Whisky Magazine July 2019

So here we are hurtling into the second half of the year, those lazy Summer days beckon (well at least in the northern hemisphere), the Summer Solstice has pasted and the days will grow longer for a little while yet. Now is a good time to take stock on how things are going, six months in and how are the aspects of life going, New Years revolutions, mentally, physically and of course spiritually in both senses. Let’s not mix politics and whisky too much, but it has to be said that sat here right now, in the final, straw clutching days of the Prime Minister’s tenure, British politics seems to have lost its way and the respect of a nation. No matter what side of the Brexit divide you sit on, the…

Speyside stalwart, The Balvenie, has launched a collection of three single malt whiskies representing tales of character, endeavour and craft, created at its home in Dufftown, Scotland. The distillery and brand prides itself on remaining true to the techniques passed down by its craftsmen from generation to generation. As in years past, it remains a place run by people – where human touch, skill, and emotion prevail over machine and automation. In this way, each whisky produced by The Balvenie tells a human story, evolving with the characters and developing unexpected twists through years of maturation. These three new expressions of The Balvenie celebrate this – whether it be apprentice malt master Kelsey McKechnie, using Kentucky virgin oak to make a fruitier Balvenie, former distillery manager Ian Millar, introducing smoke from Speyside…

Whisky Live Durban Thursday 13 to Saturday 15 June The final leg of the South African celebrations conclude in Durban at Suncoast Casino from 13 - 15 June 2019. A host of local and international whisky aficionados are waiting to talk you through the complexities and nuances of a range of whiskies wide enough to offer something for everyone. Learn which flavour profiles to look out for to get the most from your first taste of newly-launched whiskies. Discover layers of complexity in your old favourites. Network with like-minded whisky lovers, dressed to impress. Enjoy the vibe! High-end lifestyle products will be accessible from 17:00 at all events, while the Tasting Hall opens at 18:00 until 22:00. Whisky Live Brisbane Friday 14 to Saturday 15 June Whisky Live is Brisbane’s whisky and spirits sampling event of…

In May I went to Tulsa, Oklahoma, a city of about 400,000 people. It’s a city that too many coastal dwelling Americans know from the bouncy and saccharine and very excellent, Rogers and Hammerstein musical and Merle Haggard’s famous song, the catchy Okie from Muskogee. Add to that the state being pigeonholed for its tornadoes, football (and more football), farmland and pickup trucks. Now, this is not a column about yours truly, a New Yorker, falling for a small midwestern town’s slower way of life and reconsidering her life choices. I could never exist without markets where I can shop for papayas, knishes, Irish butter and Greek olives 24-hours a day. That’s to say nothing of the self-anointed messengers of God who preach their gospel on the F train, always…

Heirloom corn has taken the craft whisky scene by storm. It’s often too costly for largescale producers to use anything but Yellow Dent corn, but smaller craft producers are seeing it as a way to differentiate their products from the standard. Heirloom corn is open-pollinated, which means not only that each kernel on a cob will produce a plant, but also that the offspring of those seeds will be identical to the parent plant. Heirloom varietals of corn as we know them have typically been saved through generations, yielding a plant that has remained virtually unchanged for generations. But there are also ‘beyond heirloom’ varietals made by crossing two heirloom varietals to create an open-pollinated hybrid, often producing greater diversity in flavours and colours. “Heirloom corn mostly fell out of favour…

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