At The Whisky Exchange, we are very fortunate to be able to bottle some of the world’s rarest and most exclusive whiskies. Joining those hallowed ranks today is a pair of new bottlings from majbe the world’s most sought-after distillery: Karuizawa. These are the next two in our Geishas range – Karuizawa 29 and 31 Year Old: The Murasaki Geishas .

Following on from the Emerald Geishas , launched earlier this year, the Murasaki – aka Imperial Purple for non-Japanese speakers – Geishas are a pair of extremely-limited edition sherry-matured-whiskies.

For more about Karuizawa, check out our introductory blog post...

Last weekend was one of our biggest of the year – The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show . 2018 is a particularly special year, as it marked the tenth edition of the show. Ten years have seen a lot of changes, and the show is now bigger and better than ever – head over to the website  or Tom’s blog post to see what went on.

The thing I look forward to most is the show bottlings. There are two reasons: 1) we choose some really excellent whiskies; and 2) I run the show bottlings stand.

It was a really busy...

Last weekend marked The Whisky Exchange’s 10 ^th annual Whisky Show . I went along for, rather shamefully, the first time – and had my preconceptions utterly annihilated.

InchDairnie’s Ian Palmer and Dave Broom manning a stand at the ScotchWhisky.com Future Trends Lab.

The first – perhaps point-of-this-post-defeating – statement I’d like to make, is that The Whisky Show 2018 was excellent fun. It would be easy to get bogged down in the ‘how’ and ‘why’ and ‘what’ of the show; in analysis and deduction and to make grand, sweeping statements about the state of whisky today. There’s value in...

The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show is almost upon us! It’s our tenth show this year and we’re celebrating in style – we’ve got more whisky than ever before, bigger masterclasses, excellent show bottlings and even a guest spirit…

The Whisky

We’re still building the complete dram list (expect it on the Wednesday before the show, like every year – please stop asking me…) but we’ve broken the 650 mark and are still chasing up the final few bottles.

So far on the list we have whisky from Scotland, England, Wales, Ireland, France, Sweden, Denmark, India, Japan, Australia, Canada, USA, South Africa, Switzerland,...

We’re very fortunate at The Whisky Exchange. Not only do we have one of the world’s widest ranges of great spirits, beers, wines and liqueurs, but we also work with the foremost independent bottlers and get the chance to share exclusive releases with our customers. Usually, those releases are whisky, but every now and again we get something a little out of the ordinary.

Introducing our latest Whisky Exchange exclusive – a single cask of Caroni 2000 , aged for 17 years in Trinidad.

What is Caroni?

If you don’t know Caroni , then worry not – you’re not alone....

It’s time to reveal the final bottle of the Diageo Special Releases 2018 – Cladach .

What is Cladach

For the second year in a row, Diageo have dropped a secret bottle into the line-up, only revealing it on the day of the launch party. It’s a blended Maltwhisky.

While last year’s Collectivum XXVIII was a blend from all of Diageo’s operating Maltwhisky distilleries, Cladach is a bit more selective. The name means ‘coastline’ in gaelic and it was created using whisky from Diageo’s coastal distilleries: Inchgower , Clynelish , Talisker , Oban , Caol Ila and Lagavulin...

So, you love gin. We know how you feel – we’re partial to a G&T too. Or a Negroni, or a Martini…

And for gin lovers, the last 18 months have been fantastic – never before has the UK seen such a colossal variety of carefully crafted, tasty, often boutique-made gin. There is something, indeed, to suit every palate.

But what if we’re missing a trick? What if there’s more out there than the usual botanical blends (great though they are) and fruity Beefeater infusions ? What happens if you take all your botanicals from one particularly rich and diverse...

This year’s Diageo Special Releases have been a bundle of surprises. First, they were announced months earlier than usual , popping up in april in an attempt to beat the annual internet leaks, and now we get to tell you about them a couple of weeks earlier than expected.

There is still one gap in the line-up – there are ten whiskies on the list year, but the tenth is staying a secret until 12 september, the day before they hit the street. We’ll be back then with more details of the final dram – and prices for the whole...

Fettercairn isn’t a well-known whisky. One of Whyte & Mackay’s single malts – along with Dalmore , Jura , Tamnavulin and Invergordon – it’s not received much love from the owners over the past few years. However, Whyte and Mackay has been doing some sprucing up of its whiskies: first Tamnavulin got its first official release in years – Tamnavulin Double Cask – then the Jura range had a complete makeover. Each time, I’ve asked whether it’s Fettercairn’s turn yet. The answer, as of this week, is yes – please welcome the new Fettercairn 12 Year Old .

Fettercairn Village...

[It’s Vermouth Month , and we’ve asked food and wine pairing expert Fiona Beckett to give us her thoughts on what we should be eating when drinking vermouth]

Vermouth has been the big drinks craze of 2018 so far – but if you want to take your enjoyment to the next level you should try it with food. Happily with its relatively modest alcohol content – like sherry, it’s often not much higher than a still wine – it’s a flexible partner for all kinds of dishes, as good a palate-sharpening aperitif as it is a stomach-settling digestif at the end...

