Innholdsfortegnelse for August/September 2023 i Whisky Magazine

The headline on the cover of the 20 May 2023 issue of The Ileach, Islay’s local news source, was captivating in its simplicity, restraint, and grammar: “Fourteen?” Anyone reading these pages knows that that number can only relate to one thing. The thing that makes the 25-by-15-mile, peat-scented ancient rock world renowned today: whisky. The story goes on to detail how plans for a distillery at Gartbreck farmhouse, which fell through in 2017, look to be back onboard, which would bring Islay’s distillery count to 14. And why wouldn’t new producers want to be in on the single malt game? Distilleries reported strong sales throughout the pandemic, showing that it’s the kind of spirit that provides drinkers a comfort. As any smoky Scotch enthusiast can attest, a sip – or…

The spirited city of Rimouski was built on forestry, oceanographic research, and a fishing fleet that supplies the seafood shops and smokehouses that dot its streets. Smoking fish remains an institution here despite a 1950 lumber yard fire which, fed by the region’s gusty winds, wiped out nearly half the town. Any other fishing community on the planet would have shifted to sushi, but Rimouski thrived on this calamity, rising from the ashes to rebuild bigger and better. Local maple wood still fuels its many smokehouses. Built on three levels, the city resembles an amphitheatre with the St. Lawrence River as its stage. At its western edge, nestled on Pointe-au-Père, whisky makers Jean-François Cloutier and Joël Pelletier operate their striking seaside Distillerie du St. Laurent. Nearing Rimouski along the south…

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WHITE HORSE Created by E. Goodall, from William Tarling’s 1937 Cafe? Royal Cocktail Book This cocktail from the golden era of mixed drinks was likely to have been made with the famous blend of the same name, but here we have used Woven Experience N. 12. • 45ml Woven Experience N.12 (you could also use a subtle smoky whisky such as Johnnie Walker Black Label, or a split base using a quality blended whisky and a dash of peated single malt• 45ml dry vermouth• 20ml Bénédictine• 1 dash Angostura bitters Method Combine all the ingredients in a mixing glass and stir down over ice. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with orange zest. STRAWBERRY & LAPSANG Created by Josh Black for Silverleaf, London Delicate, refreshing, unforgettable – this one takes…

The concepts underlying modern Japanese hospitality and mindfulness – the pillars of omotenashi – are said to have originated in the tea house ceremonies of Kyoto. These extended to the country’s hospitality sector, including, of course, bars. Tokyo may be largely responsible for today’s Japanese bartending techniques and culture, but the country’s dedication to craftsmanship and customer service largely comes from Kyoto. In 2019, pre-pandemic, Kyoto welcomed 87.9 million visitors to the city. This easily dwarfs its population of 1.46 million people that same year. When visiting Kyoto, be it day or night, a great way to escape from the throngs of tourists at popular historic sites is to head to a bar and indulge in some whisky. Like Tokyo, the city offers great bars to well-off tourists, those with…

Jackie Thomson’s whisky career has been inextricably linked with one Scottish distillery, Ardbeg, and its growth over the past 25 years. After originally interviewing for a role at Glenmorangie Distillery in 1996, she moved to Ardbeg a year later and has been with the Islay distillery ever since. In her current role as visitor centre manager she has achieved wide acclaim, including being named Visitor Centre Manager of the Year at the 2013 Icons of Whisky Awards. WHISKY #1 Ardbeg Lord of the Isles For me, nothing beats a dram of Ardbeg: a 1975 vintage gulped from a mug in the infamous storm of 1998 which blew the old tin rooves off the distillery; a creamy 2016 Airigh Nam Beist in the rain at Loch Larnan; hauling 100 mackerel into…

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The Isle of Skye is the second-most-visited place in Scotland after the city of Edinburgh. It draws in some 650,000 visitors each year to delight in its glorious and dramatic scenery, including such instantly Instagrammable locations as the Fairy Pools, Kilt Rock, the Old Man of Storr, and Neist Point. Among the most-visited attractions on Skye is the Talisker distillery, situated in the north-west of the island on the shore of Loch Harport and in the shadow of the mighty Cuillin Hills. Talisker has welcomed up to 75,000 visitors per year of late, or 700 each day at the height of the tourist season, with pre-booking of tours being essential. Reacting to the pressures caused by such large numbers of people on a relatively small site, in the equally small…

In October 1923, Kotobukiya broke ground on the Yamazaki Distillery. A century on, the long-since-renamed Suntory and its domestic rivals are on pace to top 2022’s export value record as an array of innovative releases and industry developments surprise the whisky-watching world, helping to further transform the Japanese whisky landscape and solidify its global reputation. New Japanese whisky standards The last two years have seen sweeping changes in the industry, perhaps anticipating 2023 and the 100th anniversary of the dawn of Japanese whisky production. Over the last two decades, Japanese whisky has moved to the centre of the world stage. Despite this, Japan has until recently had few rules for what these celebrated bottles should contain. It was common practice among some companies to import whisky, bottle it, and export…

