Contents
p5
Rampaging huntsmen,under-achieving daleks,lots of whisky.Whatever’s going on, asks Dominic Roskrow
I am standing at the edge of a paddock, surrounded by people. In front of me a man in green hunting costume is grappling with a large fox hound.
Other huntsmen in red are running around in panic in t...
By Dominic Roskrow in the section
From the Editor
p11
In Old Manhattan,Michael Jackson,and cousin Tessa,too…have fun with books,and booze
Tessa should have told me herself. All she had to say (quietly, in my ear) was: “Michael, your fly is open.” Would that have been so embarrassing for her?
Tessa, sweet, embarrassable you. We are cous...
By Michael Jackson in the section
Musings with Michael Jackson
p12
Dave enjoys a spot of midsummer madness in Orkney
It helps to have luminous balls. This is as true a maxim as any I’ve heard tonight. Imagine the uses! Life would somehow be so much easier, especially if one is playing golf at midnight... as I was.
...
By Dave Broom in the section
A dram with Dave Broom
p16
For this issue’s round table we hand over to Dave Broom, who recently hosted a live debate in Japan with representatives of three leading companies. This is his summary of that event
You probably know that the Japanese whisky industry is somewhat different to the Scottish. Given a business culture which is highly focused on loyalty to the company there is little chance of Japanese...
By Dave Broom in the section
Whisky debate
p18
The names of many American whiskey pioneers are still with us today on the labels they started. Charles K. Cowdery here looks at the men behind the labels and on pages 24 and 25 considers how other brands were named
In the United States, whiskeys were among the first branded products to be advertised and sold nationally, and they pioneered many of the mass marketing techniques we take for granted today.
Often th...
By Charles K. Cowdery in the section
American Whiskey
p24
Most single malts are named after their distilleries, which in turn are mostly place names. Most blended Scotches are named after the merchants who created them although a few, such as Cutty Sark (a s...
By in the section
American Whiskey
p26
Hayseed Dixie mix heavy metal with bluegrass music to novel effect.And as his name implies,the band’s frontman Barleycorn Scotch enjoys a whisk(e)y too.Rob Allanson joined him for a tipple
For many the twin poles of malt whisky and bourbon are about as far apart as you can get.
Taste, ingredients, climate for maturing, and water chemistry all make for two different drinks, and there ar...
By Rob Allanson in the section
American Whiskey
p28
In the first of a new series in which we talk to leading business figures, Richard Woodard talks to Sir Iain Noble
Maverick. Iconoclast. Rebel, even.
Not words you readily associate with a Knight of the Realm and holder of the Order of the British Empire, but then Sir Iain Noble OBE doesn’t fit into conventional ...
By Richard Woodard in the section
Whisky Interview
p32
Gotemba Distillery enjoys special status in Japan. Dave Broom visited it
It is hard for any westerner to understand the role which Mount Fuji has within the Japanese psyche.
The highest mountain in Japan, it is the archetype of what a mountain should look like, rising fr...
By Dave Broom in the section
Distillery Focus
p35
Jim White goes to some pretty out there places,both in his mind and in the American Deep South. Lew Guthrie III walks the line between good and evil
American troubadour Jim White isn’t so much a new country singer as its beat poet. His landscape is the great American south, the forgotten parts of America made up of one pump gas station and two sto...
By Jim White in the section
Whisky and Music
p37
Caroline Dewar takes a stroll through whisky’s heartland
The Highland area begins north of the line drawn across Scotland from Greenock to Dundee. Within this the Speyside area is a subset and all islands except Islay are included – but more of islands anot...
By Caroline Dewar in the section
Visitor Guides
p42
The Ardbeg candelight dinner is becoming an institution. Martine Nouet, who is at the event’s core, reports on this year’s event
This year’s Islay Malt and Whisky Festival brought onto the island its usual profusion of enthusiasts geared up for a week of tastings and fun. The Ardbeg Candlelight dinner has now become a classic i...
