Aug 29
Staff Picks - August 2015
Posted on 29th August 2015 by Jean-Luc
Okay! A short but sweet post coming up, this one is packed with exotic goodness as we explore the rums of South and Central America.
For August we thought we'd steer away from whisk(e)y for our staff picks so here is something a bit different – a lovely selection of rums (or maybe rons or perhaps even rhums?). Anyway these are four absolute crackers.
Aug 06
Whiskey Cocktail Recipe: The Old Fashioned
Posted on 6th August 2015 by Pierre
We’re going to share our take on a classic whiskey cocktail, perfect at any time of the year, especially refreshing during the summer months. We’ve been incredibly self sacrificing while writing this piece, trying various combinations of ingredients and methods to bring you the definitive recipe. Ladies and gentlemen, we present the, thoroughly well researched, Whisky Marketplace Old Fashioned...
As any chef will tell you, it’s all about the ingredients, and that’s a maxim mixologists will no doubt echo. Some of you may baulk at the idea of putting expensive or high quality whiskey into your cocktails but before we get too protective let’s examine the idea. In our view there are broadly two types of cocktail, long drinks with plenty of non-alcoholic mixer and shorter concoctions that are chiefly made up of pure spirit plus a few additives. We’re going to nail our colours to the mast here, the short cocktails are the ones we really like - hey, we’re whiskey drinkers, right? So if the cocktail is primarily made up of the whisky with a few additional flavourings, you’re going to want to put decent components into it. Otherwise, what’s the point?
Jul 31
Staff Picks - July 2015
Posted on 31st July 2015 by Pierre
Notice anything unusual about these staff picks? That’s right, there’s only two whiskeys. The remaining two items are bottles of bitters. Confused? If you read this article with our take on the classic Old Fashioned whiskey cocktail you won’t be.
Like most serious whisky commentators we’ve always told you not to put ice in your whiskey. Cocktails are of course an exception to that. But as any of you who have ever tried it will know, ice does strange things to whisky. As it cools certain flavours are suppressed and others seem to come to the fore. Not all whiskeys remain pleasant and some are distinctly uncooperative in cocktails.
May 05
Compass Box Hedonism Quindecimus
Posted on 5th May 2015 by Pierre
Grain whisky was seen for many years as only being fit for bulking out blended whisky and the notion of quality grain-only expressions would have been laughed at. As any experienced blender will tell you, they have long known that good quality grain whisky is an essential component which binds together the malts in a premium blend. More recently grain has been bottled and sold in both single grain expressions and blended grain-only expressions.
Apr 20
Staff Picks - April 2015
Posted on 20th April 2015 by Pierre
We haven’t posted any staff picks for a few months - ahem, five to be exact. We have no excuse. So this is something of a new start and for that reason we have chosen to look at some new products. We haven’t tried them so they're here because they’re new and because they caught our eye.
Dec 02
Christmas gift ideas for whisky lovers [updated]
Posted on 2nd December 2014 by Pierre
[Editor's note] First publishes in 2012, this article still gets a huge amount of traffic but we noticed that some of the recommendations were out of dates so we've updated the list for 2014.
Buying a Christmas present for the whisky lover in your life? Youve perused their whisky collection and read Stu's excellent Christmas Whisky Gifts: Buying Guide. But you want to buy them something other than, or perhaps in addition to, a bottle of whisky.
Nov 28
Staff Picks - November 2014
Posted on 28th November 2014 by Pierre
A quartet of fabulous Scotches this month with two old favourites, a superb indie and a new release from old distillery that doesn’t usually bottle its own whisky. For a detailed look at the Bunnahabhain watch the video tasting notes here
Sep 29
Staff Picks - September 2014
Posted on 29th September 2014 by Pierre
This month we pick four blended whiskies from Scotland. None of these are household names but all are worthy of a place in your cabinet.
Jul 18
Staff Picks - July 2014
Posted on 18th July 2014 by Pierre
We are having some pretty extreme weather here in the UK. Last night we had the fiercest thunder storms I can remember. This morning there was a hail storm and now it’s brilliantly sunny, about 84 degrees and very humid. Why am I giving you a weather report? Put simply this hot, humid climate makes me think of bourbon. So, without further ado, let me introduce four bourbons every whiskey drinker must try.
Jun 17
Staff Picks - June 2014: World Cup Whiskies
Posted on 17th June 2014 by Jean-Luc
Now then, we realise that this is a slightly tenuous link but every man and his wife are jumping on the World Cup band wagon so why not join in the fun. The big news ahead of the tournament is that Scotland and Ireland – the great celtic whisky producing nations – both failed to qualify for the finals in Brazil, so we sent our talent scouts a little further afield to pick four exotic Whisky World Cup choices for your tastebuds to tackle this summer.