Contents
p5
Well I am not sure about how the weather is with you, but here at Whisky Towers the faint hopes of any summer, Indian or not, have been dashed by cold, damp days and some startlingly crystal clear, co...
By Rob Allanson in the section
From the Editor
p8
This edition we present the Icons of Whisky for America.
Where better than to hold an awards lunch to honour our American winners than in bourbon’s heartland,Kentucky.
The venue was the wonderful Bourbon’s Bistro in Louisville,and the staff there went abov...
By Rob Allanson in the section
Icons of Whisky
p10
New venue,different time of the year and some fresh new features made for another great show in Glasgow.
The world’s premier whisky tasting show,Whisky Live visited Glasgow for the fourth time this weekend and sales boomed at more than 3,000 visitors, a 20 per cent increase on last year.
Held in its gre...
By Rob Allanson in the section
Whisky Live
p13
The Toronto event goes from strength to strength. We report on the second gathering in Canada’s largest city.
Whisky Live Toronto, held in October in Constitution Hall at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre was nothing short of a resounding success.
In only its second year,Whisky Live attracted more than 800...
By Rob Allanson in the section
Whisky Live
p15
Dave has an epiphany while lion watching in the bush.
The audience said “Awwwwww”. It was a first, I’ll give you that. In this game you learn to cope with most eventualities.
Hecklers, fire alarms, technical breakdowns, singing (thanks Glasgow), snoring...
By Dave Broom in the section
A dram with Dave Broom
p16
Whisky writer John Lamond delves into the issue of corks.
I must confess from the start: I am a dinosaur. A hopeless traditionalist. I like corks. I know all about the problem of whiskies – and wines – ruined, utterly destroyed by cork taint. I know that the...
By John Lamond in the section
Whisky issues
p20
Ian Buxton looks back at the career of one of the whisky world's titans - Tom Aitken.
After nearly 40 years experience in the drinks industry, and with a career that has embraced gin, cachaça and coffee liqueurs as well as Scotch whisky, it might be expected that Tom Aitken has some in...
By Ian Buxton in the section
Whisky Interview
p22
Ian R Mitchelllooks at the relationship between two Scottish icons, the national bard and the national dram.
Shortly after his death in 1796 Robert Burns emerged as the undisputed national bard of Scotland. The foundation of the first Burns Club took place in 1801. This was the Greenock Burns Club, later kno...
By Ian R Mitchell in the section
Burns and Whisky
p26
The mash tun is a vital vessel,accommodating the conversion of starch within the grist into sugars,using a
sequence of three,or even four waters at a progressively higher temperatures. But rather than the mashing
process,the aim of this article is to explore the design of a mash tun,and the practicalities that enable mashing
to take place – Ian Wisniewski reports.
Mash tuns were traditionally fashioned from cast iron, with the move to stainless steel dating from around 20 years ago,though Springbank and Royal Lochnagar are two examples of distilleries still usi...
By Ian Wisniewski in the section
Whisky Production
p30
In the latest in our series Gavin D.Smithtracks down the story behind Glenury Royal
Glenury Royal distillery can claim a number of notable distinctions. For example, it is one of only three Scottish distilleries – along with Lochnagar and Brackla – ever to be granted permission to us...
By Gavin D. Smith in the section
Lost distilleries
p31
In our series looking at whisky terms we have reached the second part of the letter m.
Dominic Roskrow looks at maturation
You know you’ve caught the whisky bug good and proper when you happily sit through a two hour talk on casks, or consider the highlight of your distillery trip is the exhibition on wood.
But maturatio...
By Dominic Roskrow in the section
Glossary
p32
After our Icons of Whisky America lunch we decided not to waste the opportunity of having some of the finest bourbon makers in one place.
PANEL
Greg Davis – Barton Brands
Larry Kass – Heaven Hill
Nick Nelson –Woodford Reserve
Fred Noe – Jim Beam
Dave Pickerell – Maker’s Mark
Jim Rutledge – Four Roses
Julian Van Winkle – Old Rip V...
By Rob Allanson in the section
Round Table
p35
A few months ago we started the renovation of an old house that we bought some time ago.
In the basement we found a wooden box with several old bottles of whisky. I made a phone call to a whisky and ...
By John Rose in the section
Questions and Answers
p36
Dave Broom gives us his tips on places to go when in Japan.
The rise of Japanese whisky has been one of the most heartening aspects of the global whisky boom.
Here’s the second part to our guide bars and retail outlets to make the planning a little easier. Th...
By Dave Broom in the section
Visitor Guides
p38
Joe Bates travels down under to check out what’s on offer.
You will be hard-pressed to find a more patriotic nation than Australia so it is perhaps no surprise that Melbourne airport’s recently refurbished F1RST duty-free shop bangs the drum loudly for that m...
By Joe Bates in the section
Travel retail
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Auchentoshan is the nearest distillery to Glasgow but it is often criminally overlooked. Dominic Roskrow explains why it warrants closer inspection.
I was visiting a distillery recently when two tourists came in and asked if they could be shown round.Actually they didn’t so much ask for a tour but demand one.And when they were told that the distil...
By Dominic Roskrow in the section
Distillery Focus
p44
For most of us, so-called premium whiskies remain firmly in the realms of fantasy, whisky jewels to be enjoyed vicariously through shop brochures, product images and tasting notes. But who buys these bottles, and who, if anyone, actually drinks them? Richard Jones finds out more.
It was perhaps an apocryphal tale, a mythical story handed down between generations of Oddbins store staff. The kind of thing that would happily wile away a quiet Monday morning or, on occasion, provi...
By Richard Jones in the section
Whisky issues
p48
Health guru Galina Imrie looks at the health benefits of whisky and drinking.
Do you notice that every time you have a lovely, long civilised dinner with a good friend that involves high quality single malt, drunk slowly and with appreciation, at some point during the evening y...
By Galina Imrie in the section
Whisky and Health
p52
Four years after it opened the Maker's Mark Bourbon House and Lounge is an island of quality in a sea of garish neon. Our man took refuge there.
Louisville’s Fourth Street is a disturbing glance in to a nightmare future. It serves as a reminder as to what might happen if the anti-alcohol lobby across the world gets its way and starts to introd...
By Rob Allanson in the section
Whisky and Food
p71
Jefferson Chase turns his attentions to Scottish grown authors.
For the next few columns, I thought we’d have a wee look at the genre of “tartan noir.” Scottish crime fiction comes in a variety of hues and shades. Christopher Wallace’s mesmerizingly creepy 1999 no...
By Jefferson Chase in the section
Nightcap
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Ian Wisniewski talks to Dr Gordon Steele,director of The Scotch Whisky Research Institute (SWRI),located near Edinburgh.
IAN
How would you describe the role of the research institute?
GORDON
We go all the way through from raw materials to bottling problems, it’s very comprehensive.
We have a core of projects that we...
By Ian Wisniewski in the section
Whisky Interview
p74
Email the team editorial@whiskymag.com
Star letter - Japanese influence
I recently attended the Whisky Live show in Glasgow where I picked up a copy of your magazine. After having tried and bought a bottle of Suntory’s Yamazaki whisky I w...
By Rob Allanson in the section
Forum
