Category: News

Torabhaig Distillery – the new kid on the block

When speaking of the many new distilleries to have set up and commenced operations in the last 10 years, we often refer to them as “the new kid on the block”.  Which is fair enough if you set up in the Highlands and you’re one of many distilleries already established in the area.  But what happens if you’re the new kid on the block and the old kid on the block has had the block all to himself for over 187 years?  Such is the lot of Torabhaig Distillery.

Torabhaig Distillery is many things but, to a lot of whisky enthusiasts, one suspects it will long be referred to as the other distillery on the Isle of Skye.   It is just the second distillery on the island, joining, of course, the long-established Talisker.   Talisker has waved the flag on Skye since 1830; Torabhaig’s spirit first started flowing from the stills in 2017.  So how does a new distillery get going in the shadow of a bigger and long-established neighbour?   The formula is pretty simple:  Do things properly and do them well.  And Torabhaig doing things both properly and well is precisely what I observed during a very pleasant morning visit to the distillery on a warm summer’s day.

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Glen Moray – A (w)hole in one!

Glen Moray, one of Scotland’s fastest growing whisky brands, continues to go from strength to strength.  The distillery has had a long-established presence in Australia, dating back to the early “Chardonnay-mellowed” releases of the late 1990’s. The range continues to expand and to offer single malt Scotch drinkers a diverse range of styles and flavours, all from under the one roof.  And, more recently, it seems Glen Moray has added golf to its persona.  It’s a (w)hole lot in one!

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Whisky Wayfarers

If you’ve read anything about the whisky industry in the last 12 months, you’ll be aware that the once vibrant and booming industry is experiencing a sharp downturn.  The reasons are many and varied but, what it ultimately means, is that whisky brands, distributors, and retailers…and even just whisky enthusiasts keen to share and spread good whisky…. need to get creative in finding or improving routes to market.  Whisky Wayfarers is one such venture forging new ground.

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Glendronach x Gildas

If you’re a fan of The Glendronach and you’re partial to Spanish cuisine, then you’re in for a treat!  For a very limited time, The Glendronach and Gildas Wine Bar in Sydney have teamed up to create a sensational combined tasting menu.  Here’s the background… 

If you had to describe The Glendronach and pigeonhole its whiskies into the most basic of styles, the word “sherried” would be the first word you’d reach for.  Glendronach is one of just a small handful of Scotland’s distilleries that champion sherry cask maturation, and their resulting malts showcase those classic sherried whisky flavours of dried fruits, spices, and Christmas cake.  With its strong connection to sherry, Glendronach is thus intrinsically connected to Spain. Sherry, of course, comes from Spain.  (More on that in a moment).  And that’s where Gildas fits in. 

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Glendronach – A new look

The Glendronach distillery was founded way back in 1826 and, like all of its contemporaries and peers, has seen many changes during its long history.  The last two hundred years of the Scotch whisky industry is a tale of booms and busts, ups and down; Glendronach has seen all those bumps and handled the waves with the best of them…including having parts of the distillery destroyed by fire back in 1837!   

2024 sees the distillery refresh its brand and labelling, opting for clean, pared-back packaging and an updated illustration of the bramble and rooks that surround the distillery.  (It’s often overlooked that many of Scotland’s distilleries’ names are gaelic descriptions of their geography and environment…Glendronach is Scots Gaelic for ‘Valley of the Brambles’).

What is of note with this refresh of Glendronach’s branding is that it appears to be limited to the packaging and labelling.  Unlike so many other recent brand refreshes by other Scotch whisky brands, the core range remains the same; the names are more-or-less the same; and the contents inside the bottle remain unchanged.  Fans of Glendronach – and there are many of us – can breathe a sigh of relief.

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Angel’s Envy

The explosion in whisk(e)y making across North America over the last decade has resulted in many new brands appearing on the shelves of our retail liquor stores or behind the bar at the on-premise venues. Courtesy of the massive – and highly innovative – craft distilling movement that swept across the United States, many of these new whiskies have either eschewed traditional bourbons or they’ve pushed bourbon in new directions. Angel’s Envy is one such whiskey, and the brand is rapidly gaining traction…

In the big pond of Kentucky distilleries, Angel’s Envy is a relative newcomer, having been founded in 2010. That said, this was hardly a “cold start” – the distillery was established by none other than the legendary Lincoln Henderson. Henderson had spent decades in the game as a Master Distiller with Brown Forman, having been responsible for the likes of Woodford Reserve and Gentleman Jack. He came out of retirement to establish Angel’s Envy with his son, Wes, and the brand wasted no time in pushing the envelope.

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World Whiskies Awards & Icons of Whisky Australia, 2024

The World Whiskies Awards and the Icons of Whisky winners (in the Rest of World category) have been unveiled for 2024.  There are some familiar names and, pleasingly, some new names and faces as a number of new distilleries bring their whiskies to the world’s stage… 

The World Whiskies Awards has grown to such an extent that, several years ago now, it was split into various regions to do justice to the huge number of distilleries, producers, bottlers, and individuals who contribute to the many sectors of the whisk(e)y industry.  While some regions naturally pick themselves (e.g. Scotland, USA, Ireland), the catch-all region of Rest of World was created to capture the likes of Australia, Japan, India, Taiwan, Canada, New Zealand, Israel, China, and the many European countries producing whisky (e.g. Belgium, Germany, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Switzerland, etc) and more.  In February this year, the 2024 winners in the Rest of World categories were announced for both the World Whiskies Awards and the Icons of Whisky Awards.  Being an Aussie and someone who’s written a lot about Australian whisky, I trust you’ll indulge us if we highlight the Australian winners for 2024… 

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The Whisky Ark, Sydney

Exciting news for Sydney whisky enthusiasts with the opening of the city’s second bricks-and-mortar retail shop dedicated purely to whisky.  Thirteen years after World of Whisky established itself in Double Bay back in 2010, The Whisky Ark has now set up shop in the Queen Victoria Building in the heart of the CBD.

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Whisky art, Cryptowhisky, and NFT whisky

Whisky art is nothing new, and whether it’s a beautiful photograph of a distillery in the setting sun, or an oil painting of a copper pot still in the stillhouse, there are some incredible pieces of art out there that any whisky enthusiast would be happy to hang on their wall.  But whisky art took an unexpected twist recently, with the category moving into the NFT space.   WTF is NFT?  Well, it’s almost as controversial as NAS, but easily twice as confusing.  For whisky has now entered the cryptocurrency arena:  NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token.  Still need help?  You’re not alone, so let’s dive in.  Just keep an open mind…..you’ll need it.

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