#TryJanuary: If you like that, try this…

Looking for inspiration to kick start your #TryJanuary? Peter Ranscombe is on hand with some suggestions. If you like… Albarino Try… its fizzy friend As we saw during lockdown, the pandemic hasn’t got in the way of Mar de Frades continuing to produce seafood-friendly albarino. Winemaker Paula Fandino has also been busy perfecting her sparkling…

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Glen Scotia toasts entrepreneurs

GLEN Scotia will be toasting innovative business owners as part of a new deal with the Great British Entrepreneur Awards. The Campbeltown distillery has signed up as the competition’s “entrepreneurial spirit partner”. Under the agreement, the whisky label will sponors the contest’s entrepreneurial spirit award and will also celebrate an entrepreneur each month on social…

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Hydrogen-powered whisky and gin

TWO distilleries on Orkney are investigating whether they can use hydrogen to make their whisky and gin. Whisky maker Highland Park and gin producer Orkney Distillery are looking at powering their distilleries using hydrogen. Orkney’s European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) is at the forefront of hydrogen technology. The centre is using electricity generated by renewable…

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Learn how to cook pheasant katsu curry online

BRITISH Game Alliance (BGA) chef ambassador Leon Davies will host a virtual cook along on 28 January. Davies will teach participants how to cook pheasant katsu curry. The online lesson is part of the BGA’s effort to get more people to cook with game. Louisa North, head of operations at the BGA, said: “We wanted…

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Brass Neck spices up rum market

A GROUP of entrepreneurs is spicing up Scotland’s rum market with the launch of its first batch. Brass Neck’s spiced rum features Scottish botanicals including nettle and milk thistle. Freddy Drucquer and Dougie Jeffries – who created the rum with business partner Chris Dowdall, owner of brand agency The Bakers Dozen – also selected orange…

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Whisky auction raises cash for hospitality workers

A WHISKY auction begins today to raise money for The Ben, the charity that supports people working in Scotland’s hospitality industry. Rare bottles going under the hammer during the online auction include a 22-year-old Hazelburn, a bottle from the first single cask from Ardnamurchan distillery, and an imperial gallon from the demolished Imperial distillery. The…

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Street Soccer nets £600 from East Coast Cured

LEITH charcuterie producer East Coast Cured has rasied £600 for Street Soccer by auctioning its final ten hampers. The company has seen a surge in orders during the past year. Before the pandemic restrictions were imposed, 70% of its sales were to restaurants, with the remaining 30% going straight to consumers. Now, consumers sales account…

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Scottish countryside dominates ‘best kept secrets’ list

SCOTLAND has dominated a series of lists of the “best kept secrets of the UK countryside“. Scottish locations finished top of the tables for beaches, parks, and routes for hikes. Newburgh in Aberdeenshire topped the beach list, followed by Polin near Kinlochbervie, and Embo near Dornoch. The Berwickshire coast path was the top hiking route,…

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A crime thriller on a Scottish island

We didn’t have to wait long for the next instalment of Inspector Angus Blue’s whodunnits, and it doesn’t disappoint. Called to Jura after an attempted assassination on a Cabinet Minister, the inspector finds himself in a series of fantastically eerie landscapes and is forced to overcome several unexpected hurdles. As with The Pead Dead, the…

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Zoom calls inspire Loch Lomond’s lockdown beer

A BEER inspired by lockdown Zoom calls has been created by Loch Lomond Brewery. “Zoom Time” is a New England-style India pale ale (IPA). Fiona MacEachern, Loch Lomond Brewery’s managing director, said: “Zoom Time is very much a nod to the ‘new normal’ of socialising virtually; catching up with friends for a beer being no…

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