Scottish Whisky Awards – winners in full

THE full list of winners at the Scottish Whisky Awards has been unveiled. The awards – for which Cask & Still magazine is the media partner – announced the winners during an online ceremony. Forty experts blind tasted 155 whiskies to choose the winners. The top prize in the competition, “Whisky Distillery of the Year,…

Read More

Glenmorangie opens the doors to its home

HIGHLAND malt Glenmorangie has thrown open the doors to its spiritual home for a new “whisky discovery experience”. Glenmorangie House, which sits about 18 miles from the distillery on the Easter Ross coast, is hosting four-course dinners, with bed and breakfast. Each course of the dinner at the luxury venue is accompanied by one of…

Read More

Wee Smoky – a whisky for people who don’t like whisky

WHISKY industry veteran Rory Gammell has launched a bottle of Scotch – for people who don’t like whisky. Wee Smoky is made by ageing single grain whisky in a cask that used to hold peated single malt. Gammell describes the result as “smooth, fruity, and lightly smoky”. His initial run of 400 bottles went on…

Read More

Local landmarks inspire Kingsbarns’ whisky names

KINGSBARNS, the family-owned distillery in Fife, has today unveiled its latest whisky – Balcomie. Matured in American oak butts that previously held oloroso sherry, the whisky is named after the nearby Balcomie Castle. William Wemyss, founder and managing director of the distillery, said: “Place and heritage is hugely important to us as a company and…

Read More

Scotland’s first ‘vertical distillery’ takes shape

CONSTRUCTION has begun at Scotland’s first “vertical distillery”. Foundations have been laid for the £12 million Port of Leith distillery. The site sits next door to the Ocean Terminal shopping centre and the Royal Yacht Britannia. The 40-metre tall tower will include a double-height whisky bar at its summit. The project is the brainchild of…

Read More

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

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