A week in whisky: Online, online and – erm – online

AS LIFE moves online once more, Scotland’s distillers are making the most of virtual opportunities. A team of 200 members of staff at Whyte & Mackay walked, ran, rowed or cycled 50,000 miles to raise £114,841 for mental health charities. Workers in Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, the United…

Read More

A Week in Whisky: Home delivery continues

Peter Ranscombe rounds-up what’s been going down in the whisky scene in Scotland and beyond. Holyrood Distillery in Edinburgh may be having to shut its courtyard bar in line with the latest coronavirus restrictions, but its collection and home delivery service is continuing. Offers include its picnic gin package It’s also still offering socially-distanced tours…

Read More

Caithness distillery picks its name

SCOTLAND’S most northerly mainland whisky distillery has revealed its name – “8 Doors Distillery”. Kerry and Derek Campbell, who were granted planning permission last year, expect to open the distillery in John o’Groats next year. It will be the Caithness village’s first distillery since 1837. They are launching two “clubs” – both named after the…

Read More

‘Whisky Galore!’ bottle bought by maritime museum

A BOTTLE of Scotch salvaged from the ship that inspired Whisky Galore! has been bought by the Scottish Maritime Museum. The unlabeled bottle of blended whisky was salvaged from the SS Politician, which ran aground off the Isle of Eriskay in 1941. George Currie, a diver from Orkney, recovered the bottle from the wreck in…

Read More

A Week in Whisky: Thinking outside the box

EVENTS operator The Whisky Lounge has unveiled its first online festival. Its “Whisky Festival in a Box” will be broadcast live from the Spirit of Yorkshire Distillery on 16-18 October. The festival consists of seven themed tasting sessions – “Scotch #1, Scotch #2, World, Asian, English, Indie and Peated” – with each session accompanied by…

Read More

Glencairn marks 20th birthday with coloured glasses

GLENCAIRN Crystal Studio is marking the 20th anniversary of its eponymous glass by launching a range of colours. The family-owned company released a limited edition black Glencairn glass last year and has now added blue, gold, green and red glasses to its line-up. The five colours are going on sale individually and as a six-pack…

Read More

A Week in Whisky: ‘Pat’s’ collection goes under the hammer

THE largest whisky collection ever to come up for auction starts going under the hammer today. More than 9,000 bottles have been assembled by “Pat”, an anonymous collector, and are together expected to fetch $5 million (£3.9m). The first batch will be on sale at WhiskyAuctioneer.com until 5 October. Iain McClune, the website’s founder, said:…

Read More

Whisky expert unveils ‘a taste profile for everyone’

THE Whisky Cellar founder Keith Bonnington has released a series of ten unique single casks bottled under his company’s new “Private Cellars Selection” label. The casks include a mixture of barrels, hogsheads, butts and a quarter cask, with just 2,100 bottles being filled. Bonnington, who has worked in the whisky industry for 18 years, said:…

Read More

Bill Lumsden catches ‘the one that got away’

Peter Ranscombe sips a slice of Glenmorangie’s new ‘A Tale of Cake’ whisky. EVERY fisherman has a story about “the one that got away” – that salmon or trout or other slippery customer that they just weren’t able to land on the river bank. For Bill Lumsden, director of distilling at Glenmorangie, his equivalent is…

Read More

Notebook – September 2020

Scottish Field drinks blogger Peter Ranscombe delves into his notebook to share more exciting bottles. Puffing Billy Vodka (£32.99, thebordersdistillery.com) While most vodkas can be dull and boring on their own, those clever people at The Borders Distillery have come up with a clever way of giving their vodka texture. They use malted barley as…

Read More