For many people, making it in Hollywood is the culmination of their dreams. For Rocky Patel, it was more like the beginning. Born in Mumbai and raised in India and Wisconsin, Patel was a high-powered Hollywood lawyer when he fell in love with scotch and cigars. Soon, he decided that the only thing more exciting than living the luxury lifestyle was sharing it with others. Patel took a chance in the waning days of the 1990s cigar boom and charged into the premium cigar industry. Today, the founder and CEO of Rocky Patel Premium Cigars is an evangelist for sophisticated...

This cooling whisky treat was created by bartender Donna Francis in Tuscon, Arizona. “The black tea supports the smokier, woodier notes of the Dewar’s, while the peach jam really spotlights the vanilla and baked apple notes in this drink,” Francis says. “The butter pecan ice cream echoes the nutty, vanilla, caramel creaminess from the Dewar’s and adds a fun plot twist into the mix.”...

Created by Dickie Brennan and his team at...

Created by Adrian Grossman, head bartender at...

This boozy milkshake comes from...

Created by Alex Witt, bartender at...

Wild Turkey says they dwell around the middle floors of the rickhouses. Buffalo Trace has been trying to nurture them in closely monitored captivity. Anchor Distilling has never even seen any. Chuck Cowdery, Whisky Advocate contributor, thinks whether they do or don’t truly exist is purely a “subjective assessment,” while Georgie Bell, global malts ambassador for Bacardi , has never even heard of them.

We’re talking about honey barrels, those almost-mythological whisky barrels that are supposedly the pinnacle of taste perfection—if you can actually find them.

Honey barrel maj be a new term to many whisky drinkers, but it’s seemingly...

Scotch whisky has often traded on its history, and some producers have even sought to recreate whiskies of the past, like Macallan with its Decades Series, Glenfiddich’s The Original 1963 , and Mackinlay’s Shackleton whisky, replicated by Whyte & Mackay a few years ago. Those products all drew on existing stocks of old whisky to match the modern flavor profile. No one had dreamed of attempting to recreate a whisky that no longer exists at all.

That is, until now. The Lost Distillery Company releases Scotch whiskies named for distilleries that haven’t operated for decades. The blended malts aren’t meant...

Visitors to New York Distilling Company can enjoy this Manhattan at its in-house bar,...

Whiskies are released for all sorts of special occasions, including...

Making homemade ice cream is a bit like mixing a cocktail: it’s an easy way to impress, as long as you follow a good recipe. And like a good cocktail, ice cream can include a kick of whisky, making for a refreshing, delicious spiked frozen treat.

Incorporating whisky into your ice cream is pretty simple, and once you feel confident making a batch of basic bourbon vanilla, you can play around with other flavors, using your favorite cocktails as inspiration. From the Manhattan to the Mint Julep, you’ll wonder why you didn’t add whisky to your ice cream machine sooner....

Peat is one of the most unique, expressive, and occasionally polarizing flavors encountered in whisky. The densely compressed, long-decayed vegetation was traditionally used as a fuel source in rural and remote parts of Scotland—so it was also used to dry barley during the malting process , thus imparting its signature smoky and medicinal aromas and tastes to the core ingredient of scotch. Peat-dried barley contains phenols , a class of chemical compounds that impart what we perceive as peated, smoky flavors. Phenol levels are measured in parts per million, or PPM —it doesn’t take a lot of phenol for us...

This Old Fashioned variation incorporates a touch of absinthe. Created by Nick Bennett of New York City’s...

T here is nothing glamorous about the production of grain whisky. Hammered out on clunky column stills, usually on an industrial scale, using cheaper ingredients like corn, grain whisky is traditionally reserved as filler for blended whiskies, be they scotch, Irish, or Japanese. On its own, grain is the black sheep of the whisky family. But misconceptions be damned.

At its best, the spirit offers supreme drinkability and often a surprising degree of structure and complexity. As the premium malts of the world become frustratingly unattainable, it’s only a matter of time until grain goes gangbusters. For now, at least,...

I’ve always found Father’s Day gift guides kind of pointless. Then, a magical thing happened: I became a father. Hey, majbe dads do need a gift guide! One that includes only things we truly need and love, like whisky. Of course, my young daughter has no money, lacks an acceptable ID, and couldn’t get herself to the liquor store if she wanted (she can’t even walk yet). So perhaps I’ll have to hope someone helps her with this year’s father’s day whisky purchase. (Hint, hint!)

A Whisky For Every Dad

For the new Dad:  WhistlePig Boss Hog 14 year old—$300,...

When we gave...

A diverse selection of new whiskies is rolling out this month. For scotch fans, there are new limited editions from...

Arouse your senses and prepare to deconstruct the flavors found in your whisky glass. Tasting Lesson is a drink hack to help anyone identify common whisky flavors and their origin.

Fruity notes are one of the easiest flavors to recognize when you evaluate a glass of whisky. They are ascribed to esters, a group of compounds that form principally during fermentation, following the stage where yeast converts glucose to ethanol. Close to 100 different esters have been identified as originating during the fermentation process.

Fruity ester characteristics can be concentrated during distillation and molded during maturation. Still size and shape,...

We all think of Scotland as home to whisky, but it is also responsible for producing the majority of UK gin. Two of the world’s most famous London dry gins, Gordon’s and Tanqueray , emerge from Diageo’s Cameronbridge Distillery, home to Haig Club whisky (‘London dry’ is a style, not a designation of origin). Smaller whisky distillers are also creating fascinating native Scottish gins right alongside some of the single malt whiskies we love so much. Why are dyed-in-the-wool whisky distillers embracing the challenge of gin?

Unlike Scotch whisky, which requires maturation in barrels, gin is traditionally an unaged spirit...