A Chat With The Ambassador For Dufftown’s Mortlach Distillery By Kurt Maitland KM: Why do you think, after many years of the Mortlach being a “hidden gem” in Diageo’s extensive whisky portfolio, has Diageo formally released it as a premium standalone expression? GB: You’re right. Mortlach has always been one of our hidden gems and it’s exciting that we’re finally ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: A Strictly speaking, New Midleton wasn’t the first distillery in modern times to try using new Irish oak in their whiskey, but they were the first to put a definitive stamp on it with their Dair Ghaelach. Gaelic for “Irish oak,” Dair Ghaelach is a marriage of ex-bourbon pot still whiskeys of between 15 and 22 ...

By Richard Thomas The presence of legal moonshine on store shelves and the popularity of programs like Moonshiners have given people an interest in this particularly juicy bit of American culture, on both the legal and illegal sides of the coin. As a result, new myths surrounding moonshine have arisen, while old myths are back in circulation. Here are five ...

Hijacked And Smothered, The Crusade Against Deceptive Whiskey Is Over By Richard Thomas In mid-February the campaign against deceptive marketing practices in the American whiskey industry reached a new low when a lawsuit was filed against Jim Beam for falsely claiming to be “handcrafted.” This latest lawsuit confirms that the campaign against deceptive whiskey labeling, which began several years ago ...

By Richard Thomas In a press conference this morning, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew declared Pappy Van Winkle, the famous and prized bourbon, a form of legal tender in the United States. “President Obama and I agreed that taking this step would not only ensure the future stability of the dollar,” said Lew, “but also save America’s treasured bourbon industry ...