Year after year, decade after decade, Johnnie Walker retains its crown as the best-selling spirit in duty free. For a brand more than 200 years old and part of a category regularly derided by whisky devotees as ‘old hat’ compared to sexier single malts, Johnnie Walker has proven remarkably adept at innovation and staying abreast of changing consumer moods – an embodiment of its long-running ‘Keep Walking’ marketing campaign. I was reminded of Johnnie Walker’s chameleon properties on a recent visit to the whisky’s new permanent shop-in-shop at World Duty Free’s London Heathrow Terminal 2 store. The new Johnnie Walker Blue Label outlet was impressive, featuring a giant LED touchscreen which allows shoppers to learn more about the various Scottish regions and distilleries that go into the different blends in…

Whisky companies are often quick to brand their products as innovative, even though most are not truly deserving of the label. However, last year’s A Tale of the Forest from Glenmorangie actually was different, and certainly unique in the modern Scottish whisky landscape. As the story goes, Dr Bill Lumsden, the distillery’s director of distilling and whisky creation, drew inspiration during walks through the woods near his home. The scents, sounds, and sights of the forest itself led him to create a whisky made from barley kilned with woodland botanicals. After experimenting with numerous botanicals, he finally settled on juniper berries, birch bark, and heather flowers. The resulting spirit introduced alternatively smoked whisky to the mainstream. But resourceful distillers around the world have been pioneering new fuel sources for years,…

In 1995, Lochranza Distillery, the first legal distillery on the Isle of Arran in 150 years, was opened by Isle of Arran Distillers. Production started in June of that year and its first whisky was released in 1998 (Scottish actor Ewan McGregor was invited to open the first cask). Over the next two decades the distillery and its whiskies grew in popularity, eventually leading Isle of Arran Distillers to the decision to open a second distillery on the island. Unlike Lochranza, this new distillery would be dedicated to heavily peated spirit with an experimental focus. Like many other parts of Scotland, illicit distilling and smaller hidden stills would not have been uncommon on the Isle of Arran during the early 1800s. However, caught by problems including the difficulty of transporting…

In the whisky sector, sustainability has cemented itself as an agenda staple. The industry is, in many ways, a perfect example of what can be achieved through joined-up thinking, and a dogged determination to do better. Numerous distilleries – Nc’nean, Bruichladdich, and Glengoyne, to name a few – have either achieved, or are on the way to achieving, net-zero status, while GlenWyvis, Scotland’s first crowd-funded whisky distillery, is entirely powered by green energy. Yet the march towards an entirely sustainable future is not without its challenges, and dealing with the environmentally detrimental burning of peat, something long associated with Scotch whisky, is a hurdle that needs to be overcome. Going over old ground The burning of peat, a fuel formed over thousands of years from the partial decomposition of vegetation…

Even in the early days of cocktails, there were whispers of smoky whisky finding its way into mixed drinks. In Jerry Thomas’ iconic 1862 book How to Mix Drinks, Islay whisky was explicitly called for in the Spread Eagle Punch, alongside Monongahela, a now-extinct variety of American rye whisky. Though this may sound like an overpowering concoction, it reveals that smoky whisky was indeed considered a viable ingredient in cocktails during that era. Beyond this early mention, explicit references to smoky whisky in classic cocktail books are rare, leading one to assume that its use in cocktails is a modern trend – but historical context suggests otherwise. Whisky writer Dave Broom notes that in the 1920s, when blended whiskies took over from single malts as the most popular style, the…

To celebrate the 100 years of Japanese whisky, a special event was held at the Tokyo International Forum on 12 April 2023. Organised by Paragraph Publishing, the publisher of Whisky Magazine, the event was also meant to announce to the world the labelling standards for Japanese whisky that were established by the Japan Spirits and Liqueurs Makers Association in 2021. Whisky Luxe Tokyo 2023 turned out to be a remarkable event not just because of the milestone it celebrated, but also because of the highly original format. With so many whisky festivals organised by trade groups in Japan, an oft-heard lament is that they are becoming almost indistinguishable from each other: the same exhibitors, format, and attendees, just a different venue. Whisky Magazine Japan’s head honcho Michael Murphy and his…

With 882 stations across 121 rail lines in the Greater Tokyo area, merely glancing at a public transport map of the city can be intimidating. Certain areas have hundreds or even thousands of places to enjoy a drink, while others may be home to only a handful. Tokyo can appear at first chaotic to even the most hardened jet-setting urbanites. Underneath that lies a city welcoming to virtually anyone looking for a drink at any hour of the day. Characterising a given bar as a ‘Tokyo-style bar’ is a fool’s errand. Some may immediately conjure forth images of Suntory Hibiki backdropped by Nishi-Shinjuku’s glittering skyline out the window of Park Hyatt Tokyo’s New York Bar – both centrepieces of 2003’s Lost in Translation. Others might picture themselves rubbing elbows with…