When it comes to diversity, Italian wine probably picks up the trophy. Jancis Robinson MW’s massive tome, Wine Grapes: A Complete Guide to 1,368 Vine Varieties, puts Italy at a staggering 377 varieties of vitis vinifera, the vine that produces grapes for winemaking. Tim Atkin MW, conducting a tutoured tasting recently in London, put it succinctly: “Italy is incredible. Endlessly fascinating. You can throw…

“HERE’S TO THE SMOOTHEST, RICHEST, MOST BEAUTIFUL WHISKY IN THE WORLD,” toasts Colin Scott, standing before a banquet table of Chinese guests at one of his many Chivas Regal-hosted dinners. Eyes fixed to his rangy figure, Scott drinks his dram.  He coughs uncomfortably as it catches on his throat. Splutters, coughs again, regains breath and several seconds later… his composure. “Isn’t it…

One of the key happenings in the coming year on the blended Scotch whisky circuit will be the re-emergence of Cutty Sark on to the world stage. It is two years since Edrington acquired the brand from BB&R Spirits and it’s taken that long to put it through a very thorough MOT.  “As of this month we will be driving the brand forward.

As the 60s classic A Whiter Shade of Pale crackled from radios in the UK, the US and beyond, a whiter shade of pale rum was making its own waves around the world. Trademark disputes aside, that’s probably where the similarity between Procol Harum and Bacardi ends, though it was inarguably this era that made the white rum what it is today – a…

The author, who remains anonymous, of Cocktails: How To Make Them, published in 1898, stated that: “The addition of vermouth was the first move toward the blending of cocktails.” In his book, Imbibe, David Wondrich considers that, while the Martini became the standard-bearer of this early movement “it was the Manhattan that was the first out of the trenches”. It’s not surprising that…

A few months ago there was a tasting in one of London’s top Indian restaurants. For someone brought up on drinking lager with a curry, the thought of sherry as an accompaniment to spicy food was intriguing to say the least. The lunch and tasting at the Cinnamon Club, close to London’s Houses of Parliament, was in honour of the new president of…

You don’t have to whisper. It’s safe now – cachaça is a legal term in the US. When it finally came in April, the US government decree was the biggest news to hit cachaça in years. It meant after hard times and hard lobbying, there was finally recognition from the world’s largest spirits market. It meant cachaça could be cachaça and not just another…