
p56
How important is regionalism to the character of whisky, and can broad generalisations be made? Ian Wisniewski considers
Choice is a beautiful thing, and we’ve never had so much. But choice without guidance can also be counter-productive, as knowing where to
start when faced with several hundred malts can be a real chal...
By Ian Wisniewski in the section
Whisky Production
p74
Guest writer Andrew Jefford smokes out the truth on the issue of peat in whisky
When I was a lad, I used to look at the books on my parents’ shelves with a sense of wonder. I loved both reading and writing; books were the unhidden treasure of my childhood. The desire to write one...
By Andrew Jefford in the section
The Last Word
