It’s the season of prize draws at The Whisky Exchange, and the next on the list of great whiskies to win is an impressive set from Dalmore .

With legendary master blender Richard Paterson travelling the world extolling the virtues of the distillery’s whisky, it’s unsurprising that Dalmore has the reputation that it does. Roll in their impressive stocks of old whisky and a history stretching back 1839, and you have a distillery that’s been turning heads for a long while.

We’ve put together a set of three incredible whiskies to give away to one lucky customer:

Dalmore 18 – the...

It’s the first week of november, which means it’s time for a new Spirit and Malt of the Month! And this time we’re going big.

First up is one of the most popular well-aged rums that we have – Appleton Estate 21 Year Old . Made in Jamaica on the eponymous estate, it’s a rich and complex sipping rum that pairs up perfectly with the autumn weather. Normally £140 a bottle, we’re knocking £41 off for the whole of november – that’s a discount of almost 30%.

Stu’s a big fan, so I asked nicely and he forced himself to...

Gordon & MacPhail (G&M) have hit the headlines by releasing two exceptionally old and rare whiskies from Mortlach – a 70 Year Old launched at Edinburgh Castle in 2010, and a 75 Year Old that first appeared this autumn, billed by G&M as ‘the world’s most exclusive single Maltwhisky’.

The four G&M Mortlachs shown at the first Whisky Show Masterclass of 2015 (Image © Simon J Hanna)

The latter was the star attraction at the first Masterclass of the 2015 Whisky Exchange Whisky Show , hosted by G&M sales director Stephen Rankin and ably assisted by whisky writer Charlie MacLean....

As the weather turns colder, my after-dinner drinks change from light, summery whiskies to brandy. One of my favourites is Delamain , known for its elegant yet complex Cognacs . We recently welcomed MD Charles Braastad to TWE to showcase the range.

Charles Braastad, MD of Delamain, does his best Chancellor of the Exchequer pose

In their own words – Charles Braastad

‘People say the Cognaçais distil their wine as it’s too bad to drink. We intentionally make it undrinkable as acidic wine produces the best brandy ‘

‘The governing body [ BNIC ] stops checking the age of the eaux-de-vie once it reaches...

In 2006, father-and-son team James and Andrew Nelstrop opened the first stand-alone single Maltwhisky distillery in England since the closure of Lea Valley Distillery in 1903. James had always dreamed of making whisky and his son helped to make that dream a reality.

Distillation began at St George’s in 2006

The original concept was to build a micro-distillery in a shed to produce one or two barrels a year, but as regulations at the time only allowed distillation in stills no smaller than 1,800 litres, the Nelstrops felt they had no choice but to build a full-size distillery –...

It was billed as the most expensive whisky tasting ever staged, and there was an appropriately reverent, almost nervous air as people took their seats for this one-off tasting of five extremely rare Karuizawa whiskies at The Whisky Show. Every seat was sold and the event was hugely over-subscribed, despite the £6,000 ticket price, which included an ultra-rare bottle of Karuizawa 1983 (limited to just 50) that all attendees took away with them; all proceeds from the tasting have gone to charities helping those affected by the devastating earthquakes in Nepal.

The five whiskies tasted in the Karuizawa Nepal Charity Tasting...

Each year, Diageo launches a small number of limited-edition whiskies from its distilleries under the Special Releases banner. None have ever been seen before, so unsurprisingly, interest (and demand) is high when they hit the market.

There are nine single malts in the 2015 Diageo Special Releases line-up

I was lucky enough to get a sneak preview of this year’s Special Releases that we’ll be stocking over the next few weeks. The whiskies are a mixture of ages (and price brackets), from both closed and operating distilleries, and this year, there are nine new whiskies to taste. They are:

• Brora...

We like a birthday at TWE. With our 15th anniversary year drawing to a close, we’ll happily use anyone else as an excuse to continue the party, and the folks at Compass Box have stepped up. They kicked off their celebrations in april with the launch of Hedonism Quindecimus , and have followed it up with a pair of new releases launching today – Flaming Heart Fifth Edition and This is not a luxury Whisky .

First up, Flaming Heart. The first edition appeared in 2006 as the result of Compass Box founder John Glaser’s experiments with new French oak –...

‘This is a moment in history. This will never be repeated.’ A dramatic introduction from our host Dave Broom , but fully warranted. The final Masterclass of the 2015 Whisky Exchange Whisky Show featured more than 150 years’ experience in the whisky industry, nine unforgettable whiskies, and three legends of whisky – a trio of the biggest names in the business. Each one presented three whiskies: one they were involved in making; a whisky they consider legendary; and a whisky brought specially for the masterclass.

From left: Jim McEwan, Richard Paterson, David Stewart, Dave Broom (Photo: © Simon J Hanna)

THE LEGENDS...

I’m a huge James Bond fan. Ever since my mum took me to see Moonraker at the Chelmsford Odeon, I was hooked. If I’m channel-hopping at home and find a Bond film on (which is surprisingly quite often), then it stays on until the end. I even sleep with a Walther PPK under my pillow ( you’re being silly now – Ed ). For me, there is just something very comforting about a Bond film – the nostalgia, the glamour and the sheer over-the-top absurdity of it all, typified in 007’s penchant for throwaway gags after dispatching a baddie (‘ He...