By Martine Nouet in the section
Whisky and Food
p45
The Last American Hero is an affectionate, whimsical and admiring snapshot of an independent American South. Jefferson Chase reports
Like many readers, I suspect, I greatly enjoyed Jim Leggett’s cover story on moonshining, NASCAR racing and the American South in issue 52. So I was intrigued when I stumbled across an article by Tom ...
By Jefferson Chase in the section
Whisky Literature
p46
Whisky by Aeneas MacDonald is being republished. But who was the writer shielded behind the author's pseudonym? Ian Buxton solves the mystery
It is, according to Dave Broom, “the finest whisky book ever written.” Charles MacLean nominates it as “the one whisky book I would take to a desert island.” T S Eliot presented a copy to Harold Monr...
By Ian Buxton in the section
Whisky icons
p48
This issue Ian Wisniewski turns his attention to the simplest of cocktails,the Whisky Mac
Around of golf in Scotland can result in various emotions. Disappointment and a reality check if playing below par, or a sense of triumph when hitting the right spot. And for some golfers there’s also...
By Ian Wisniewski in the section
Whisky Celebrity
p50
Johnnie Walker Blue Label is a thoroughbred whisky but does it live up to the hype? Ian Buxton got close and personal
When you think about it, Johnnie Walker Blue Label is a little like the impressively large marine mammal that shares its colour.
Like the blue whale, it’s rare, rather precious and, even if you don’t...
By Ian Buxton in the section
Whisky issues
p52
Ireland’s only independent distillery has had a rollercoaster time since it was established at the end of the ’80s.Now it’s time to deliver,its chairman tells Dominic Roskrow
It’s time to change the record. Time to take off New Kid In Town by The Eagles and replace it with James Brown’s It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World. Or, and let’s not be too cynical about this, Abba’s Mon...
By Dominic Roskrow in the section
Irish Whiskey
p54
Dublin’s Celtic Whiskey Shop is driving an interest in Irish whiskeys but Scotch is benefiting too. Iorweth Griffiths reports
I’m in the heart of Georgian Dublin and I can see plenty of wine but no whisky – am I really in Dublin’s Celtic Whiskey Shop? I step outside to double check. Yes, I’m in the right place.
The Celtic W...
By Iorweth Griffiths in the section
Whisky Spotlight
p55
Joe Bates on the Regency Duty Free, Auckland,New Zealand
American bourbon has risen to become New Zealand’s number one spirit in recent years so it comes as a bit of a surprise to see that Regency Duty Free, Auckland airport’s main duty-free operator, stock...
By Joe Bates in the section
Travel retail
p56
The small illegal stills of Speyside have been romanticised time and time again. But what was distilling really like way back when? Jim Cryle of Chivas Brothers decided to find out, and Dave Broom joined him
The thin trail of smoke was the giveaway. No matter how well the bothy was hidden, there was always the smoke. He’d heard of some who had built chimneys to draw it some distance from the bothy, others...
By Dave Broom in the section
Whisky Experience
p59
The Harris Whisky Company is the latest company to bring quality whisky to the English market. Dominic Roskrow reports
If the key to success is making the most of the opportunities presented to you, then Mark Harris has a glittering future to look forward to.
In his career he’s been faced with two golden opportunitie...
By Dominic Roskrow in the section
Whisky Spotlight
p61
The Pilgrim Fathers who left the area for North America via Holland may or may have approved, but the East Midlands is now home to a thriving whisky shop. Richard Jones reports
Adversity is the first path to truth,” wrote Lord Byron “and especially if that path leads to your own whisky shop,” he might well have added.
It’s fair to say that Christmas 2004 in the Henfield hou...
By Richard Jones in the section
Whisky Spotlight
p62
John Rose with another selection of outstanding collectible bottles
There was a great deal of interest in a whisky valuation I did recently, with most of the collectors eager to find out how much their bottles were worth.
As I have stated in the past, think along the...
By John Rose in the section
John Rose
p64
Every part of the distillation process is crucial to making good whisky. Ian Wisniewski explains
With the character of the new make spirit being a focal point of distillation, it’s tempting to assume that the low wines are simply an interim stage.
But if the low wines didn’t comprise the right p...
By Ian Wisniewski in the section
Whisky Production
