As most of you will know, maj was designated ‘whisky month’ by the big wigs at Visit Scotland as part of the 2014 Homecoming Year. At the start of the maj I was lucky enough to be invited up to the Spirit of Speyside Festival as a guest of Chivas Bros, to enjoy their hospitality, [...]...

Läs mer http://www.edinburghwhiskyblog.com/2014/06/30/spirit-of-speyside-festival-2014/

The criteria for a great bar, in my view, is good booze, good atmosphere, good food and attentive staff. If the staff are up for a laugh, and good chat, that is very important, but the drinks selection is really key for me. As someone who has worked in a few bars, supplied bars as [...]...

Läs mer http://www.edinburghwhiskyblog.com/2014/06/11/summerhall-edinburgh-its-awesome-scottish-juniper-festiva/

I have never had a better reason to spend 8 and a half hours on a train, than I did the other day. For a two hour meeting, and a lovely lunch, that is a long time, but it was worth every moment listening to people talk about One Direction, every child screaming, every part [...]...

Läs mer http://www.edinburghwhiskyblog.com/2014/06/09/balcones-an-overriding-obsession-with-flavour/

Something like sixteen thousand people are born every hour. That’s ten thousand, give or take, since I’ve had my breakfast and I’m not feeling even a bit peckish yet which is a solid scientific proof that we’re producing babies like we just don’t care. Most of those screamy little humans welcomed to the world since [...]...

Läs mer http://www.edinburghwhiskyblog.com/2014/06/04/john-walker-sons-private-collection-2014-edition/

When Euan from Harviestoun got in touch, and suggested a beer and whisky matching evening with him and the brilliant folks from Beercast (you really have to read their blog), I leapt at the opportunity, but perhaps I didn’t give the concept as much thought as I should have. I guess the reason is I [...]...

Läs mer http://www.edinburghwhiskyblog.com/2014/06/01/harviestoun-beercast-edinburgh-whisky-blog-drinkmonger-a-dram-a-beer-part-1/

When I started in the Scotch Whisky Experience, all those years ago, fresh faced, young and cocky, I did my training about whisky, and suddenly, I thought I knew everything about booze. People would start saying I was a “whisky expert” (I hate this term). It’s funny, because I think the more you learn and [...]...

Läs mer http://www.edinburghwhiskyblog.com/2014/05/24/fary-lochan-danish-whisky/

I will probably be needing a few more holidays. Not because Tiger is getting on my nerves at EWB headquarters, or Turbo is necking all the beer in the fridge, but because travel retail seems to be producing some great expressions at the moment. Bowmore are on the cusp of releasing three good editions (Gold [...]...

Läs mer http://www.edinburghwhiskyblog.com/2014/05/15/the-glenlivet-nadurra-oloroso/

Deary me, it’s been over a month since I last blogged about whisky. Apologies to my legions of adoring fans (all 6 of you). It’s been quite a busy month in all truth – I ran the London Marathon, I went to Poland for a few days to visit the Lech Brewery and sampled some [...]...

Läs mer http://www.edinburghwhiskyblog.com/2014/05/12/glengoyne-25yo/

Hey folks! This is a straight up, nae bullshit competition post. The great guys at Bowmore have very generously donated a bottle of their Bowmore Small Batch Bourbon Cask release for us to give away and celebrate the launch of their new batch. To enter is as easy as Chris Hoban. Just tweet both @edinburghwhisky [...]...

Läs mer http://www.edinburghwhiskyblog.com/2014/05/08/bowmore-small-batch/

We all live and thrive on what is, essentially, a massive spinning ball for dirt with a core of lava which all happens to be in the big old, grand vacuum of space. We’re tiny in the grand scheme of things but somehow we manage to make all the little things matter. That’s what makes [...]...

Läs mer http://www.edinburghwhiskyblog.com/2014/05/02/clans-and-drams/

Home is where the heart is… or at least where my whisky collection is and they are the same thing really, aren’t they? When I moved down to London 6 months ago the heartache of leaving the other boys at EWB  was only matched by the pain of leaving the majority of my whiskies behind [...]...

Läs mer http://www.edinburghwhiskyblog.com/2014/04/23/quick-dram-glenglassaugh-torfa/

The devoted fan doesn’t like change. They will tolerate it, and even embrace it with a bit of persuasion, but they will struggle with the concept at first. Part of it I think is a nostalgia to the time when you started being a fan. If the things you like about your chosen obsession change, [...]...

Läs mer http://www.edinburghwhiskyblog.com/2014/04/12/1bestdramoflastyearragnvald/

We here at EWB like Irish whiskey. In fact, we like it so much we not only drink it regularly but have written about it on countless occasions. Sampling, visiting, experimenting, discussing and simply loving the stuff. Yet, somehow – despite writing about their whiskey in feck loads of articles – we have never posted [...]...

Läs mer http://www.edinburghwhiskyblog.com/2014/04/09/quick-drams-jameson/

Grain whisky. It’s always been a rather divisive topic among whisky drinkers. Some see it as no more than blend fodder or a ‘poor man’s bourbon’ whilst others, who maj have tried some cracking Clan Denny bottlings or Scotch Maltwhisky Society single casks, see it as a unique, albeit small, category in its own [...]...

Läs mer http://www.edinburghwhiskyblog.com/2014/04/09/goldenballs-grain-whisky-haig-club/

  If you’re a fan of George R. R. Martin’s books from ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ saga, a fan of the HBO hit TV series based on them or, like myself, both, you know that the world created by the mean-spirited Gandalf impersonator is filled with bastards. Not in the present meaning – [...]...

Läs mer http://www.edinburghwhiskyblog.com/2014/04/08/ballantines-brasil/

  You thought the Peat Week here on Edinburgh Whisky Blog was over, didn’t you? Ha! Here comes a bonus track, hidden behind a full weekend’s-worth of silence. Following the recent discussions about NAS I promised I would look towards the not-so-great, the bad and the outright appalling releases from the big and famous and [...]...

Läs mer http://www.edinburghwhiskyblog.com/2014/04/07/ardbeg-auriverdes/

What a difference a week makes. This time last week I had no idea how sensitive a soul Hoban is (well, actually, I’ve always known he’s a romantic at heart), what with his love-hate-love relationship with peat over the years. I had no idea Graeme was a culinary genius when it came to pairing peated [...]...

Läs mer http://www.edinburghwhiskyblog.com/2014/04/04/the-ancnoc-peaty-collection-rutter-flaughter-tushkar/

Ladies and Gentlemen… let me set the scene for you. It was a dark and putrid night and a top-secret emergency meeting had been called at Edinburgh Whisky Blog Towers. Lucas, Chris and Tiger each raced from their respective corners of the city to the main amphitheater where they met Graeme via video link from [...]...

Läs mer http://www.edinburghwhiskyblog.com/2014/04/03/ewb-experiments-peat/

It is Peat Week here at EWB! A whole week of nothing but tasty, tasty peat, but we all know (or so sensible Doctor Tiger informs us) that you can’t survive solely on peated whisky for a whole week. Therefore, I have been charged with the arduous task of recounting some of the great peat [...]...

Läs mer http://www.edinburghwhiskyblog.com/2014/04/02/peat-with-starter-main-and-sweet/

When we discussed this “celebration of peat” week as a team, we each looked at what we would contribute. We didn’t discuss too much what we would actually write (a nice surprise for the rest of the team) just an idea of what topic we would each visit. (Celebrating the release of these beauties with [...]...

Läs mer http://www.edinburghwhiskyblog.com/2014/04/01/a-relationship-with-peat/