Indholdsfortegnelse for January 2025 i Whisky Magazine

Regular readers of Whisky Magazine will no doubt be familiar with the growing number of whisky brands gaining the attention of, and in some cases being founded by, celebrities. From Hollywood A-listers to Grammy award winners, owning a piece of a whisky brand has become a big deal in the glamorous world of show business, which, ironically, seems miles away from the often rustic, historic, and crafted origins of the spirit. Head back to London in the early 1920s, though, and a whisky revolution was starting to take shape amongst high society at the time, paving the way for the celebrity attraction we are witnessing today. Created in 1923, Cutty Sark was designed to be a game changer in the appreciation of Scotch whisky. Deliberately smooth, mellow, and delicately blended,…

It is one of the most iconic depictions of whisky in 21st-century cinema. Bill Murray as Bob Harris, an American actor whose star is very much on the wane. Tuxedo. Tumbler in hand. “For relaxing times, make it Suntory times.” He repeatedly struggles to muster the brand-approved blend of pleasure and enthusiasm in his delivery. Whisky here, as indeed in every moment it is featured on screen, adds an unspoken quality to the story. Lost in Translation, Harris’ mid-life-crisis tale, directed by Sofia Coppola, was released in 2003. Then, the world was only just waking up to Japanese whisky. At the time the script was written, there was no way it would have been held up internationally as the exactingly made, deliciously complex spirit it is today. Instead, the connotations…

People! Please stop perpetuating the misconception that Canadian whisky is the world’s most flexible, least regulated style. This is not true. And the letter ‘e’ in the name of a country does not mean its whisky should also have an e’. No, not in Sweden, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, or any other place, except sometimes Ireland and the United States. Old whisky is not automatically better than young; Canadian whisky is not automatically light in flavour; and US Prohibition nearly drove most Canadian distillers into bankruptcy, except for Hiram Walker, originally an American distiller. Deep breaths. Today’s emphasis on sensational whisky stories has sown a new crop of misinformation to annoy long-time fans as much as it misleads those new to whisky. As whisky sales begin to slide from…

The annual Tax Free World Association (TFWA) Exhibition & Conference in Cannes is usually the perfect place to discover which new whiskies will land on duty-free shelves over the next 12 months. It remains the travel retail industry’s largest gathering, and while the show in October lived up to expectations, there was also a reflective mood among many exhibitors and visitors as the event marked its 40th anniversary. In 1984, the year of the first Cannes tax-free show, the travel world was a different place. It was a pre-digital, Europe-focused time, when the low-cost travel revolution, heightened travel security restrictions, and the rise of China had yet to happen. As it does today, in the mid-1980s Scotch whisky dominated duty-free spirits sales, but blends rather than malts ruled the roost.…

After a successful debut in 2024, Whisky Live is coming back to Dubai. Presented as MaltLive Dubai, the event will make its return from 22–23 February 2025. Held at the Emirates Golf Club, MaltLive Dubai is run by Malt Society Arabia (MSA) in partnership with Whisky Live brand owner Paragraph Publishing. At MaltLive 2025, attendees can expect more than 100 participating exhibitors, with the opportunity to taste premium whiskies and meet whisky experts. Masterclass sessions will be held over the two days, offering enthusiasts a chance to learn more about their favourite spirit. A VIP lounge will offer rare releases, as well as time with master distillers, blenders, and brand ambassadors from iconic brands. There are two levels of tickets available: Silver Band (AED 249) and Gold Band (AED 699),…

When you’ve been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, won 10 Grammys, a Golden Globe, an Academy Award, a Pulitzer, and the Nobel Prize in Literature, what do you do next? If you’re Bob Dylan, you set up an award-winning whiskey distillery, then showcase your wares in an abandoned church in the heart of Louisville, Kentucky. In 2018, Heaven’s Door — a reference to Dylan’s 1973 classic ‘Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door’ — became the musician’s first (professional) foray into the whiskey world. Working alongside Marc Bushala, co-founder of the wildly successful Angel’s Envy, Dylan set his sights on producing a whiskey that would demonstrate both his long-standing love for the liquor and his enduring need to be creative. Dylan and whiskey are a natural pairing. His music conjures up images…

When the iconic Karuizawa distillery was demolished in early 2016, it seemed unlikely that whisky-making would be revived in the cool resort area in central Japan any time soon. But now there are three new whisky producers in the Greater Karuizawa area. The first to fire up the stills was the new Karuizawa distillery, which is officially known as the Karuizawa Whisky Distillery (to distinguish it from the old one). It is thanks to the renowned artist David Stanley Hewett that whisky aficionados worldwide will be able to closely follow the growth of the Karuizawa Whisky Distillery. Hewett has been based in Karuizawa since 2010, and whisky enthusiasts may know him for the work he has done on a prestigious three-bottle set released in April 2023 by the luxury Japanese…

