Innholdsfortegnelse for Feb/Mar 2018 i Whisky Magazine

There were a couple of items in the news and on the interweb that caught my eye post-Christmas that got me thinking about the year that was. The first was the new marketing campaign for the British Army. Gone is the tag line “Be the best”, in its place is a series of ads addressing people’s worries about whether it is ok to cry, be gay or practice a faith if you join the Army. Commentators jumped in saying that the Army had gone soft and become politically correct, but rather, I think, that it is symptomatic of a wider movement in society at the moment. Let’s move to the other bits that caught my eye. A series of discussions on social media between writers, brand ambassadors and whisky lovers…

When it comes to the art of subtle, and not so subtle, blockbuster movie product placement, look no further than Matthew Vaughn’s latest Kingsman spy extravaganza The Golden Circle in which Old Forester Statesman straight Bourbon whiskey dominates a major story slant, generously funding Kingsman’s hefty production costs along the way. Statesman, especially conceived for The Golden Circle, basks centre stage alongside stars Jeff Bridges, Halle Berry, Channing Tatum, Pedro Pascal and Julianne Moore. As for Statesman’s distinctive character, here’s a whisky exclusive – this fiery 95 proof Bourbon was inspired by Kingsman character Eggsy Unwin, played by Welshman Taron Egerton. Product placement is nothing new. It dates back to the early days of cinema, for instance in the 1927 black and white silent film Wings; Gary Cooper shares the…

It’s been a while since I have had a sit down and a proper catch up with this titan of South African distilling, so a tasting session of Bain's in London was the perfect chance to see what’s been going on, and how the drinking scene has evolved in the country. To say that Andy Watts took the African distilling scene out of the darkness and into the limelight is an understatement. He reminded me that as we sat down, his home patch – the James Sedgwick Distillery – had just celebrated 40 years since its first commercial bottling. The brands coming out of there, Three Ships and now Bain's, have made huge waves, garnering awards left, right and centre, putting this Cape distiller firmly in the spot light. This…

What’s the most important factor in a distillery? Cleanliness. Clean equipment is essential to ensure the quality and consistency of the new make spirit character, while maximising efficiency in terms of yield, energy usage and time. Cleaning used to be entirely manual, requiring employees to climb inside mash tuns, wash backs and pot stills, which entailed significant safety risks. CIP (Cleaning In Place) was developed to address this, by providing automated ‘internal’ cleaning systems within mash tuns, wash backs and pot stills. “CIP became more widely used in the early 1990s, and it’s standard practise to include CIP in new distillery equipment, though it can also be retrofitted in older equipment. The cost of CIP can be anything from three to five per cent of the total cost of new…

With the Irish whiskey category in the midst of a resurgence, it seemed appropriate to turn our eye to this traditional home of triple-distilled spirit. As is often the case with single malt Scotch, premium whiskeys from Ireland are perceived by some as too good to mix. Cries of ‘blasphemy’ echo across social media when even so much as an ice cube appears in proximity to a glass filled with Ireland's national spirit, somewhat belying the easy-going approach to life for which the nation’s population are famous. Combined with the perception of Irish whiskey as a ‘cold weather drink’, this reluctance to embrace fruity, floral, and long serves leads to many menus passing over Irish spirit in favour of its American cousin or, more likely, rum. This issue’s cocktails eschew…

Taster biographies Mark Newton Author of a number of articles for Whisky Magazine, Mark has judged at international competitions and has run the popular website malt-review.com for the past five years. During the past decade, he also published several mass-market genre novels, short-fiction and written for BBC Radio 4. Rob Allanson Rob is Editor of Whisky Magazine and formally held the position as a global brand ambassador for William Grant & Sons', whisky portfolio. His experience in the industry, which has seen him explore whiskies from around the world, has given him a keen and well-versed palate. THE PROCESS All samples are blind tasted, with ABV and style the only information disclosed. Samples are tasted individually over a two week period. Tasters are provided tasting and scoring guidelines for consistency.…

I poured myself two fingers neat of a new-to-me Bourbon and opened my computer to the news. The leading story included the words “robots rise up” in the title. Basically, the authors suggested artificial intelligence and robots are taking over, so humans may consider adding microchips to their brains to catch up. A few stories later, NASA failed to detect a large meteor that nearly smashed into earth. This story, of course, led to “alien” articles with theories of the Zika virus connected to meteors and alien scout ships. Then, I clicked on a starving polar bear video that was meant to prove climate change and show our earth was near death, you know, because of our iPhones, SUVs and cutting down trees. All that was missing in this newsfeed:…

