The past decade has seen a huge rise in the popularity of smoky whisky. This jump is one of the main reasons why we’ve seen prices for Islay whisky shoot through the roof in recent years, but fortunately, Islay isn’t the only source for a smattering of smoke.

While Scottish islands are best known for smoke ( Islay in general, Talisker from Skye, Ledaig from Mull, Highland Park from Orkney), the use of peat to dry barley was once more widespread across Scotland. While that died out with the introduction of smokeless fuels many years ago, the tradition has been...

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There are some dates that stick in the memory – Thursday 9 november 1989 is one of them. The day east met west, the day the Berlin Wall fell. Today marks the 25th anniversary since the border was officially reopened, and to commemorate this, I thought I’d take a look at some of my favourite hidden gems produced in modern-day Germany.

Demonstrations at The Berlin Wall in 1989. Image by Lear 21  at  en.wikipedia

It’s often said how quickly the world changes – to put it into context, here’s some things that happened at the end of 1989:

• North America’s first commercial dial-up internet connection
...

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It’s cold, it’s dark, people are starting to wear winter coats, and Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible has appeared. There’s still one thing missing: the Diageo Special Releases.

The full set of Diageo Special Releases 2014

While Rocky got a pre-pre-launch tasting a few weeks ago, the main launch party was on Tuesday night, and the bottles have hit our shelves today. If you’re in a rush, you can find the complete list of available bottles here . If you’re after the Port Ellen or Brora, I’d head over there immediately – they don’t usually last long.

In case you’ve not heard of...

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Bruichladdich maj have reduced their myriad number of bottlings in recent years, but they still know how to grab a headline or two. The progressive Hebridean distillers have just unveiled two latest additions to the range, one of which is the most heavily peated whisky of all time.

The first, 2008 Port Charlotte , uses Islay barley from six farms, and is matured in a mixture of US and European oak. The second, Octomore 2009 Edition 06.3 , uses barley from Octomore Farm and is cut with Octomore spring water, so they could have called it Octomore³. Its peating level...

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Update : If you want to see all of the winners in stock then head to our Whisky Bible 2015 page .

The latest edition of Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible  has hit the shelves, and in usual fashion, his results are a little controversial.

While the number two and three positions in his top five whiskies are held by two of his Buffalo Trace Antique Collection favourites, the sold-out William Larue Weller and Sazerac Rye 18yo from last year, his number one is a first.

It’s a Japanese whisky – Yamazaki Sherry Cask 2013 .

It went on sale on our...

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This year I decided to overcome the post- Whisky Show blues by visiting a distillery (and a country) that’s been on my bucket list for a few years – Sweden’s  Mackmyra . ‘The founders wanted to create a whisky that was Swedish. But what did that mean? It had never been done before’, area sales manager (and half-Scot) Lisa Collins told me – a statement that highlights the ethos of the distillery from the beginning.

I made a brief stop at the original Mackmyra distillery – operational 1999-2013

The distillery, named after the village in which the originally distillery was located, is...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/10/mackmyra-a-very-swedish-style-of-whisky/

The Cognac world is dominated by four houses – Courvoisier , Hennessy , Martell and Rémy Martin , who control 85% of the industry between them – but for the latest Whisky Exchange tasting at Vinopolis , the focus was right at the other end of the scale.

Guillemette de Couesnongle

Delamain is one of the oldest, and also one of the smallest producers of Cognac. Founded in 1762, the company is still family owned (although Champagne house Bollinger has a 34% share), and what really sets Delamain apart from most of its competitors is that it does not produce ...

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The first Masterclass of The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show  aptly celebrated the first single malt brand – Glenfiddich .

UK brand ambassador Mark Thomson

Led by newly appointed UK brand ambassador Mark Thomson, the Masterclass charted the history of the distillery, with six expressions ranging from the 1960s to the present day. Glenfiddich’s history dates from 1887 and was one of only six Scottish distilleries to operate throughout Prohibition. When the distillery’s owners, William Grant & Sons, built Girvan grain distillery in the early 1960s, the decision was made to differentiate malt whisky from grain. And so in 1963, Glenfiddich became the first single malt (labelled...

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If you have a look at The Whisky Exchange website today, you maj notice a few differences. By which I mean we’ve totally revamped the site.

Our new front page – isn’t it pretty?

We’ve been doing little tweaks over the past few years, but we decided that it was time to overhaul the site’s look and feel, as well as drop in a few new bits and pieces that you’ve been asking for. Here’s a quick rundown of what’s new.

First up is the new look. The site is now mobile friendly, with a responsive design that will work...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/10/a-new-look-for-twe-website-updates/

One of the standout Masterclasses at The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show saw the launch of Gordon & MacPhail’s new Private Collection Ultra series – a range of four single-cask whiskies, each selected by a branch of the third and fourth generations of the Urquhart family.

Four members were present: Stephen Rankin, Laura, Michael and Richard Urquhart – each presenting one of the whiskies in the line-up – along with whisky writer Jonny McCormick who wrote the official tasting notes. The Masterclass also served as a farewell to outgoing managing director Michael Urquhart, who joined the family business in 1981 and...

