In the second part of our exclusive interview, Jim Murray explains his strict rules for choosing his World Whisky of the Year, his response to critics of the Whisky Bible, and his retirement plans. You can read part one here .

Jim Murray chats to Stuart of The Whisky Exchange

How do you go about tasting for your Whisky Bible ? It averages out at 1,200 [whiskies]. It’s a good day if I’ve done 20, I’m concentrating so hard. I’ve had a number of girlfriends from different countries, and come the evening, they go quiet, because they’ve spent all day...

In the first part of our exclusive interview, Jim Murray tells Stuart how Lord Lucan helped him get into whisky, how he helped create the rye boom, and why sulphur is the enemy of a great dram…

Jim Murray, whisky writer and author of the Whisky Bible

Before you wrote about whisky, you were a Fleet Street reporter. How did you get involved in journalism? I was still at school. I covered league cricket at the age of 14, so earned my first pennies at that tender age. After school, I wouldn’t go home, I would go to the paper...

The whisky market moves quickly. In the past year, we’ve seen hundreds of new releases at The Whisky Exchange – single casks, special editions, ongoing bottlings and the occasional relaunch. However, with so many whiskies zipping through the shops, it’s impossible to try them all. With so many new fans coming to whisky in the past few years, not only have we (myself included) missed out on loads of drams, but there are lots of older whiskies we’ve not had a chance to try.

Some old bottles, earlier this week

By older I not only mean ‘matured for a long...

The Whisky Exchange blog was busier than ever in 2016, with so much happening in the drinks world to talk about, from shock EU rulings to legendary masterclasses and cool cocktail trends. Here are some of our favourite stories, tastings and discoveries from last year.

Age matters

Three events got a big response on our blog in 2016. The first was the shock news that all spirits, including whisky, would be required by law to carry an age statement by 2017 . The EU legislation required distillers to declare all ingredients and additives on the label, as well as the...

Regular blog readers maj remember I wrote about Kavalan in maj , when master blender Ian Chang hosted a TWE tasting . Inspired by this, I took a trip to Taiwan to see the distillery for myself.

Kavalan distillery is located on the edge of Yilan City in north-eastern Taiwan

The eastern Taiwanese region of Yilan County, where Kavalan’s distillery is located, has the purest spring water in the country. The site was originally founded as a bottling plant for owner King Car’s Green Time Natural Drinking Water, which still takes place there today, with the whisky-producing element being added...

There are hundreds of reasons why you might find yourself in a bar or party and not want to drink, and it certainly isn’t something to be judged or punished for, let alone find yourself relegated to the children’s table. I’d go so far as to say there’s a particular place in Hades reserved for bartenders who make you sip sickly-sweet mixtures of juice garnished with an umbrella while your friends enjoy a sophisticated Manhattan.

The cocktail industry has completely transformed itself since the 1990s, but for some reason, mocktails were left behind doing the Macarena with Emma Bunton. While...

Despite our name, we don’t just sell whisky at The Whisky Exchange; far from it. In fact, we have nearly 4,000 spirits , liqueurs and Champagnes to choose from. The TWE blog team cast our minds back across the past 12 months to pick the favourite non-whisky we each tried this year.

Stuart

For me, there was one spirit in 2016 that stood out a mile: Plantation Pineapple Rum . The name put me off initially, as I was expecting something too sweet for my palate, but when I tasted it, I was hooked: a rich, spicy rum with Christmas...

Not sure what to get for Christmas ? Join the club. Because of the buffer of a non-working day between now and Christmas on Sunday, I’ve tricked myself into thinking I’ve got a hold on my Christmas shopping this year, when actually I’ve still got a handful of family members to buy for. For many, the task of Christmas shopping has still not sunk in and it’s our duty to remind you that our UK Standard Delivery ends at 5pm on Thursday 22 december . So, last orders, please! If you are still missing a gift for that impossible somebody,...

As we approach the end of 2016, it’s time to look back at the TWE blog team’s favourite whiskies of the past 12 months. It doesn’t have to be a new release; just the drams we happened to taste this year that we loved the most. So, what did we go for? Read on…

Stuart

My choice goes to a whisky from a distillery that’s under the radar for most drinkers, despite sharing a name with a rather famous mountain that happens to be Britain’s tallest: Ben Nevis . Located in the western Highlands, the distillery stays firmly in the...

When it comes to drinking whisky, one of the greatest pleasures is sharing a dram. While there is joy in solitary sipping, teasing apart the flavours in a glass with others adds another level to the enjoyment of whisky. There are few other drinks where enthusiasts so regularly meet up to share bottles.

We organise regular tastings here in London, but that’s not all that helpful for folks who live farther afield. So, we are very pleased to introduce The Perfect Measure Tasting Sets :

A range of tasting sets put together by our team here at The Whisky Exchange, each...

