Browsing Posts by Author: Tom

Port’s reputation in the UK has become a little dusty. It is, in the mind’s eye, just heavy wine – sweet and delicious, certainly, but also, perhaps, reminiscent of being slightly too hot, and a…

What did you do for Burns Night 2019? Did you spend it in the UK’s tallest building, sipping award-winning drams with arguably the world’s best-known and longest-standing whisky writer, and the master distiller in charge…

or; Project Nog – Phase Two: Unravelling The Mysteries of Time Part one of our eggnog adventures appeared previously – What booze works best in eggnog? Always asking the important questions, we are. The most…

or; Project Nog: Into A Dairy Sea There comes a point in everyone’s life – or so it seems to us here at The Whisky Exchange editorial department – when we (they? One?) must look…

Gift packs can be a fantastic, convenient way to get yourself – and the ultimate recipient of your carefully considered and wildly lavish gift – the absolute maximum in terms of bang/buck ratio. They can…

Casks, amirite? Some of them are familiar, some of them are less so – all of them have an irrevocable (or irreparable, depending on where you’re sitting) effect on the spirit matured within them. In…

The theme of  Whisky Show 2019 is The Journey of the Cask – a journey which begins prior to, then runs parallel to, the journey of whisky itself. To help you get excited about casks…

In honour of this year’s Whisky Show and its theme – The Journey of the Cask – we’ve put together a brief rundown of the various types of wood used in whisky maturation, and what…

Or; Exploring Rum – X Marks the Tot Given its hugely diverse nature – in terms of flavour, geography and production methods – rum has, over the years, proven notoriously difficult to classify, regulate and,…

WHAT KIND OF RUM ARE YOU? Historically, rum has been defined by its colour – white, golden and dark. Colour can be misleading though, and offers no real indication of character or flavour. With the…

Two of the world’s most historic and heritage-rich spirits, Scotch single malt whisky and Cognac, have evolved in distinct – and wildly different – directions. Equally, both have experienced oscillating levels of status and popularity…

Here we are again, once more dipping our toes into the rich, bubbling pool of silliness provided to us by the wilder elements within the world of drinks. Looking for something… distinctive, this Valentine’s Day?…

Ahhh, Christmas: a time for family, food, good cheer and annoying singing Santa… ornaments? Are they ornamental? Are they toys? Singing Santas, anyway. And somehow all the silliness only contributes to the overall atmosphere of…

In a bust-up for the dubious honour of ‘most mysterious and least-known major whisky-producing nation’ it is, by my reckoning, a straight-up two-way tussle between India and Taiwan – Japan and England having now backed away into relative…

Last weekend marked The Whisky Exchange’s 10th annual Whisky Show. I went along for, rather shamefully, the first time – and had my preconceptions utterly annihilated. The first – perhaps point-of-this-post-defeating – statement I’d like…

So, you love gin. We know how you feel – we’re partial to a G&T too. Or a Negroni, or a Martini… And for gin lovers, the last 18 months have been fantastic – never…