Time has rolled on a bit. It seems like only yesterday that I was a balding computer programmer, sat at a table in The Whisky Exchange shop in Vinopolis , confronted by 10 excellent whiskies. It was the company’s 10th anniversary tasting, and I was a punter who liked whisky.

The earliest TWE photograph of me, with our customer service queen Ali and Diageo’s Colin Dunn

Move on five years to the present day. I’ve got even less hair and while I still sit in front of a screen all day, I now do so at TWE HQ and attempt to write words...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/09/balblair-2000-1343-twe-exclusive/

For something a bit different, we explored grappa for the first time at our latest Vinopolis  tasting, ably guided by expert Nick Hopewell-Smith.

Grappa expert Nick Hopewell-Smith

It’s fair to say grappa has a bad reputation. At the tasting, we unanimously agreed this is most likely down to first impressions – that complimentary glass you’re given at the end of meal in an Italian restaurant that is almost always the cheapest available and tastes like firewater. Yes, there’s bad grappa – just as there’s bad whisky, vodka or any other drink – but with the Italian spirit not as readily available as the more...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/09/grappa/

After months of speculation and waiting (and hoarding of the Mortlach Flora and Fauna ) the new whiskies from Mortlach are finally here. Well, the first one is –  Mortlach Rare Old .

The new range: Rare Old, Special Strength (exclusive to travel retail), 18yo and 25yo

It’s the entry-level bottling for the new range, which will be completed by 18 and 25 year old whiskies as well as a travel retail exclusive, and is very much a statement of intent. While most people’s only real exposure to Mortlach has been through the Flora and Fauna bottling, there’s a lot more to the...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/08/mortlach-rare-old/

Despite the growth of using brown spirits in mixed drinks, Cognac  has not benefited to the same degree. The same can be said of liqueurs, with Grand Marnier and Domaine du Canton the only two Cognac-based examples that spring to mind. A few years ago, renowned crème de cassis producer Merlet , located in the Fins Bois cru of the region, introduced two Cognac-based fruit liqueurs – one with cassis (blackcurrant) and one with citron (lemon), both bottled at 33% abv. The range was named C² – why you maj ask? It’s simple: each variety is a combination of Cognac and a fruit starting with...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/08/merlet-c2/

While most of the masterclasses at our London shop are focused on the world of whisky, we do like to do something a little different from time to time. With summer most definitely in the air, we were joined by Tom Bartram and Jon Lister of Speciality Brands to show us a range of drinks to keep us going until autumn.

Speciality Brands has a wide-ranging portfolio, and Tom and Jon picked out a few choice selections that work well in summery drinks. We kicked off with Cocchi Americano Rosa , the follow-up to the much-praised  Cocchi Americano . The regular...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/08/summer-spirits-and-cocktails-at-twe-vinopolis/

Every now and then, a new product arrives at TWE that really excites us – unique, with a great back story, or simply an interesting concept. So, when we heard about the release of a French alpine rye, we were eager to find out more.

Vulson is a collaboration between agronomist Frédéric Revol, owner and master distiller at Domaine des Hautes Glaces , and Xavier Padovani – director of Experimental Cocktail Club and former brand ambassador for Hendrick’s Gin and Monkey Shoulder .

Domaine des Hautes Glaces is located in the western Alps – 30 miles south of Grenoble in...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/08/vulson-white-rhino-rye/

There was much excitement when William Grant launched Batch One from Kininvie to the Taiwanese market in the autumn of 2013, the first-ever release from this off-the-radar distillery. But now, UK whisky drinkers have something to get excited about: Batch Two, a 23-year-old Kininvie, is about to be launched in this country. Since it began distilling in 1990, virtually all of Kininvie’s output went into Grant’s blends and the tri-distillery blend Monkey Shoulder , but Kininvie itself stopped operating in late 2010, with William Grant seemingly reluctant to throw its weight behind a third single malt – understandable given...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/08/kininvie/

While there are numerous books about whisky, there are surprisingly few about how to make it, and even fewer about how the whisky industry itself looks at whisky as a thing to be sold. There are books of tasting notes, history and even romantic looks at the world of whisky, some of which we’ve covered in the past in our Classic Book Reviews series ,  but there are only a handful of more academic looks into whisky production and marketing – the last major work was the expensive and now hard to find  Whisky: Technology, Production and Marketing from a decade ago....

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/08/the-science-and-commerce-of-whisky-a-book-review/

Strangely, the UK has fewer whisky festivals than elsewhere in the world. While we have more than 100 of the most famous distilleries in the world sitting north of the Scots border, it’s on the continent that we see the most whisky-enthusiast gatherings.

While we have a range of whisky shows, from the beginner-friendly Whisky Lounge through to our own big-ticket Whisky Show , the enthusiast-run festival is something we see a lot less of. One of my favourites of the past few years has been Maltstock , which takes place in Nijmegen in the eastern Netherlands – it’s a...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/08/dramboree-2014/

American whiskey is booming. From the rye explosion (an explosion in popularity, rather than an actual detonation) a few years back to the huge number of craft distilleries appearing all over the USA, American whiskey of all types is doing very well. Hand in hand with that growth comes the crowning of the elders of this new wave – the distillers who helped kick-start things and are now held up as examples of how things should be done.

