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Issue 58   |  Buy this issue   |  Other issues
Whisky Magazine Issue 58

Whisky Magazine Issue 58

Published on 30/08/2006

Whisky Tastings

Isle of Arran 10 Years Old

Have this before lunch and maybe chilled down......

Auchentoshan 18 Years Old, Oloroso

An underrated malt. Check it out......

The Balvenie Vintage Cask 1972

This oozes class and, for me, is streets ahead of every.....

The Balvenie Rum Wood

A disappointment after the class of the 1972......

Benromach Organic

This suggests a young spirit and lots of oak. Not balan.....

Berry's Own Selection Glenlivet 1975

This is a big mean mother whose youthful charms have be.....

Berry's Own Selection Caol Ila 1996

Intense and in character. A fairly simple Caol Ila but .....

Bowmore 16 Years Old

The nose is fantastic, like the fug in an old Scottish .....

Dewar Rattray Highland Park 24 Years Old Single Cask

Decent enough, and the palate is lovely, but somehow yo.....

Old Malt Cask Aultmore 1989, 16 Years Old

Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing bad with this it’s .....

Old Malt Cask Glenglassaugh 30 Years Old

Another whose palate runs counter to its nose......

Old & Rare Platinum The Macallan, 28 Years Old

Have this without water. Hinting at complexity......

Duncan Taylor The Glenrothes 35 Years Old

Old with a certain sexy, slinky quality......

Harris Whisky Macduff 14 Years Old

No great complexity and a little green......

Old Masters Glen Garioch 1988, 18 Years Old

A big warming dram whose generosity of flavour comes as.....

Berry's Own Selection Girvan 1989

An excellent refreshing dram. Well balanced, rich and l.....

Cadenhead's Invergordon 12 Years Old, Whiskies of the World

The sweetness on the palate can’t tame the alcohol hars.....

Distillery Select Loch Lomond, Organic Single Highland Grain

Unusual profile for a grain whisky. More reminiscent of.....

Duncan Taylor Invergordon 40 Years Old

An interesting profile. Well matured. The butyric note .....

Duncan Taylor North British 27 Years Old

The palate does not have the refreshing appeal of the n.....

Old Masters Girvan 16 Years Old

Unrefined wood spoils the aromatic display. It does not.....

80 Strong Kentucky Straight Bourbon

All very light and clean and highly quaffable, but just.....

Michael Collins Single Malt

A little lacking in impact after such a big nose. Worth.....

Contents

p5

Here's to a bright whisky future

Dominic Roskrowis leaving the building. Here he says goodbye after four years as Editor

I’ve spent a great deal of time in recent weeks pondering where whisky might go in the future. Much of this thinking has been prompted by the fact that wherever whisky’s going I need to go too, becaus...

By Dominic Roskrow in the section From the Editor

p11

A question of choice

Michael Jacksonponders the age old question of what’s your favourite

What was the best dram you ever enjoyed? I am not turning on you the question I most often dismiss. When people ask, as they constantly do, what is my favourite malt, I tell them there is no such cre...

By Michael Jackson in the section Musings with Michael Jackson

p12

There to be broken

Dave finds a high flying attitude to malt whisky at altitude

He was about to walk past me when he paused and offered me some bread. “And may I have some wine as well please?” I asked. He was holding the very bottle I wanted to try. “This is from the Languedoc...

By Dave Broom in the section A dram with Dave Broom

p16

Looking to the future

In this issue we look at how other spirits have far more flexibility to experiment and are therefore able to reinvent themselves to appeal to new drinkers,and ask is this damaging the future of whisky?

Panel Alex Turner, Woodford Reserve (AT) John Glaser, Compass Box (JG) Richard Paterson, Whyte and Mackay (RP) Q:Scotch whisky is bound by some pretty tough rules when it comes to production. Ar...

By Rob Allanson in the section Whisky Debate

p24

Road runners

Whisky ambassadors travel the world promoting whisky. The ideal job? Martine Nouet went to find out

Seen from the public point of view, their life is an antidote against monotony. Many a whisky lover would like to share the brand ambassadors’ diary, envying their continuous travelling round the glo...

By Martine Nouet in the section Independent Bottlers

p27

Beware bargain barrels

Just when you thought you’d heard the end of whisky investment scams, Ian Buxton says the true story will be in the drinking

Iwas reminded of this old adage when browsing around eBay recently. There I saw what looked like a real bargain – a hogshead of 10 year old single malt starting at offers of more than £200! Out came...

