Doug McIvor, our Spirits Manager, is the man responsible for Berry Bros. & Rudd’s rather exceptional premium rum. Here, Doug, who is more usually found nosing whisky, expounds the virtues and complexities that elegant ageing brings to this oft-underrated spirit. When Berry Bros. & Rudd first offered a sneak preview of the first batch of […]

  We have asked Florence Castarède, the sixth generation of the family at the helm of the Armagnac house of Nismes-Delclou to speak to us about the Armagnac, the region and the spirit. Florence took over the reins of the Estate over a dozen years ago, and continues to drive it forward, by combining innovation with […]

As another Burns Night approaches and the weather continues in favourably dram-enthusing mode my thoughts turn to Scotland’s greatest poet and his associations with whisky through his verse. One particular piece resonates with me, “The De’il’s Awa Wi’ The Exciseman”. Robert Burns himself spent some years as an exciseman but despite this he turned his […]

A few years ago Glengoyne distillery released their Scottish oak finish matured single malt. This was a nice piece of marketing and, critically, the product was very good. It is never likely that there will be swathes of the great Scottish oak forests toppling to keep up with demand as commercially it is rather an […]