Latest Tasting
A taste of Christmas
Posted 13 December 2023What does Christmas taste like? And stemming from that - what does Christmas in a glass taste like? Depending on where you live in the world, Christmas can taste remarkably different. In Poland, Barszcz (beetroot soup). In Denmark Julesild (spiced, pickled herring). In the Philippines, Bibingka (rice-flour cakes). But here in the UK, outside of the traditional roast Turkey, the rich, fruit-laden Christmas cake has been synonymous with the holiday since the 16th century.
Other Tastings
Expectedly unexpected
Posted 24 November 2023Life is all too fleeting – and there’s nothing like a whisky release countdown timer to reinforce that sense of ephemerality. Urgency and scarcity are powerful motivators. Particularly it seems, this year when that clock is striking both at 6am on The Whisky Exchange as normal, but also in an act of complete marketing replication, six hours earlier at 12am on Master of Malt. I’m totally unconvinced that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery here.
First blush
Posted 21 November 2023Look, if you only had one shot or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted in one moment
Would you capture it,
Or just let it slip
Hollow tradition
Posted 06 October 2023If I tear you open wide, take a look inside
Are you pretty?
Can I get inside your mind, see what I can find?
Are you pretty?
So just take off that disguise, everyone knows that you're only
Pretty on the outside
Heedless harbingers
Posted 26 September 2023I’ve written before about why I don’t believe that the growth of whisky is a bubble – at least not one analogous to the well documented crashes of financial markets and certainly not in any way comparable to tulips. Just stop. But, regardless of whether I’m right or wrong, I’m here to suggest to enthusiasts that the viewing the whisky market as some form of boil that requires lancing is an immense mistake.
At capacity
Posted 26 April 2023The entire distillery workflow is usually framed in linear terms. Afterall, whisky making is the very definition of a process - a continuous, planned and predictable movement from ingredient transformation and distillation through to maturation, bottling and finally on to the point of sale. A constant and consistent conveyor belt. Rinse and repeat. But this one-dimensionality is not always the case in reality. There are many variables, junctures and difficult decisions involved in the creation of whisky that do not take place on production floors. Distilleries as businesses are faced by an ever-changing array of assessments and choices. Outside of “what are we making and how?”, there are other pertinent calculations that need to be made – least of all “how much are we making, when are we making it and how long are we planning on keeping it?”
The First of Her Name
Posted 21 April 2023The old adage suggests that there’s no accounting for taste. But the psychology of why people actually like things is unquestionably complex. Taste is just a method for filtering the world. Of attempting to apply order to chaos. Perhaps the original thing that humans applied the notion of personal discernment to was food – once sustenance moved from being purely a mechanism for survival, choice suddenly came into play. Apparently we now face upwards of over 200 food decision each and every day. Blimey. Whisky is in essence no different to any other taste decision – it’s a combination of exposure (I.E. awareness), culture and individual personality. And like all other choices, none of these are inherently static or fixed.
Laphroaig Distillery
Laphroaig Distillery maltings
The old still at Ardbeg
Tasting in the Ardbeg Chairman's Study
Bruichladdich's name in casks
The approach to Bunnahabhain
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