Sitting between the big-distillery old guard and the new-wave ‘kids’ is Jess Graber of Stranahan’s. Founded in 2004 after volunteer firefighter Jess met brewer...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/07/tincup-colorado-whiskey-from-indiana/

Sheriff Duncan

If there’s one thing TWE’s whisky guru Duncan Ross loves as much as whisky, it’s westerns. So when he got the chance to talk about both at our latest tasting at Vinopolis, it’s fair to say he jumped at the chance. The theme for the tasting was based around John Sturges’ 1960 film The Magnificent Seven , and Duncan matched each character with a whisky, as well as an icon from the industry.

First up was ‘Chico’, the youngest of the seven (played by Horst Buchholz). Duncan chose cask-master John Glaser of Compass Box to represent Chico, along...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/07/the_magnificent_seven/

Pretty much every day of the year is (Inter)national X day for a variety of values of X, from p illow fights  to m ine awareness and o steoperosis to g in . Somewhere hidden in that range is Tequila and today is its day. So, Happy National Tequila Day!

Now, we totally understand that it’s just a day that was randomly selected by some long-forgotten marketeer to try and shift some Tequila, but we’re Tequila fans at TWE and need little excuse to delve into the world of agave spirits. We’ve written a few times on the blog about how ...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/07/national-tequila-day/

My typical weekend attire

There are many things that work together. Some need no explanation: soap and water, meat and potatoes or fish and chips; some are a little more obscure – Danny DeVito and Arnie , ham and Coca-Cola , strawberries and black pepper. Another combination that fits into the latter category is kummel and golf.  With the 143rd Open Championship already under way, I decided to investigate the little-known link, noticing our golf-club customers were buying an unusually large amount. Anne Bennett, steward at the prestigious Prestwick Golf Club in Ayrshire (which held the first Open in 1860) says they...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/07/kummel/

With around 100 active whisky distilleries in Scotland, it’s inevitable that some get overlooked. One underrated distillery is Glen Moray . The distillery’s range is prominent in supermarkets, but has managed to stay under the radar of the average whisky drinker. I admit that I have been equally guilty, and have only tried Glen Moray on a handful of occasions at whisky shows. So, to rectify that, on a recent trip to Speyside, booking a distillery visit was my top priority.

Glen Moray has had just a handful of owners in its 117 years of operation – founded in 1897 on the site...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/07/glen-moray/

The Brazilian football team maj have struggled to convince so far in the World Cup, but there’s no denying the spectacle their fans have brought to the tournament – a blast of colour, noise and passion.

The Brazilians like their drinks with a bit of style and flair, too, which is where their national spirit, cachaça , comes in. It’s best known in the classic Brazilian cocktail, the Caipirinha (‘little countryside drink’), the deliciously drinkable combo of cachaça, muddled lime, sugar syrup and ice, but there’s more to cachaça than that.

It’s a surprisingly versatile spirit, and given that it’s...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/07/cabana-cachaca/

Distilleries come in all shapes and sizes and I recently took a trip to one of Scotland’s smallest:  Benromach .

Located in the town of Forres in the north of Speyside, the distillery dates to 1898. One of the victims of the distillery closures of 1983 (which saw eight distilleries including Port Ellen and St Magdalene cease production due to lack of demand), it lay dormant for 10 years before being rescued by independent bottler  Gordon & MacPhail in 1993, with production recommencing five years later.

The Benromach 10k was about to start, but I was in a hurry to taste

...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/07/benromach-10k-or-not-10k/

David Allen, a key member of the Springbank team

It’s hard to think that Campbeltown was once the whisky capital of the world. With just three distilleries in operation in the area now, you wonder what happened to the other 27 that were there in the 1800s. Campbeltown isn’t the easiest of places to get to. There’s no train station, so your options are a three-hour drive, a four-hour bus journey, or a flight in a tiny plane on to one of the longest runways in the world. But however you get there, it’s well worth the visit. Were it...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/06/springbank-distillery/

The Elements of Islay range of whiskies is one that’s very close to my heart. While it’s bottled by our sister company, Speciality Drinks Ltd, the TWE Blog team often help out when putting together a new release. The first whisky I helped select after starting work in the drinks industry was Kh1, a surprisingly hard choice between three excellent cask samples, and the Elements have stuck with me ever since. From Kh1 onwards, I’ve at least had a taste of the new releases before they’ve hit the shelves, and have offered up my palate to help choose casks and...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/06/elements-of-islay-billy-abbott-edition/

The 2014 World Cup is finally ready (even if the stadiums aren’t), so with this fantastic feast of football to look forward to, here are the teams to watch. And if you can’t decide who to follow, then why not go for the team that matches your taste in whisky?

The Seleção Brasileira are gunning for World Cup glory on home soil

Brazil
Everyone’s second-favourite team, Brazil are strongly tipped to add to their tally of five World Cups, thanks to Neymar (one of the hottest talents around at the moment), although the pressure on them from the home crowd...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/06/world-cup-2014/

Buying the perfect present for Father’s Day isn’t easy, we know that. Once you’ve run through the usual presents (socks, hankies, golf pitchmark repairer), inspiration can run dry.

But here at The Whisky Exchange, we have just the thing. Or things, actually. We have put together a trio of fantastic deals that will make your whisky-loving dad’s day. All three include a ticket to our fantastic Whisky Show , which offers hundreds of whiskies to sample, as well as masterclasses , Dream Drams  and top-notch food .

Here’s a little bit of what went on at the show last year.

...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/06/perfect-fathers-day-gift/