Christmas is the ideal time to relax and share a glass or two of something good, but why not step out of your comfort zone and try something different? I’ve picked five festive drinks that are ideal to try this time of year. Unleash the spirit of Christmas!

1. Sipsmith Mince Pie Gin Gift Set

The smell of mince pies baking in the oven is an instant nostalgia hit, sending me straight back to my childhood and my mum tirelessly making batches of them. It’s the combination of hot pastry and rich, spicy filling that does the trick, and for...

Fortified wines are one of life’s true delights, offering a world of flavours between tart citrus and fruity caramel sweetness, delivering a sipping alcohol without packing the punch of boozy spirits. It’s this lack of staggering alcohol percentages that allows fortified wines to have a plethora of complex notes and aromas which make them perfect as a solo beverage or integrated into a delicious mixed drink.

For some, a rich port is indistinguishable from the celebrations of Christmas Day, while others maj fondly recall glasses of Madeira after lengthy lunches and nips of sherry in a favoured cocktail late into...

Ever since I’ve worked in the wine trade, december means a flood of texts and emails asking which wine I should buy for Christmas. I’m happy helping friends and family choose the perfect bottle, and always will be. But now that I’m working for a whisky company, those questions have become ‘My uncle is a huge whisky buff, what should I get him?’ to ‘My brother doesn’t know a lot about whisky but wants a bottle for Christmas – help!’

I’m not expert enough on whisky (yet), so I’m trying to find a solid, dependable bottle that will tick most...

We’ve got a great Black Friday deal this year – but unlike some retailers, we’re not slashing prices. We’re taking one of our favourite whiskies and charging more for it – or are we?

Glendronach 15 Year Old Revival is a sherry-matured classic, brimming with Christmas spices, dried fruit and roasted nuts. It’s a delicious whisky, particularly at this time of year, and it was a deserved winner of The Whisky Exchange Whisky of the Year in 2015.

The whisky was discontinued in 2015, and has been very hard to find ever since, but we’ve been lucky enough to find...

I’ll be honest – it took me a while to get into gin . My spirits education began with dark, not white spirits, and it was only a few years ago that I learned to appreciate a refreshing G&T. But now I’m also a huge fan of sloe gin . If you’ve never tried it, it’s rich, warming and fruity – a delicious winter drink that keeps out the cold but is not heavy or cloying. It works in summer, too, with a splash of ice or tonic, but the mercury is falling in thermometers all over the UK right...

Shopping online is great. I know we’re biased, but being able to choose what you want to buy from the comfort of your sofa and then having it delivered to your front door makes life very easy. However, there’s one part of the real-life shopping experience that’s really hard to replicate – chatting with folks in the shop.

Those of you who’ve visited our Covent Garden shop will know that having staff who know drinks like the backs of their collective hands is key to a great shopping experience. While we have our Twitter account , Facebook page  and customer...

In the UK, Bonfire Night has barely passed before stores put up their Christmas decorations and supermarkets launch their heartstring-tugging festive adverts. Not so in the USA, where my home country sets its sights on the most patriotic holiday of them all: Thanksgiving.

Politics in the USA is incredibly divisive, but one thing most Americans can agree on is the joy of getting nearly a half a working week off to celebrate Thanksgiving.

What’s great about this holiday, and why Americans love it so much, is that it is an American holiday that no one else celebrates. We invented it...

Christmas is a time to relax and enjoy a well-earned rest, accompanied by delicious food and drink. It’s also a time for festive parties and friends popping round at a moment’s notice, so it’s important to have a well-stocked drinks cabinet. But don’t panic – we’ve picked five essential bottles that are all crowd-pleasers, and will ensure your guests go home happy.

Your five festive essentials: whisky, port, Champagne, vermouth and Cognac

1. WHISKY

Well, you wouldn’t expect us to start with anything else, would you? If you’re after a versatile dram, you can’t go wrong with Benriach 12 Year...

A few of us ladies at TWE HQ are on a mission – to get more women involved in drinking the hard stuff (responsibly, of course). Far too often we have found ourselves sitting in a whisky tasting where we are the minority sex in the audience. This has to change; cue our very first women-only whisky tasting: Ladies Night.

The Ladies Night whisky tasting was held at The Whisky Exchange shop in Covent Garden, London

Our host for the evening was Becky Paskin, whisky writer and editor of scotchwhisky.com , who says that writing about and tasting whisky for...

Kirsteen Campbell is master blender for both  The Famous Grouse  and  Cutty Sark . We caught up with her to ask her about blended whisky, single malts and more.

What are the key stylistic and flavour profiles of Famous Grouse you keep in mind when creating a new batch? First and foremost, it’s important to ensure consistency for every batch – while there might be slight tweaks in terms of casks batch to batch, it’s essential that the flavour remains the same. For Famous Grouse we are looking for its signature sherry style – dried fruits and spices from European oak...