Innholdsfortegnelse for May/Jun 2022 i Whisky Magazine

For an industry whose modern expression is barely into its teenage years, English whisky looks fascinatingly sophisticated. Whisky was made in England in the past, yet by the early 1900s the last surviving maker – Lea Valley – closed down, leaving behind a thirsty, whiskyless country. It took England a century to rediscover its whisky spirit, first with a Healey’s Cyder Farm and St Austell Brewery partnership in Cornwall, then in Norfolk with the launch of the English Whisky Company. Today, there are about 30 operating distilleries across the country, with an ever-growing number of newcomers waiting for their first spirit to come to maturity. “As the boom in English whisky results in a lot of casks that need storing for three years and over,” says industry pioneer and English…

Walking through the gates at Hikari Distillery, it would be easy to think one was arriving in a picturesque part of the Low Countries. Facing the visitor are two imposing blackish-grey twin buildings with stepped-gable façades typical of 17th-century Dutch and Flemish architecture. To the left, in contrasting white, is a stately country house that seems to be plucked straight out of rural Flanders. And yet, we’re in the Japanese countryside, about an hour north of Tokyo. Aside from some effluent tanks waiting for pick-up, nothing gives away the connection with whisky making. Walking closer, the top of the wrought-iron inner gate connecting the twin buildings confirms that this is a distillery, after all. The motto ‘Dum Spiro Spero’, meaning ‘While I breathe, I hope’ in Latin, seems to be…

Two brewers walk into a bar. The first says, “I’d like to make whisky.” The second goes, “I’d love to make some too.” No, this is not the start of an old joke. This is how Agostino Arioli, of Birrificio Italiano, and Benedetto Cannatelli, of Railroad Brewing Company, took their passion for malt and yeast to the next level, by launching Strada Ferrata Distillery and in the process becoming ‘brewstillers’. Located just a few miles north of Milan, Strada Ferrata isn’t Italy’s first whisky distillery (Puni, in Alto Adige, predates it by about 11 years), but Arioli and Cannatelli’s unique, unorthodox approach to whisky making might be set to kick off a real Italian whisky revolution. “I’ve been considering the idea of getting into distilling for several years,” says Arioli,…

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Beginning his whisky journey at The Pot Still in Glasgow, which is owned and run by his family, Sean Murphy quickly fell in love with the spirit that has made the pub famous. He started writing about whisky after being given the chance to create an online drinks column for The Scotsman newspaper, based on his experiences as a whisky barman. Sean enjoyed the experience so much that he immediately signed up for a journalism course at a college in Glasgow. His enthusiasm for Scotland’s national drink, as well as its craft gin scene, led to him helping to set up and run The Scotsman’s Food and Drink website from 2015 onwards. Today, he continues to write about whisky and gin, as well as all things Scotland, for the UK’s…

The world’s premier whisky tasting show returns to the stunning surroundings of The Honourable Artillery Company in London in 2022, from the 20th–21st May. This historic 18th-century mansion is set in a six-acre garden, yet just a stone’s throw from Moorgate and Liverpool Street stations. This spectacular location provides a truly memorable backdrop to a great whisky experience. Producers from four corners of the globe gather to showcase their rare, unique and hard to find whiskies, as well as some of the more mainstream brands you would expect to find in specialist whisky retailers. This unique international whisky experience is not to be missed, whether you’re an avid enthusiast or new to the exciting world of whisky. Tickets include entry to Whisky Live, unlimited whisky pourings, a delicious two-course meal,…

Navigating his busy native streets on foot one Monday rush hour, seventh-generation Londoner Piers Adam isn’t distracted by the passing of cars and mopeds, the beeping of horns, or the ceaseless streams of commuters. In his mind, he’s a world away from the capital and its unsleeping nightclub scene, in which he made his fortune. He’s giddy in his enthusiasm for the subject of our conversation and the place that occupies his thoughts 24/7: Speyside. In 2014, Piers purchased The Craigellachie Hotel, arguably the most famous place to stay in Speyside for more than a century. Since then, he’s entirely renovated this illustrious institution and launched a respected Speyside blended malt named after the hotel’s Copper Dog bar – and now, as a businessman by day and a concepts man…

