Tag: Whisky & Wisdom

Whisky & Wisdom’s “Whisky Quiz”

Back for its fifth consecutive year, Whisky & Wisdom’s Whisky Quiz challenges those who think they know their whisky trivia.  How good is your whisky wisdom?  Take the Whisky Quiz to find out…

This fun little quiz will test the whisky facts and trivia you’ve picked up over your malt journey.  There are 25 questions that are designed to sort out the newbies from the experts. 

Yes, you could consult Google and find the answer to each question, but that would be cheating, right?  So, be honest with yourself and others, and see how many questions you can answer correctly off the top of your head. 

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Whisky’s impossible question

I was at a social gathering recently and found myself amongst a circle of newly-made acquaintances whom I was introduced to just five minutes earlier.  In the course of our social dialogue and etiquette-driven pleasantries (relax, this isn’t a Jane Austen novel), the fact that I was an avid whisky enthusiast and involved in its industry came up.  “Oh, what’s your favourite whisky?” was the question immediately thrown at me.  I’ve been asked that more times than I can possibly remember, and I have my standard answer always queued at the ready, but I reflected on the way home later that evening that it’s an increasingly irrelevant question.

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Glenmorangie Spios

The whisky calendar is blessed these days to have annual events and annual releases that we all look forward to.  For example, Islay-philes hang out each year for the Feis Ile bottlings, and Ardbeg fans are always keenly anticipating May for Ardbeg Day and the release of the special Ardbeg limited edition that accompanies it.   For those who prefer a more typical “Highland” style of whisky, there is always huge interest in the annual release of Glenmorangie’s Private Edition bottling.  This year’s release – Private Edition No. 9 – is called Spios.  Glenmorangie Spios.

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The stink about sulphur

Sulphur in whisky?  What does “sulphured whisky” even mean?  And why do people use terms like “dirty cask” or “tainted cask”.   Hmmm…I’m reminded of a quote from a movie:  “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.”  The Usual Suspects, 1995

Substitute “whisky industry” for devil and “sulphur” for he and you’ll get a quick snapshot of what’s being discussed here.  Sulphur taint is one of the more confusing and least understood aspects in today’s whisky community, and there are plenty of industry folks trying to convince you it doesn’t exist.  Let’s cut through the taint and kill a few myths and misunderstandings…

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Ardnamurchan – The western jewel of Scotland

(Or everything you wanted to know about Ardnamurchan but were afraid to ask!)

In this digital age of whisky websites and social media activity, there are very few secrets left in the whisky industry.  Once upon a time, a new distillery would suddenly appear and no one knew much about it except for what might have been published in a subsequent book.  Today, by the time a new distillery’s first release is bottled, it seems we’ve all followed the journey of the distillery breaking ground; building the stillhouse; installing the stills; starting production; and filling the casks.  We’ve done the virtual tour of the distillery before the Visitor Centre has even opened its doors!

One of the primary reasons for this is simply because most of us will never get to make the journey to the distillery, and thus we live and drink vicariously through what we read and view online.   Consider, also, that not all distilleries are blessed by geography:  Auchentoshan and Glenkinchie, for example, are an easy bus ride from the big city centres of Glasgow and Edinburgh respectively, but things are trickier for the more remote distilleries that sit well off the tourist trail or are located on the fringes of Scotland’s reaches.

Ardnamurchan is one such distillery.  If you’re looking to start up a new distillery, your choice of location is fairly critical.  In addition to the most obvious requirement (i.e. a good water source), other considerations will be existing infrastructure, convenient access, shared resources, a ready-made tourist trail for visitors, and ease of transport for both the delivery of materials and the departure of spirit and filled casks.  So – with all these essentials being key to a successful distillery venture – why would you choose to locate your distillery in one of the most far flung, remote, and inaccessible parts of Scotland?  In the case of Ardnamurchan, the answer is pretty simple:  Because they can.

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Amrut Spectrum

Previously whilst writing a feature article on Indian whisky and reviewing the excellent Paul John whiskies, I – perhaps a little flippantly – introduced the piece by explaining and asserting that Indian single malt whisky had not previously impressed me.   Prior to tasting Paul John, I had tried many expressions of Amrut over the years (my first back in 2009) and on a reasonably regular basis since.  The simple truth is that I have not tasted an Amrut that made me think, “Wow, this is a great whisky.”

Of course, whilst those comments set the scene for the subsequent article on Paul John, they also simultaneously raised a few eyebrows amongst Amrut fans, not to mention the wonderful folks at Alba Whisky, who are the local Amrut distributors within Australia.

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Ardbeg Dark Cove

If you’re here just to read the review on the Dark Cove release, scroll further down.

Ardbeg Day is just around the corner again, which means it’s time to shake off the Autumn blues (or dust off your Spring hat if you’re in the northern hemisphere) and gear up for all the fun and excitement of Ardbeggian delights.

I’ve written much about Ardbeg’s history, the Ardbeg Committee and Ardbeg Day in the past.  So rather than fill up space by repeating it all on this page, you can re-visit those pieces here (Ardbeg Day 2015 report), here (Perpetuum review) and here (Ardbeg Day 2014 & Auriverdes review) if you need to fill in any blanks.   For the purposes of a concise read, let’s cut straight to the chase and get stuck into Ardbeg Day and the annual release for 2016.

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The three stages of your attitude to Glenfiddich: Like – Hate – Love

Catchy article title, eh? Not sure my former editor would approve of it – it’s hardly a flowing headline.  But there’s not really a more succinct way to say it.  I’ll elaborate:  It’s my opinion that whisky drinkers all go through three very distinct stages in their appreciation of Glenfiddich.   And, depending on what stage you’re up to, this tremendously impacts your attitude to Glenfiddich.   Curious?  Let’s look into this…

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