The past four years have been interesting for Mortlach . Once a little-known Speysider with a single official bottling and occasional independent releases, it was a whisky fan’s whisky. But back in early 2014, the Mortlach Flora & Fauna 16 Year Old disappeared and a new Mortlach range appeared. Fans were dismajed. But now it’s time for some new Mortlachs – the powers that be were listening.

The entire range is being redone. The new whiskies will be 12, 16 and 20 years old, with rough price points of £50, £80 and £200 respectively – and they’ll be 70cl bottles....

Gin and tonic saves lives. Or at least it did, back when malaria was rife and the powers that be needed to get quinine – one of the most effective anti-malarial substances on the planet – into the populace. Quinine, found in the bark of the cinchona (quina-quina) tree, is notoriously bitter, and it was only by instructing soldiers to mix it with soda water, sugar and gin that the British government could get troops stationed in India to stomach their medicine.

Cinchona bark. Tasty.

Mixing quinine with alcohol wasn’t, however, a British invention (although we do excel in making...

Rum is often seen as a party drink. Drunk in cocktails, over ice, from a coconut, with Coke, on fire, with a slice of lime, from a plastic cup or while wearing a silly hat. And on the one hand, it is that: it’s fun and unlike a lot of fine spirits the producers are mostly happy with the image. But, for years we’ve also had rums hiding in the wings that are worth of competing with the finest spirits in the world. Last night, they took a firm step into the limelight – for the first time, a rum...

Happy Daiquiri Day! The humble Daiquiri is a classic rum cocktail and majbe the simplest one to make at home. But there’s much more to it than there might seem…

What is a Daiquiri?

At its core, a Daiquiri is a rum sour – a mix of rum, lime juice and sugar. Traditionally, you want a light, Cuban style rum and a mix of sweet and sour that will amplify its flavour rather than swamp it. The exact proportions are all down to the maker of the cocktail, and bartenders all have their own opinions – last time I put...

Our latest exclusive whisky releases are here! This time it’s a showcase of one our favourite styles of whisky: the fruit bomb. We’ve teamed up with German indie bottler The Whisky Agency to bring you a pair of fruity drams: one from Bowmore and one from an anonymous Irish distillery.

Bowmore 1998, 19 year old

While Bowmore isn’t that well-known for its fruity drams these days, step back a few decades and you’ve got stacks of fruity whisky. Bowmore from the 1960s is, quite rightly, the most famous, but more recent vintages have also seen the distillery start to reclaim its...

Football. The beautiful game. Or so I am told. I know nothing about sport, and the current World Cup fever has so far passed me by. However, I seem to be winning The Whisky Exchange HQ’s World Cup results prediction pool, and all of a sudden it’s become important to me how the competition turns out. And also, hidden deep beneath my cynical exterior is a modicum of national pride, and the potential of an England team reaching the World Cup final might even inspire me to watch a whole match. If I do, I will no doubt need some...

We like working with Signatory Vintage . They’re well-known for having frankly ridiculous warehouses, packed with some of the best whisky in Scotland, and we’re always happy when they let us have a look at what they have maturing.

Our latest selections from their treasure trove are a pair of whiskies that couldn’t be more different, but at the same time share a common source – they’re both from Glenlivet: Signatory Glenlivet 1981 36 Years Old and Signatory Glenlivet 2007 11 Years Old .

Despite there being 26 years between the whiskies, Glenlivet didn’t change much between the two days...

It’s National Picnic Week and with the weekend looking sunny, it’s time to grab a blanket, some bottles and a sandwich or three, and head into the great outdoors. Caroline has some tips for how to make sure your picnic is best, forged in the fires of the UK’s most competitive al fresco dining experience: the opera at Glyndebourne

The immensely talented musician Richard Stilgoe has a cuttingly brilliant poem about Glyndebourne, which begins:

We’re going to Glyndebourne – my dear what a treat

With Giles’ fiancée (who’s terribly sweet

And frightfully cultured – she’s seen Hedda Gabler

And Five...

[This is the continuation of an old series. Here are the previous instalments if you’d like to catch up – What was a sherry cask , What is a sherry cask and What goes into a sherry cask ]

What is a solera?

The solera system is at the heart of the sherry-ageing process. It is, simply put, a method of continuously blending younger and older sherries to ensure a consistent character over the years.

The solera system of maturation – confusingly, the last tier of the solera is also called the solera. Picture courtesy of SherryNotes

A solera can...

It’s that time of year again: World Gin Day is almost upon us. I’m a big fan already (any excuse to drink gin is a good thing, in my opinion) but this year things are being kicked up to the next level – not only is the  World Gin Day London  festival starting imminently and continuing until Sunday, but it’s also Negroni week. There’s only one thing I like more than an excuse to drink some gin: an excuse to drink a Negroni.

What is a Negroni?

‘My favourite combination of alcohol, alcohol and alcohol.’ –Adrian Barnett. Lapsed whisky blogger...