Coronavirus outbreaks and the zero-Covid policy of China are hampering the recovery of international travel to and from Asia-Pacific. Aviation experts believe it could be 2025 before international travel in the region recovers to prepandemic levels, a year later than in other parts of the world. Nevertheless, whisky distillers are still launching luxury travel-retail expressions in Asia, believing those travellers who continue to fly still have money to spend and want to rekindle their love of duty-free whisky shopping. Consider Bowmore, for instance: this Islay whisky has just released a new 1965 Precious Metals expression presented in an oak box designed by master craftsman John Galvin. Just four bottles have been released; each one comes with a handcrafted oak box decorated with a brass plaque made from a former spirit…

On a quiet Friday afternoon in March, I find myself being shown around Jenson Button’s personal whisky collection at his Los Angeles home by the British racing driver himself. Sure, it may have been via Zoom, but I still got a glimpse into what kind of whisky drinker the 2009 Formula 1 Champion is, with his boatload of Lagavulin (he’s into his peat), some Glenfiddich Grand Cru and a rather special bottle of Macallan he tells me he received as a gift. But I’m here to talk to him about another whisky altogether: Coachbuilt, a new blended Scotch created by Button in collaboration with whisky writer and consultant George Koutsakis. A blend of the five whisky-making regions in Scotland (Highlands, Lowlands, Campbeltown, Islay and Speyside), Coachbuilt has been created to…

Bertie’s is not a place – it’s a feeling. Well, obviously, it is a place, but please allow me a moment to be a little transcendental here, because how often do you get a chance for that? The overriding emotion that comes back to me when recalling an evening spent in Bertie’s Whisky Bar is something reminiscent of being a child in a sweet shop: completely awe inducing, with a feeling of not knowing where to begin. Before you start to wonder what was in my morning coffee, let me give you the facts. In order to gain access into the gap in the universe that is Bertie’s, you must first take a stroll through the living art known as The Fife Arms hotel in Braemar, Aberdeenshire. Looking upon the…

If there is a smoky air to some Okanagan whiskies, it’s not peat reek. For the past five summers, the 110-mile-long string of distilleries near the sliver of water called Okanagan Lake has witnessed blazing destruction in large tracts of nearby forest. In Vernon, British Columbia (BC), smoke clouds from the wildfires hung so low they drifted straight through the doors of Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery. Then, in 2021, a climate change-induced heat dome sent typically balmy summer temperatures soaring to 50°C, bringing a flash-point mob of wilting angels to guzzle maturing spirits. However, as serious as this sounds, don’t let it extinguish your dreams of touring the Okanagan Whisky Trail. “The Okanagan is the Puerta Vallarta of summer,” as distiller Tyler Dyck tells it. Just a four-and-a-half-hour drive from…

GENERAL INFORMATION Distillery Name: The Glasgow Distillery Co. Parent company: N/A Address: 8 Deanside Road, Glasgow, G12 9RR Years of operation: 2012 – present Open to the public: No TEAM & OUTPUT Distillery manager name: N/A – there is a team of distillers Production team size: 4 distillers, 1 cooper – all full-time Maximum annual capacity: 360,000 lpa Present working capacity: 230,000 lpa Operation time: 16 hours per day, 7 days per week Automation: No WATER Water source: Mains – Loch Katrine CEREALS & MASHING Cereal varieties: Laureate malted barley, unpeated. Also Laureate malted barley, peated 50ppm. The annual production is split into unpeated spirit for five months, peated for five months, and unpeated triple distilled for two months Cereal preparation: Muntons and Crisp maltsters Average PPM of malt: 50ppm…