At The Whisky Show , I have either the best or worst job in TWE’s editorial team. Rocky is king of the masterclasses , setting up, breaking down and generally keeping the ship on an even keel; Stu runs around recording, whether looking after our videographer or sitting in on masterclasses and Q&A sessions with a notepad; I stand behind the Show Bottlings stand, talking about whisky for the whole weekend.

I know which I prefer.

Have you seen these men? Evidence of me, Rocky and Stu working

This year’s show bottlings cover a spectrum of flavours and styles. As...

Something a little different for our latest TWE Vinopolis tasting – Indian single malt. It has taken time for Indian whiskies to be taken seriously by traditional whisky drinkers, but the best now stand toe-to-toe with their Scotch counterparts – and sometimes beat them. Our host was the engaging Ashok Chokalingam from Amrut Distillery , based in Bangalore in southern India.

In Their Own Words – Ashok Chokalingam

‘ When you say “India”, you say “chicken tikka masala” or “Bollywood” , but “single Maltwhisky”? No chance!’

‘ India is the largest consumer of whisky in the world – 350 million cases a...

Each month, we choose a whisky  and a  spirit that we particularly like and knock a chunk off the price. Now and again, we do the same thing with and Champagne . We’re nice like that. oktober is no exception, and we’re delighted to be able to offer three cracking deals on a trio of great products: the whisky is a rich, smoky dram from Caol Ila ; the rum is a dark, full-flavoured bottling from Bacardi ; and the Champagne is a classic example from the renowned house of Veuve Clicquot .

Let’s start with our Malt of the Month...

Back in april, I wrote about Midleton Dair Ghaelach , a new Irish pot still whiskey finished in Irish virgin oak. That post concentrated more on the sourcing and treatment of the wood; this post is all about the whiskey, which has just arrived at TWE HQ.

Midleton’s master of maturation Kevin O’Gorman (left) shares a toast with master blender Billy Leighton

Dair Ghaelach (‘Irish oak’) is a blend of whiskeys aged between 15 and 22 years in refill bourbon casks, before a 10-month spell in Irish virgin oak. Midleton began experimenting with Irish oak several years ago, and were...

I love it when people send me whisky, and a nice drop of Dalwhinnie ? Great.

Winter’s Gold is the latest in Diageo’s No Age Statement versions of core Classic Malts , following on from the likes of Talisker Skye and Oban Little Bay. Reading between the lines of marketing hyperbole, Diageo, along with nearly every brand owner, is struggling with stock levels and these new lines help protect the existing product range, rather than replace them. It seems a small price to pay, if we can keep the whiskies we already know and love.

Dalwhinnie Winter’s Gold. In ice?...

Hot on the heels of The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show comes London Cocktail Week (LCW), a celebration of London’s best mixology and cool cocktails. LCW is run by our sister company, DrinkUp.London , who also organise the fabulous London Beer Week and London Wine Week , and they have a knack of uncovering the best places to drink in the capital.

London Cocktail Week 2015 is bigger and better than ever…

This year’s LCW is its biggest yet, with a host of events for whisky lovers from some of the industry’s best-known and best-loved producers from Scotland, Ireland, Japan and...

It’s that time of year again. The office is really busy, new whiskies are appearing in every corner, emails containing huge lists of things are zipping around and I’m working on a weekend – it’s time for The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show .

Lots more details have appeared on the Whisky Show website since we last wrote about the event  in februari . Back then all we knew was that the venue had changed and that the theme was  Legends of Whisky . Now, we’ve only got a few  masterclass tickets left, we know what’s on the brasserie menu ,...

We always look forward to new releases from Speciality Drinks Ltd. As a sister company of The Whisky Exchange, we hear whispers of what’s coming next and get an occasional taste, and we’ve been eagerly awaiting this latest launch – four new releases in the Port Askaig range of single malts.

Port Askaig. The petrol pump is out of shot behind the trees on the left…

Rather than a distillery, Port Askaig is one of the two main ports on Islay , and if you’ve visited the island by ferry, there’s a 50/50 chance that you’ve been there. It’s not a...

Every sport has that jaw-dropping moment (inevitably with matching commentary) that stays in the memory for years to come. For football it’s Kenneth Wolstenholme and the fourth goal in the 1966 World Cup Final; there’s Michael Jordan’s ‘ The Shot ‘ in basketball; and tennis has the Chang/Lendl Match at the 1989 French Open . For rugby it’s ‘ the greatest try ever scored ‘ (aka ‘that try’) scored by Gareth Edwards for the Barbarians against New Zealand at Cardiff Arms Park on 27 januari 1973 – here it in is full 1970s televisual glory:

The 2015 Rugby World Cup starts this evening, with...

Sugar cane – where it all begins…

Continuing our efforts to tell everyone about rum, here is a very strange spirit that I really like: Clairin Sajous .

Clairin is a style native to Haiti, similar in production and character to agricole rum. That makes sense, as it’s the style most associated with France, and Haiti was a French colony before gaining independence in 1904. It’s a rough-and-ready spirit rarely seen off the island, but thankfully we’ve now got the chance to try it without flying to Haiti.

Luca Gargano, rum legend

The reason we can now try clairin in Europe is Luca Gargano of Velier,...