Something very interesting has happened on the rural Morvern Peninsula. To the west of Lochaline and almost opposite Tobermory across the Sound of Mull, an unusual distillery has been born. Ncn’ean Distillery (pronounced Nook-nee-anne) began mashing in March 2017, but has thus far maintained a low profile despite opening its doors to the public. This quiet emergence could be something to do with its location, which is rather rural to say the least. Although only a few miles from Ardnamurchan Distillery (which is located on the adjacent peninsula) as the crow files, the two are separated by a drive of about two hours and the nearest large settlement is Fort William, which is about two hours away by car. “You don’t have to take the Corran Ferry to get to…

In Scotland two of the most experimental and forward-looking young distilleries making whisky are located within 30 miles of each other in the north-east county of Aberdeenshire. Both Lone Wolf (www.lonewolfspirits.com) and Twin River (www.deesidebrewery.co.uk) have grown out of brewing enterprises, and both are already pushing the envelope of what constitutes ‘Scotch whisky.’ Lone Wolf Lone Wolf is the spirits division of those nanny state-baiting punk beer entrepreneurs at BrewDog, who have developed an international presence with the likes of Punk IPA and Dead Pony Club. It has become Scotland’s largest independent brewers in no more than a decade, causing outrage and delight in equal measure along the way. Its two brewhouses, distillery, bottling and head office functions are based on an industrial estate at Ellon, some 16 miles north…

When Bernard Poirier wrote his book, Whisky With Dinner (General Store Publishing, 1995,) he knew something that seems to escape the crush of whisky experts madly dishing out whisky dinners today – food and whisky are not natural partners. Poirier knew this, perhaps because he was familiar with the gustatory joys of bloody beef and tannic red wine – the exquisite combination that launched all this food and whisky pairing nonsense. Wine is a quaffable refreshment. It helps clear your mouth while quenching your thirst. Whisky is too strongly flavoured and high in alcohol for that. A wine-sized shot of whisky inevitably prompts a wince. Poirier loved his single malts, but knew they were too much for mealtime. So, Islay and oysters aside, he suggested that if you were determined…

I’d landed. Following a journey from Whisky Magazine Towers that wouldn’t be out of place in a Tolkien novel, finally I arrived in Portsoy. Overcast, the sea air offered a chilly embrace. Good to finally be here. Beforehand, I really didn’t know what to make of Glenglassaugh Distilery. When it was announced that Brown-Forman would be taking over control of The BenRiach Company’s three distilleries, I was perhaps guilty of only thinking about what this might mean for The GlenDronach and The BenRiach, paying little attention to this third party. Here I was though, asked to board a RIB as we would venture to the distillery by sea. Probably best not to mention my lack of knowledge on that day’s subject – the swim looked chilly. Captain for the day…

GEORGE KEEBLE The eve of the Battle is upon us! I have enough room left in my cask not only for the wildcard bottle but also for a couple of other whiskies, so before the addition of said wildcard, I think it’s time to really up the ante… Firstly, I return to The Glenlivet, this time for some Nàdurra Peated Cask Finish! It’s sweet with a whisper of peat and, at 61.5% ABV, kicks like a mule. Secondly, I’m knocking the peat level up another notch with some Kilchoman Machir Bay! This delicious Islay malt bursts with peat smoke and barley sugar. It’s just what my blend needs. Now it’s time to get serious, for I must throw my wildcard into the fray. The wildcard can be any kind of…

During the past 30 years cigar sizes have been creeping ever upward as consumer preferences (especially those in the United States) seem to have shifted toward the girthy. The cigar smoking public’s decision to ‘go large’ has seen a slew of releases seeking to be crowned as the fattest of them all, with larger sizes becoming the norm for many producers. But first the basics. The width of a cigar is usually described as the ring gauge, which is traditionally measured in 64ths of an inch. In general, ring gauges higher than 50 are considered to be large but expressions with RGs of 60 or more have become a common sight over the past 20 years – especially from producers outside of Cuba. So why the popularity of fatter cigars?…

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The bottles I couldn’t afford when I first discovered my love of whisky still haunt me. I remember visiting Macallan when they were selling Macallan Cask Strength bottlings for around £85. On my first trip to Ardbeg, Lord of the Isles cost £99, and I remember seeing a huge range of Rare Malts at Dalwhinnie distillery, including a Brora 1982 for £75 a bottle. If I knew then what I know now, I would have bought them all, but back then, they were out of my price range. The truth is, I can’t bear to look, but what are those bottles worth now? N. CURRAN, EDINBURGH You are not alone. I suspect all of us have a similar story of ‘the one that got away.’ For me, it was the…