As it does in life, whisky features in films at times of celebration and defeat; in moments of excitement and intimacy. It can appear in cocktails or served straight, and can give an insight into someone’s emotions, motives, and status. The Cocktails There are number of drinks that are as much of a favourite on-screen as they are off, such as the Manhattan (Some Like It Hot (1959)), Sazerac (Live and Let Die (1973) and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)), and the Old Fashioned (Knives Out (2019) and Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011)). As many readers will be familiar with these already, here are some other whisky drinks seen on the big screen. Whisky (Scotch) & Soda The perennial favourite of army colonels, prime ministers, and Beverly Hills cops…

Take a bar crawl through Seoul, and you’ll likely find locally produced soju, beer, or, if you’re seeking something richer, imported Scotch for the traditionalists or Japanese single malt for the younger crowd. It’s only in recent decades that whisky has started to make its mark on Korea’s drinking scene, where the culture is often tied to culinary traditions and local ingredients. If you’re after locally crafted whisky, though, you’ll need to dig a little deeper. In a world where the best-known whisky regions have a long sense of history, lineage, and legacy, others are just beginning their story. Kim Chang Soo is writing the first chapter. “Fifteen years ago when I decided to produce whisky in Korea, people laughed. At that time, no one even believed it was possible,”…

Headline Sponsors Sponsors ADVERTISING AGENCY Northport COOPER Allan Bartlett, Tomatin Distillery COOPERAGE Alba Cooperage CRAFT PRODUCER Isle of Raasay Distillery DIGITAL AGENCY Northport DISTILLER SPONSORED BY GLENCAIRN Holyrood Distillery DISTILLERY MANAGER SPONSORED BY MCLAREN PACKAGING Roselyn Burnett, Cardhu Distillery INDEPENDENT BOTTLER Caskshare Highly Commended Brave New Spirits MASTER DISTILLER/MASTER BLENDER SPONSORED BY BRINDIAMO Stephanie Macleod, Dewar’s Highly Commended Alasdair Day, R&B Distillers Emma Walker, Johnnie Walker PR AGENCY Spey SALES TEAM The Team, Isle of Raasay Distillery SINGLE ESTATE Arbikie Highland Estate Highly Commended Lochlea Distillery SUSTAINABLE DISTILLERY SPONSORED BY IPL PACKAGING Nc’nean Distillery VISITOR ATTRACTION MANAGER SPONSORED BY LARKFIRE Laura Sharp, Cardhu Distillery VISITOR ATTRACTION The Scotch Whisky Experience Highly Commended The Port of Leith Distillery VISITOR ATTRACTION TEAM The Team, Johnnie Walker Princes Street Highly Commended The Team,…

Whisky became the most popular spirit because of copying. Copying is hard-wired evolutionary behaviour in the animal kingdom. By mimicking the behaviour of a high-status member of the group, unranked members obtain information, seek social approval, and engender a favourable self-concept. Social mimicry is at the heart of our species’ success, as it builds social rapport and accumulates cultural dividends, a prerequisite to developing civilisations. Distilled malt spirits as proto-whisky started as a social beverage during Elizabethan times. The first social trendsetters were the apex influencers: royalty and aristocrats (see Mythbusters, p10). Following the Tudor period, the pyramid of influencers widened to include high-status people, signifying social prestige, power, and wealth. As printed communications arrived, influencers expanded to famous adventurers, military heroes, and others worthy of admiration and emulation. By…

I’ve played guitar now for 40 years because, frankly, I’m old,” FEW’s founder, Paul Hletko, laughs, recalling picking up the instrument when he was 14, and teaching himself to play. He spent his college years playing in Grateful Dead cover bands, and even managed a few groups, including his own. “Music has always been an incredibly important part of my life.” That love of music naturally flows into his whiskey-making. “To me, fundamentally, the art of making music and the art of making whiskey are identical. It’s about creating either an emotion or an experience — something that connects what you’ve made with the people who are enjoying it. “At the end of the day, we’re just trying to tell a story — a story through our whiskey, and musicians…

Nick Laracuente Archivist and bourbon archaeologist, Sazerac @bourbonarchaeology “When I started focusing on the archaeology of distilleries, a fellow archaeologist took me under his wing and shared his knowledge and tastes from his extensive collection. Before Buffalo Trace Distillery called me about finding “something old” for the project that turned out to be ‘Bourbon Pompeii’, I was invited to speak about bourbon archaeology during a regional archaeology conference. I was sharing my work of what I eventually published as an archaeological model to identify distilleries only from their material remains. Identifying and differentiating between moonshine, farm distilleries, and industrial distilleries required that I knew the basics about all stages of distilling and distribution, and how those changed with scale, technology, and social influences throughout history. After the Bourbon Pompeii project,…

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