Happy Daiquiri Day! The humble Daiquiri is a classic rum cocktail and maybe the simplest one to make at home. But there’s much more to it than there might seem… What is a Daiquiri? At…
Continue reading »Foursquare 2005 – ISC Supreme Champion Spirit 2018
Posted on 13 July 2018 by Billy
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Rum is often seen as a party drink. Drunk in cocktails, over ice, from a coconut, with Coke, on fire, with a slice of lime, from a plastic cup or while wearing a silly hat….
Continue reading »World Cup Drinking – it’s coming home?
Posted on 9 July 2018 by Billy
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Football. The beautiful game. Or so I am told. I know nothing about sport, and the current World Cup fever has so far passed me by. However, I seem to be winning The Whisky Exchange…
Continue reading »Sherry casks part 4: what about soleras?
Posted on 27 June 2018 by Billy
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[This is the continuation of an old series. Here are the previous instalments if you’d like to catch up – What was a sherry cask, What is a sherry cask and What goes into a…
Continue reading »Competitive Picnicking – celebrate National Picnic Week
Posted on 22 June 2018 by Caroline
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It’s National Picnic Week and with the weekend looking sunny, it’s time to grab a blanket, some bottles and a sandwich or three, and head into the great outdoors. Caroline has some tips for how…
Continue reading »New Signatory Glenlivets – decades apart
Posted on 14 June 2018 by Billy
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We like working with Signatory Vintage. They’re well-known for having frankly ridiculous warehouses, packed with some of the best whisky in Scotland, and we’re always happy when they let us have a look at what…
Continue reading »The Negroni
Posted on 5 June 2018 by Billy
There’s only one thing I like more than an excuse to drink some gin: an excuse to drink a Negroni. Time to do some research… What is a Negroni? https://www.instagram.com/p/BjnTLQQhC0n ‘My favourite combination of alcohol,…
Continue reading »Islay Festival woes – the queues
Posted on 1 June 2018 by Billy
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This week is the Islay Festival of Music and Malt, aka Feis Ile. For eight days, the small, southern Hebridean island doubles its population with an influx of people from around the world, almost all…
Continue reading »Sharing whisky – it’s better with friends
Posted on 25 May 2018 by Billy
3 Comments on Sharing whisky – it’s better with friends
As someone who spends a lot of time writing tasting notes for whisky on his own, I sometimes forget that the true joy of a dram is sharing it with someone. Father’s Day is just…
Continue reading »Whisky Stories – Your Turn
Posted on 16 May 2018 by Stuart
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It’s time for another Whisky Story, this time from Matt, who had a great time in the north of Scotland visiting Old Pulteney. Please keep sending us your own Whisky Stories – we’ll be publishing more of…
Continue reading »Croftengea 2008 – exclusive to The Whisky Exchange
Posted on 11 May 2018 by Billy
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Announcing our latest Whisky Exchange exclusive – a rare chance to try one of Loch Lomond’s wide range of single malts that don’t usually see the light of day as single malts. Introducing our brand…
Continue reading »New World Wine vs Old World Wine
Posted on 2 May 2018 by Stuart
2 Comments on New World Wine vs Old World Wine
Skip back a generation and the term ‘New World wine’ didn’t mean much to UK wine drinkers. After all, the best stuff just came from France, didn’t it? So, what is New World wine? It’s…
Continue reading »How to drink: Cognac
Posted on 26 April 2018 by Billy
1 Comment on How to drink: Cognac
With The Cognac Show starting on Friday, there’s one final step in my Cognac education I need to share: how to drink the stuff… Fortunately, I’ve had expert tuition from Whisky Exchange buyer Dawn Davies…
Continue reading »More from Cognac – The Not Quite So Big Three
Posted on 20 April 2018 by Billy
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The Cognac business is a strange one. It is dominated by the Big Four – Hennessy, Rémy Martin, Martell and Courvoisier – but there are hundreds of producers in the region. Cognac is built around…
Continue reading »Diageo Special Releases 2018 – announced!
Posted on 13 April 2018 by Billy
1 Comment on Diageo Special Releases 2018 – announced!
The launch of the annual Diageo Special Releases is one of the big whisky events of the year. Whether you want to buy them or not, the discussion that’s generated online and the fight for…
Continue reading »How to drink: Vermouth
Posted on 11 April 2018 by Billy
1 Comment on How to drink: Vermouth
Every year, there are a few drinks that bartenders and writers fall in love with. Folks like me run around telling everyone how great they are and sometimes, unfortunately, people listen – we’re still apologising…
Continue reading »What is vermouth?
Posted on 6 April 2018 by Caroline
2 Comments on What is vermouth?
Vermouth. The blog that literally tens of you have been waiting for. As we learned last time, vermouth is a type of aromatised wine – which, to be honest, doesn’t sound very sexy. In fact,…
Continue reading »Giants of Cognac – The Big Four
Posted on 4 April 2018 by Billy
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With The Cognac Show rapidly approaching, we’re digging further into the world of Cognac. While there are hundreds of producers in the region – we have more than 80 in our A-Z of Cognac –…
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Recent Comments
Unfortunately, the answer is 'between 400g and 2000g per litre' :)
Posted on: 9 October 2024
What ratio of Sloe to gin is used, I see anything from 400 to 2000g of sloe to 1 litre of gin!
Posted on: 7 October 2024
What really makes Bob Harris' predicament in 'Lost In Translation' so absurdly funny is that he nailed it in one take, and the director just couldn't accept that.
Posted on: 11 January 2024
I'd say there's not a lot between them. I'd say that the techniques used to make the rum change the flavour more than the raw material between molasses and cane honey, so it'll be other factors that...
Posted on: 26 October 2023
Such a pity that the distillery was destroyed. I had the great luck to try one of these, to me almost magic, Karuizawas. It was a 1972/2008, 36y, #7290 with 65%. Since today I have memoriesof this...
Posted on: 17 October 2023