Waiheke Island

Pinot, manuka and swamp forest – the world of Kiwi whisky

    The last time I headed to New Zealand, things didn’t go exactly as planned. What was intended as…

AMMoment

One of the highlights of last year was a gig by AMM, the improvising group/collective/cluster which has been…

Exterior of Karuizawa. Gone.

When is Karuizawa not Karuizawa? When it’s Karuizawa

‘Resurrected’ , ‘revived’, ‘doors to reopen’. The excited headlines said it all. The return of Karuizawa from beyond…

Bill's Crab

Dyspepsia, apples and the problem with tasting notes

Up to Lexington/94 which, while not quite having the same ring as Lou Reed’s paen to heroin dealers,…

Snow business like whisky business

Even when there it had the quality of a dream. White Christmases only exist on cards and in…

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Extreme distilling: Arctic barley

Two casks sat close to the entrance of the turf-covered warehouse. Outside a fresh fall of snow had…

from quora.com

What Price Whisky?

£16 million for a cask of Ardbeg? Whether the declared price included 40% import taxes has yet to…

Scotch in Russia, Russia in Scotch

The unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has resulted in Western companies pulling out of Russia.  How is the Scotch…

On The Edge

Into the fjord’s great maw. Cliffs like dragon teeth, streaming with rain, looking as if they had just…

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Weaving A Story

It had been a long day. A highball was called for. Something refreshing, cooling. That reset which comes…