‘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

Great Taste winners – in full

NEARLY 300 Great Taste awards have been presented to Scottish businesses by the Guild of Fine Food. A record 12,777 products were entered into the competition from 106 countries, with 42% of entrants receiving a prize. Products with a coastal theme proved popular, with whisky smoked black garlic sea salt from Hawkhead Whisky Smoked in…

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

A Week in Whisky: Colourful capers

GLENKINCHIE Distillery in East Lothian has been presented with a gold certificate by the Green Tourism scheme. The site is only the third distillery in Scotland to receive the accreditation. It is also the first premises owned by Diageo, Scotland’s largest distillery, to achieve the standard. The distillery has installed beehives, bat houses and bug…

Read More

How Scotch helped Belvedere enhance vodka’s flavour

Vodka brand Belvedere took a leaf from whisky’s book to create its latest drink. Peter Ranscombe finds out why. VODKA is – if I’m feeling generous – a blank canvas on which bartenders can paint exciting pictures through cocktails. At its best, it’s neutral and unobtrusive; at its worst, it’s just plain boring. You can…

Read More

A Week in Whisky: Is this the ultimate prize for a Scotch fan?

MEMBERS of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) have the chance to win an entire cask of whisky from Holyrood Distillery in Edinburgh. It’s the first time the society has given away an entire barrel from one of its partner distilleries. The prize is worth around £10,000 and includes duty and ageing for 10 years.…

Read More

A Week in Whisky: Going, going, gone

THE Isle of Raasay Distillery has sold all its maiden single malt ahead of its release in November. Raasay, which lies off the coast of Skye, has sold 4,350 bottles through the internet, with the remainder of its 7,500-bottle run bought by retailers, restaurants and bars. The whisky is made with Scottish barley and is…

Read More

Ardbeg’s first beer supports clean water projects

ISLAY distillery Ardbeg has teamed up with social enterprise Brewgooder to create its first beer and raise money for clean water projects in Africa. All the profits from “The Shortie Smoky Porter” will support projects in Malawi. The beer – which is named after Ardbeg’s mascot, Shortie the Jack Russell – was created by flatmates…

Read More

Doddie Weir’s whisky toasts medical research

RUGBY legend Doddie Weir has taken deliver of 378 very special bottles of whisky. The Scotch came from a cask that Weir selected when he visited Glenkinchie distillery in East Lothian earlier this year. Distillery owner Diageo has donated to bottles to Weir’s My Name’5 Doddie Foundation. The foundation will use the bottles as prizes…

Read More