Then it sinks below the surface, out of sight, and we don’t see it again until it rises up some time later. In the case of a European distillery, that’s after at least three years. Ireland has had more ‘submarines’ than most in recent months, and its burgeoning whiskey industry has had extensive media coverage, including a thorough feature in last month’s issue of this…
In 2014 the IWA secured a GI and Technical File to define and control the production of Irish whiskey but now these rules have met opposition from Irish distiller Blackwater, which argues these definitions benefit Pernod Ricard’s Irish Distillers. A blog post written by Blackwater says that the legislation, particularly the definition of Irish pot still…
Perhaps it’s because I’m living in Britain, and the combination of winter, austerity and Brexit has taken its toll. Or perhaps it’s just an intense bout of post-festive blues. But I am concerned that I’m turning in to a full-time grumpy old man. It is true, I’ve always had the potential. But I used to get angry about major things such as homelessness, right wing…
And a producer with a quality product and a good back story can bring it to the attention of the world. Or at least in theory, because the downside is that there are a lot of people shouting and that means a lot of noise. How do you not only get heard, but get listened to as well? The sad truth is, many drinks writers…
____________________________________________ AS SHOCKS TO THE system go, my experience of Happy Hour Bangalore style is up there with Leicester City winning the English Premiership and Rick Astley’s 2018 comeback. As dark suddenly fell on the city and the countless tuk-tuks geared into manic mode, I’d expected to visit a plush hotel bar where office workers were sipping whisky, perhaps mixed with…
Given the limited intellect of the person making the comment, and the fact that, in my case, there are many worse things to be called, I let it go. And to be fair, there is some smoke to that particular fire. As a teenager I was given a badge saying ‘there are theories at the bottom of my jargon’, and there are very few –…
This is the theme of the TV show Room 101, where contestants attempt to persuade the host that their choice is the best to be put in Room 101 and banished for all time. I’d love to take part, because I have three excellent suggestions. First, men – it’s nearly always men – with pointy hats and dressed in lycra, blocking train doorways with their…
As always at this time of the year, I tend to get philosophical, and as I listen to Lemmy (dead), Bon Scott (dead), Rory Gallagher (dead) and Ozzy (should be dead), I can’t help wondering what happened to SEX, DRUGS AND ROCK ’N’ ROLL!!!!!, in capital letters and with several explanation marks. The answer is, of course, that it died with the people who practised…
All are the principal cities in three of the world’s most important whisky(e)y producing destinations – Scotland, Ireland and Kentucky. But amazingly, until not long ago, they had something else in common – none of them produced whisk(e)y spirit within their city’s walls. Oh, you could put up an argument for Auchentoshan in Glasgow but, despite the spread of the city, the distillery remains a…
If rum were a person it would be a frivolous and fun-loving seductress, whispering: “I can be anything you want me to be, darling,” in your ear. No other spirit has as many facets. Rum can be light and frothy, spicy and flirtatious, golden and stylish, or dark and mysterious. It can be a young party animal happy to be mixed with cola or blackcurrant…
