Contents
p5
It is always instructive to place matters in their historial perspective, and this is as true for whisky as for other matters.
The whisky trade has always been good at reinventing or forgetting its ...
By Charles MacLean in the section
From the Editor
p7
Whisky is for sniffing, drinking and dabbing your ears, Michael Jackson explains, Calvin Klein would understand.
We had discussed the oak in the casks, which dated from before World War One, and considered the infuence of their position in the warehouse. Now we were sampling the contents. My enthusiastic host, A...
By Michael Jackson in the section
The Gospel According to Michael Jackson
p8
Even Jim Murray can be fooled into thinking a whisky is better than it is
There is a lot to be said about drinking whisky in situ. Whisky is a romantic subject; and what can be more engaging than drinking the water of life at the very place where it is conceived?
But it i...
By Jim Murray in the section
The Gospel According to Jim Murray
p10
India's luxury train the Palace on Wheels, has a bar that's open all day, every day, and whiskies that bill themselves as 'Horsepower for real men.' Kevin Pilley had a ticket to ride.
Arthur sucked on his pipe. We both watched the smoke circle over the bar top and rise up towards the mirrored ceiling. ‘We have two things in common, you and I,’ he said after a meditative silence. I ...
By Kevin Pilley in the section
Great whisky bars
p24
Tobermory distillery has made whisky for only14 of the last 69 years- and its incarnatuons have included a blend and a vatted malt. Tom Bruce-Gardyne mulls over it.
At times it feels just like the west of Ireland. If you visit in the spring, the vivid greens, lush pasture and dank, moss-covered walls of Mull seem straight out of Donegal. The climate is equally fi...
By Tom Bruce-Gardyne in the section
The inside track
p32
Jonathon Goodall investigates whisky cocktails and finds a way of using up these unwanted dregs of single malt.
It was the alchemic quest for the elixir of youth that started it – perhaps. Either that or the necessity of disguising the flavour of crude forms of alcohol. Either way, the history of the creation o...
By Jonathon Goodall in the section
Whisky Cocktails
p35
Brian Hennigan reports groundbreaking research into one of the vital questions of life.
Finding the right person to share the rest of your life with can be incredibly difficult, especially if you’re married. For whisky the issue of partnership is no less trying. This is not the old ‘wate...
By Brian Hennigan in the section
Whisky and Food
p36
Part three maturation In the third and final part of his series on what influences the flavour of malt whisky, Professor Alan Ruthrford turns his attention to the ageing process.
In Parts One and Two of this series I attempted to describe the nuances of malt whisky character that arise from the raw materials (Part One) and from the distilling process (Part Two) respectively. T...
By Alan Rutherford in the section
Whisky Masterclass
p40
Angela Muir MW goes in search of those most elusive of creatures, whisky brokers, and finds them constantly slipping fron her grasp
What an elusive breed whisky brokers are. Nobody ever quite admits to being one: ‘Oh, no, I’m not really a broker,’ goes the refrain. ‘Brokers are a dying breed.’
‘You want to find out about them?’ ...
By Angela Muir in the section
Collecting Whisky
p44
We sent chef Christian Delteil some whisky, and he invented some recipes for us. That took all of 20 minutes. Coooking them, says Margaret Rand, toook only slightly longer
The kitchen at Bank smelled like a maltings. And why? Because tucked in among the little dishes of chopped chillies, sliced leeks, mashed celeriac and prepared scallops was a bowl of ground malted bar...
By Margaret Rand in the section
Whisky and Food
p52
Does Ardbeg go best with a Bolivar? And what might happen if youbegan a corona gigantes before dinner? Chris Orr provides a whisky lovers' guide to a good smoke
It must be a pretty depressing time for your average movie mogul or bank president. Despite the fact that business in general appears to be doing well the world over (give or take the odd country), th...
By Chris Orr in the section
Whisky and Cigars
p56
Charles Maclean examines the curious story of Clan Campbell and its acquired pedigree
It appears that S. Campbell & Sons, the predecessors of Campbell Distillers, the owners of Clan Campbell, were not actually Campbells at all. Samuel Campbell’s original name was Samuel Rosenbloom, and...
By Charles MacLean in the section
Whisky Hero
p60
Joanna Simon meets Jack and Wallace Milroy, single malt whisky pioneers, and finds them refusing ot live up to their reputations
I have seen the Milroy brothers as few others have. Now before you get excited, remember that Whisky Magazine is not one of those mags confined to newsagents’ top shelves. All I mean is that I have se...
By Joanna Simon in the section
Whisky Profile
p64
How do you support rugby and introduce two million Chinese to the prase Famous Grouse' at the same time? Richard Bath explains.
Whisky and rugby are not the most natural of bedfellows, you might think. But you would be wrong. Or at least, if you were right, Highland Distillers has been wasting a vast amount of the marketing bu...
By Richard Bath in the section
Whisky and Sport
p66
In the final part of his nosing course, Charles Maclean suggests that classifying malts by region has little meaning classification by flavour is more useful: but how on earth do you do it?
Traditionally, malt whiskies have been classified by region: first Highland/Lowland, then Highland/Lowland/Islay/Campbeltown/Speyside, then a proliferation of sub-divisions of Highland and Speyside. T...
By Charles MacLean in the section
Whisky Tasting
p82
The story so far: Kevin accidentally stole a lorryload of Glenweenvil, and had to hide it at the distillery. The stolen whisky was passed off by Ruth as a newly-discovered stash of pre-war Glenweevil. After suitable doctoring withother malots it was sold as Glenweevil Limited Releaese. Kevin was subsequently arrested by Sergeant Maclean, and his release has been engineered by Ruth. Now read on...
Andrew here. Young Kevin slouched into my office this morning. I observed that there was no need for him to knock, but I fear the comment was wasted on him.
‘You’re pleased to be out, I daresay,’ I s...
By Andrew Mcvie in the section
The Last Word
