Ever since the early days of whisky production, distilleries have appeared and disappeared. Some failed, some merged, some literally exploded, and the Scottish landscape is littered with the remains of historical distilling. However, October was…
Continue reading »What is a closed distillery?
Posted on 2 November 2017 by Billy
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How to drink whisky – blind tasting
Posted on 26 October 2017 by Billy
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When it comes to tasting whiskies, there is a huge range of things to distract you. The room you’re in, other people around you, rogue pets, your roommate’s bad taste in music, next door’s obsession…
Continue reading »How does whisky age?
Posted on 20 October 2017 by Stuart
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If you want to host a masterclass on how whisky ages, why not get one of the most knowledgeable people on the planet to run it? That’s what happened at this year’s Whisky Exchange Whisky…
Continue reading »Five Minutes and Five Cocktails with Frapin
Posted on 18 October 2017 by Caroline
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‘It’s all about the ‘poof poof‘ of Cognac’ says Patrice Piveteau, and it’s a testament to both his storytelling and infectious enthusiasm that this immediately makes perfect sense. He is talking about the sensory fireworks…
Continue reading »Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible 2018 – The Winners
Posted on 12 October 2017 by Billy
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It’s that time again: the day when Jim Murray reveals his favourite whiskies in the world. The results of his Whisky Bible 2018 have just been announced, and the winner of the top prize hails…
Continue reading »In Their Own Words – Stewart Buchanan, Glendronach
Posted on 11 October 2017 by Stuart
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Glendronach brand ambassador Stewart Buchanan led a great masterclass at this year’s Whisky Exchange Whisky Show in which he delved into the distillery’s past and showed various drams from yesteryear as well as more modern…
Continue reading »In Their Own Words – Drew Mayville, Buffalo Trace
Posted on 6 October 2017 by Stuart
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At this year’s Whisky Exchange Whisky Show, Buffalo Trace master blender Drew Mayville led a masterclass – The Art of Whiskey – in which he looked back at the long history of the distillery and…
Continue reading »Sloe Gin – why you should be drinking it (and making it)
Posted on 4 October 2017 by TWE Admin
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Jared Brown, master distiller at Sipsmith Gin Distillery in London, explains why you should all be drinking sloe gin – and offers some tips on how to make it yourself. Sloe gin is to Britain…
Continue reading »The Whisky Show 2017 – it’s this weekend!
Posted on 29 September 2017 by Billy
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It’s The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show this weekend and it’s shaping up to be our best show yet. With more than 650 whiskies confirmed from around the world, incredible masterclasses, loads of free talks and…
Continue reading »London: Cocktail Capital of the World
Posted on 26 September 2017 by Jane
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Next week sees the return of London Cocktail Week, the world’s biggest cocktail festival with more than 300 partnering bars opening their doors and offering £6 cocktails to those with a Festival Pass. This year, the festival…
Continue reading »Five Questions with David Stewart – Malt Master, The Balvenie
Posted on 15 September 2017 by Stuart
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David Stewart is malt master at The Balvenie, and has worked in the Scotch whisky industry for more than 50 years. We spoke to him about his career and his latest whisky, Balvenie 2002 Peat…
Continue reading »Diageo Special Releases 2017 – the tasting notes
Posted on 12 September 2017 by Billy
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Autumn is almost here and the Diageo Special Releases 2017 are here. It’s an exciting group of whiskies this year: along with the regular Port Ellen, Brora, Caol Ila and Lagavulin, there’s also the oldest…
Continue reading »Selecting a Whisky-Exchange-exclusive release
Posted on 8 September 2017 by Billy
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Here at The Whisky Exchange we like to choose special bottles – we have a wide range of exclusive whiskies and other spirits already, and we add more each month. One of the common questions…
Continue reading »The 5 Best Whisky and Film Moments
Posted on 6 September 2017 by Duncan
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Some drinks are simply synonymous with a big-screen moment and with the person drinking them. The freshly poured, ice-cold Martini for James Bond. The Dude’s White Russian in The Big Lebowski and the stain it leaves on…
Continue reading »Diageo Special Releases – what are they?
Posted on 1 September 2017 by Billy
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The Diageo Special are one of the biggest and most prestigious annual whisky launches, every year we receive the same question: what are they? In the beginning It all started at the turn of the…
Continue reading »Six questions with Brian Kinsman, Glenfiddich Malt Master
Posted on 30 August 2017 by Billy
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Brian Kinsman is malt master for Glenfiddich, and also looks after the Grant’s range of blended whiskies and works with his mentor David Stewart on the Balvenie range. I caught up with Brian a while…
Continue reading »Five great rum cocktails for the long weekend
Posted on 25 August 2017 by Billy
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We’ve got great weather forecasts here in London, so it feels like time to whip up some drinks with the most tropical of spirits: rum. Here are five of my favourite rum cocktails to keep…
Continue reading »The Whisky Exchange Quiz of the Year – how’s your whisky knowledge?
Posted on 23 August 2017 by Billy
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This week saw the inaugural Whisky Exchange Whisky Quiz of the Year. Five intrepid teams gathered in our Covent Garden shop to do battle for the honour of being crowned as the first champions. Across…
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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