By Ian Buxton in the section Whisky Spotlight

p28

Grand designs

There are numerous financial risks involved in establishing a new malt whisky distillery. But how do you make sure the whisky you produce is any good? Richard Jones reports

It’s not the most expensive mistake you could make in life, but it certainly doesn’t come cheap. The economics of setting up a new malt whisky distillery alone are pretty terrifying. About £800,000 ...

By Richard Jones in the section Whisky Trends

p32

On her Majesty's service (Royal Lochnagar)

Royal Lochnagar is an iconic distillery that ticks all the whisky lovers’ boxes. Ian Buxton visited it

Imagine one of those ‘50 things to do before you die’ lists. ‘Visit a distillery’ would have to be right up there (even for non whisky drinkers). But which one? Well, we will all have our favourites...

By Ian Buxton in the section Distillery Focus

p35

Captain Fantastic

On his last day as Editor of Whisky Magazine,we sat Dominic Roskrow with a special whisky and let him speak to one of his sporting heroes, All Blacks legend Sean Fitzpatrick

As one of the greatest rugby union players of all time, former Auckland and All Black captain Sean Fitzpatrick has faced some intimidating situations. But nothing – not the South African front row, t...

By Dominic Roskrow in the section Whisky Interview

p37

A slice of heaven

Ireland doesn’t have a lot of distilleries but what it has are all worth a visit. Iorwerth Griffiths reports

From the sunny south coast of Cork to the rugged cliffs of north Antrim, the search for Irish whiskey will take the visitor the length of the island. You can fly in from most countries to Dublin Airp...

By Iorwerth Griffiths in the section Visitor Guides

p42

A right pair

Is whisky really suited to food? Ontario-based writer Andrew Coppolino finds out

The ties that bind are reluctantly torn asunder. Old established alliances are relied on; they’re second nature: a cacciatore and a chianti, a duck paté and a muscat, oysters and Champagne, a chunk ...

By Andrew Coppolino in the section Whisky and Food

p45

Too much monkey business

Jefferson Chase on how drink can bring the animal out

Among the more telling phenomena in the universe – and an argument for humorous, if not intelligent design – is that the more highly developed an organism’s brain, the greater the enthusiasm with whic...

By Jefferson Chase in the section Whisky Literature

p46

Gorilla in the Mist

Canada’s blends are respected across the world,William M.Dowd found out why they’re so good.

Collingwood, Ontario -- The 800- pound gorilla swirled the amber concoction around, sniffed it, tasted it, then delivered the verdict. "Well, Terry, this is ...uh ... crap," he said. If that's the wa...

By William M. Dowd in the section Canadian Whisky

p48

Ahead by a neck

Ian Wisniewski saddles up for a challenging cocktail

Preparing a Horse’s Neck, by topping up a measure of bourbon with ginger ale (some recipes include an optional dash of Angostura Bitters) sounds simple enough. But then combining the ingredients is no...

By Ian Wisniewski in the section Whisky Cocktails

p50

Ghosts in the works

Ghosts are a common feature in whisky distilleries. Robin Laing goes in search of some of the most famous onces

Scotland is a land of story tellers; maybe it’s the whisky. Certainly in the Highlands (the spiritual home of Uisge Beatha) folk would gather together to share a dram and make music, sing songs and...

By Robin Laing in the section Distillery ghosts

p53

Ask the expert

John Rose answers another selection of our readers’ letters

Q. I am trying to find information on a bottle of whisky I have had for many years, it was given to me by a friend. Made of brown glass it has a tartan ribbon running down the outside of the neck wit...

By John Rose in the section Whisky Questions

p54

Arran adventure

Dave Broom is writing a book on distillery-related walks. Here he confronts Goat Fell

Arran is a compression of an already compressed country. Scotland distilled. Its northern hills are the equal of the best of the Highlands, its southern grasslands as gentle as those of the Ayrshire...

By Dave Broom in the section Distillery Focus

p59

Vodka takes a back seat

Joe Bates looks at Kiev airport and brings the latest news from travel retail

The Irish have always had a close connection with duty-free. The first duty-free shop opened in Shannon in 1947, providing a welcome diversion for bored transatlantic passengers waiting for their flig...

By Joe Bates in the section Travel retail

p61

Foreshots and Feints

The quality of a new make spirit is crucial to making good whisky. Ian Wisniewski delves deeper into the process

With various single malts offering a broader choice of ages, comparing a 12, 15, 18 or 21 year old from the same distillery shows how the balance between the distillery character, and the influence of...

By Ian Wisniewski in the section Whisky Production

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