Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2020 i Whisky Magazine

I wish I’d put some money on it. You know that feeling when you’re almost 100 per cent sure you’re right? Well, I should have listened to it. No, I’m not talking about whether there will be a second wave hitting the UK before Christmas, although that might be worth a punt – let’s face it, who would have thought that curfews would return to a British city? Instead I’m talking about that moment just after everyone has had their summer holidays (congratulations if you managed something); the kids go back and then the grind starts again, even in this new normal. What happens at that exact moment? The UK gets some of its hottest weather for months. Beautiful clear skies, the mercury rising up into the late 20s (I…

It was a Tuesday morning in mid-August, one of those muggy days when the heat becomes steam on contact with the road and makes the New York City air hazy. I had been very hard at work in the paint aisle at Home Depot because apparently finding just the right shade of white paint is a herculean undertaking. After about 10 minutes of flipping through samples I lost my focus, forgetting about shading, brightness, shadows, warmth and tint. How can anyone bother with such mechanical technicalities when you’re scanning through colours named Wind Swept, Elusive Blue, Touchable, Pearls and Lace, Maybe Mushroom, Tiara, Violet Hush, Twilight Twist, Just Perfect, Ageless, Sterling Shadow, Slices of Happy, Wistful Beige, Pacific Pearl, Oyster Cracker, Fountain Frolic, Willow Springs, Velveteen Crush, Forgive Quickly. What…

The ‘mellow’ man with the astounding, flawless technique and warm, poetical sound was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 2 February 1927. Soon afterwards, the Gayetski family moved to New York. They had come from the Ukraine at the turn of the century and decided to Americanise their name to Getz. Stan excelled at school and started to play saxophone when he turned 13, albeit that he would enjoy playing on every instrument he got his hands on. Lester Young was one of his first musical influences. At 14 he was playing in his high school orchestra, which entitled him to get a free tutor from the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Turning 16 he became the protégé? of Jack Teagarden and started to play with famous musicians like Nat ‘King’ Cole…

Taster biographies Rob Allanson Rob is editor-at-large 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. Becky Paskin Becky has been writing about food and drink for over a decade, after stepping out from behind the bar to take up her pen. For her industry work, Becky has been made a Keeper of the Quaich and is now a freelance sprits writer and co-founder of Our Whisky. THE PROCESS All samples are blind tasted, with ABV and style the only information disclosed. After scores and notes have been submitted, the identities are revealed and our tasters…

In March I was all set to present at the New Orleans Bourbon Festival before it was cancelled at the last minute to prevent the spread of the pandemic. Since then I have missed countless whisky tastings, events and festivals that I would ordinarily take part in. The last one I attended in person was The Bourbon Classic. Virtual meet-ups became commonplace as enthusiasts and industry folk struggled to connect with each other under rapidly changing parameters. In the early days of the pandemic it was the bartenders and brand reps leading the way to virtual mixology classes, and people like Molly Wellmann and Sailor Guevara were on livestreams night after night offering people a distraction while mixing up a special concoction alongside a dose of history. It felt like…

Hold on, how is it September already? This time of year is marked by two distinct things: the changing of the season and Diageo’s annual collection of Special Releases. I’m not quite ready to relinquish summer yet but it seems I must. Though the hullabaloo was more muted this year – gone was the lavish launch event and in yet another Zoom call (albeit the first one I’ve had featuring a scratch and sniff pandan leaf) – it was still a moment to enjoy. What is a Special Release anyway? The Special Releases, lest you’ve been hiding in a bunker since 2001, is an annual, highly regarded collection of cask-strength bottlings from Diageo. Over the years there have been some odd bedfellows but it typically features something from a long-silent…

Like most of us, I didn’t grow up expecting to be a whisky drinker. As a teenager living in sleepy Worthing on the south coast of England, whisky wasn’t really in my vocabulary. The late 1990s was a time for spiced rum and coke, and Jose Cuervo shots with the gurn-inducing salt and lime combo. Whisky was just something the old blokes down the working men’s club drank out of warm tumblers in clouds of smoke. Despite living just 30 minutes away I hadn’t visited my hometown for several years, but recently an old friend convinced me to pop over and reminisce. Have you ever revisited the place you grew up in, decades after you left? It’s bizarre, like recalling glimpses of a dream after waking, or bumping into an…

In 2020, we are reminded of the historical stigma of slavery, and the lasting economic hardships and prejudice its legacy has on communities. It seems timely to turn the pages of history to examine the role slavery played in the development of American whiskey. Recent revelations by Fawn Weaver on the influential and collaborative relationship between Jack Daniel and Dan Call’s slave, Nathan ‘Nearest’ Green, also provides an exceptional story of the vital role African Americans played in the development of American whiskey. Before the Green-Daniel partnership began in antebellum Tennessee, in neighbouring Kentucky, a quarter of the population were slaves. At that time, 28 per cent of white families owned slaves and half of those had more than 20 slaves. Kentucky’s largest slave market, Cheapside in Lexington, was in…

Gordon & MacPhail didn’t invent single malt Scotch whisky, but the Elginbased company can certainly claim a great deal of credit for transforming it from a niche product – even across much of Scotland – into the global phenomenon it is today. The firm was established in 1895, and is celebrating its 125th birthday by releasing four single cask expressions from ‘lost’ distilleries. As director of prestige Stephen Rankin explains, “These are extremely special releases for us as they are the last casks from these four distilleries that we own.” The initial releases are a 1972 47 Years Old Coleburn, distilled south of Elgin, and a 1984 35 Years Old Glenury Royal, produced in Stonehaven during the distillery’s last full year of operation. Two further ‘lost’ bottlings will appear before…

Demand for Islay single malts has never been higher, and the distilling scene on the Hebridean island has proved to be incredibly dynamic of late. In terms of new distilleries, Ardnahoe started production in November 2018, while Diageo’s project to create the new Port Ellen Distillery progresses, Elixir Distillers hopes to build a new distillery near Port Ellen, and the much-delayed Gartbreck Distillery project close to Bowmore may now finally go ahead. But there is also plenty of dynamism around the long-established distilleries, and nowhere more so than Ardbeg. Work began during 2018 to double the potential output to 2.4mla in an attempt to match future demand for the whisky, though coronavirus brought construction to a halt for a significant period of time. Malt storage capacity is being increased from…

It’s probably fair to say that, for a good chunk of the past century or so, two champions of the drinks world have been locking horns in what is surely the greatest booze title fight Europe has ever seen. When it comes to the heavyweight spirits of these two nations, you can forget the ‘auld alliance’ between Scotland and France: the gloves are off. Back in the late 18th century, one might have called the result early and bet everything on Cognac. It had an established market in Britain, Ireland, and mainland Europe, and, in spite of the little falling out that had to be settled at Waterloo, imports of French brandy to the UK continued to grow into the mid 1800s. High duties imposed at the time could have…