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The inimitable Colin Dunn took tasters through six rare Brora malts at The Whisky Show Masterclass

The headline Masterclasses at The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show are guaranteed to be special. This year’s line-up included a rare chance to taste six whiskies from legendary closed distillery  Brora , in the epically titled Aurora Brorealis , led by Diageo whisky ambassador Colin Dunn.

Brora has had an eventful history – founded in 1819, under its original name of Clynelish, it closed in 1968, after its owners built another distillery (also called Clynelish) virtually next door the same year. However, an unexpected drought on   Islay  that summer...

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The stunning line-up for Dave Broom’s Whisky Show Masterclass, I Did It My Way

While there are hundreds of delicious drams to be had at The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show , our excellent Masterclasses raise the bar a notch higher, offering a taste of some of the rarest malts in the world. One such example was I Did It My Way, hosted by drinks writer Dave Broom, which showcased half-a-dozen independently bottled whiskies chosen by TWE Director Sukhinder Singh.

I’ve tried plenty of whiskies in my time, but my favourites have only emerged sporadically over the years, with gems appearing...

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We like parties at TWE, and one excuse for a shindig that we we get involved with every year is Diwali – the Festival of Lights. A celebration of the triumph of light over darkness, the sky is full of fireworks at the end of oktober (and we eat quite a lot of sweets).

To celebrate the festival this year, we’ve got together with the Paul John Distillers , the most recent makers of Indian single Maltwhisky to bring their wares to the UK, to run a big prize draw:

Buy a bottle of one of the four Paul John whiskies below, and...

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Dewar’s is one of the best-known names in whisky, but if I asked you to name all the single-malt distilleries they own (without Googling), could you do it? Well, if you said Aberfeldy , Aultmore , Craigellachie , Macduff and Royal Brackla , have a gold star.

Dewar’s was bought by Bacardi for just over £1bn from Diageo in 1998, and while their blends sell well around the world, particularly in the States, there has been little activity on the single malt front – until now. Bacardi has big plans for all five distilleries, and is planning to release a...

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The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show is just a couple of days away. We’ve been preoccupied over the past few weeks getting things ready, but with one day to go, I’ve had a moment’s respite to write about the special whiskies we’ll be releasing at the show.

Stu’s already mentioned the  new Elements of Islay that we showcased at Whisky Live Paris last week, along with the new Port Askaig 15yo that will be appearing online soon, but we have more new whiskies at the show.

On the show bottlings stand, we can now reveal that along with the seven new ...

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oktober’s Malt of the Month is Glenmorangie Lasanta 12 Year Old , an oloroso-sherry-finished whisky that is part of the extra-matured range that also includes Quinta Ruban (ruby port finish) and Nectar D’Or (Sauternes finish). The Highland distillery is regarded as a pioneer of wood finishing, having introduced a range in the mid-1990s, although The Balvenie had been finishing their Classic in sherry butts since the early-1980s (without mentioning it).

Lasanta was launched towards the end of the Noughties as a no-age-statement expression, being upgraded in summer 2010 to a 12-year-old. It is aged for the first 10 years in American white oak ex-bourbon casks, before being finished in oloroso sherry...

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While we’re focused on The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show this week, life does continue after it. The show is not only an excellent thing in its own right, but is also the opening event of a now-yearly fixture in London’s drinking calendar – London Cocktail Week , running from 6-12 oktober.

It’s run by our sister company ABV Global, and takes place across 200 London bars, as well as a number of pop-ups and ‘hubs’. The core of the week is your LCW wristband, which costs £10 at the moment, and gets you cocktails for the knock-down price of £4...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/09/london-cocktail-week-2014-whisky-delights-on-offer/

Ears always prick up at TWE HQ when we hear about new bottlings of the ever-popular Elements of Islay range. Bottled by our sister company Speciality Drinks Ltd, Elements is a celebration of all things Islay, offering an alternative to the standard line-up of distillery bottlings – and three additions to the range will be available very soon.

We aren’t allowed to reveal the identity of any of the whiskies (although you don’t need to be Sherlock Holmes to work them out), but each one is a brilliant expression of their distillery, and shows that Islay whiskies have far more...

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Andy

There’s less than two weeks to go, and we’re almost there. The office is buzzing with talk of The Whisky Show , and we can’t wait to welcome you all there.

Since joining TWE last year, my main focus has been making the Whisky Show bigger and better than before. Having seen it grow and improve over the past five years, this seemed like quite the challenge, but I feel confident that you’ll enjoy the new features of the Show.

With even more whisky than ever, we decided to provide you with an extra hour per day to enjoy...

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With The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show rapidly approaching, we have some work to do in our London shop to get ready. As such we will be changing our opening hours over the coming week to avoid any banging and crashing while our customers are perusing the shelves.

PLEASE NOTE: web orders are unaffected by these changes.

It won’t be this extreme

Here’s the schedule:

Friday 26 september: Midday-9pm
Saturday 27 september: 10.30am-8pm
Sunday 28 september:  CLOSED
Monday 29 september: Midday-7pm
Tuesday 30 september: Midday-7pm

We’ll back to normal as of Wednesday 1 oktober, but will be running slightly different hours over...

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