Following the recent revelation that a couple of questionable bottles of whisky purporting to have been bottled by Berry Bros. & Rudd in the 1970s have recently been offered for sale, I have taken steps to remove any fakes from circulation. Having seen the damage wrought in fine wine circles by a few unscrupulous individuals, […]

Firstly, allow me to make a swift apology to anyone reading this after our current heat-wave has inevitably subsided. Please feel free to remember it wistfully/irritably depending on your own personal preference. There is something deeply reassuring, I often find, in our ability, as Brits, to malign our weather, opine about our weather, foolishly attempt […]

“Austerity” in a whisky can be, in my opinion, a bit of a strange concept. It gets wheeled out by whisky writers and ‘experts’ now and again, and usually is seen as a positive descriptor. From my reading of other people’s tasting notes: if a whisky is structurally hard and crisp but this clashes with […]

Back to basics this week with some more detailed thoughts on my recent tastings. Twitter is a great outlet for quick splurges of joy or vitriol, but to really wade into the meat (or fruit, peat or wood!) of the subject, I often feel some longer notes are needed. Personal highlights include the Clynelish 1997 […]