Autumn whisky festival will return in 2018

The Whisky Shop Dufftown Autumn Festival is returning in 2018. Next year’s event has been confirmed from September 27 until October 1, and is a great Speyside whisky festival with all the colours of autumn. The shop’s Michael Lord said: ‘Held annually on the last weekend of September, the festival gives visitors the opportunity to…

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Scottish Field Whisky Challenge winners are all set to be revealed

WE’RE getting set to honour the makers of elite drams at this year’s Scottish Field Whisky Awards. Our judges in the various categories had the pleasure of sampling 150 whiskies, but they had no idea which fine drams they were sampling, as all taste tests were done blind. The ten categories are: Whisky Under £40,…

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Small is beautiful at Domaine Ferret

Just because a small producer is owned by a big company doesn’t mean it can’t create incredibly serious wines, as Peter Ranscombe discovers. WRITING about business as well as drinks has made me a bit sceptical when it comes to big-name wines. Time after time, I’ve seen bottles with eye-catching labels and creative monikers, only…

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New single malt launched by Highland Park for global travel retail

Kirkwall’s Highland Park distillery has launched a limited-edition single malt whisky exclusively for the global travel retail market. Voyage of the Raven, which has distinctive black packaging, draws on the raven’s position in Norse history and mythology. For the Vikings, the raven was a powerful symbol of victory in battle. The expression is matured in…

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The Balvenie releases its latest compendium instalment – including a 55-year-old single malt

Speyside distillery The Balvenie has launched its oldest expression to date, with a 55-year-old single malt whisky. The Secrets of the Stock Model is the third instalment from the compendium, which celebrates the industry’s longest-serving malt master, David Stewart MBE. The range comprises of five ‘extremely rare’ single cask single malt bottlings, including a 55-year-old European…

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New general manager for Duncan Taylor Scotch Whisky

A whisky firm as appointed a new general manager. Huntly-based Duncan Taylor Scotch Whisky has a new arrival in the form of Neil Miller, who is its new general manager. The 38-year-old has spent most of his career working in the oil and gas sector, six years of which was spent in the Middle East…

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Enjoying the character of Bolney’s pinot noir

Peter Ranscombe gets a rare chance to compare four vintages of English pinot noir from the Bolney Estate in Sussex. DRINKING the same bottle of supermarket wine week after week can sometimes make it easy to forget how much the taste of a wine can vary from year to year. Big producers will blend wine…

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Fort William has all the Mòd cons

An evening of live trad music and Gaelic culturewill form part of a celebration marking the arrival of the Royal National Mòd to Lochaber. People are invited along to the VisitScotland iCentre in Fort William from 4pm on Monday, October 16, as it hosts an evening of free live musical performances, with support from the…

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