Your indispensable guide to barrel craft, cocktail recipes, how to taste whiskey and much more. Updated regularly with content from our world-renowned whiskey experts, the Whiskey Guide brings together the finest minds in the business to shine a light on the world of whiskey.
Consider the Whiskey Guide your personal whiskey expert. From timeless tips to behind-the-scenes glimpses of our groundbreaking craft, it’s a one-stop destination for all things cask, barrel and bond.
Irish Whiskey is the original whiskey—the oldest style of the category, with records of its existence dating back to 1405. We find it in a description in the Annals of Clonmacnoise which mentions a “surfeit of aqua vitae.” To be sure, that liquid would bear little resemblance to what we’ve come to know today as […]
Why do we under-fill our barrels? It’s a good question. Why do we under-fill our barrels when this means more barrels, more evaporation and more whiskey storage – all of which equal more expense? It’s because, for us, crafting whiskey is about so much more than profit. It’s about throwing everything we have – time, […]
When it comes to ingredients, whiskey is a fairly simple and straightforward liquid. You can’t use anything other than grain, water, and yeast to produce it. But as soon as it hits the barrel—where it will develop the majority of its flavour— things start to get complicated. There are so many variables at play at […]
We hear it said all the time: age is just a number. But the phrase is never more apt than when we’re talking about whiskey. Even though “age statements” are all the rage among a certain set of whiskey collectors, the real connoisseurs understand that great whiskey—be it Irish whiskey or Scotch single malt—is built […]
As we celebrate Irish Whiskey Day, we’ve been reflecting on its long history. Many will associate Irish whiskey with the blends on supermarket shelves, their numbers dwarfed by row-upon-row of Scotch and Bourbon. But travel back hundreds of years and Irish whiskey was dominant across the world. From the furthest reaches of the British Empire […]
We’ve talked at length about where whiskey gets its flavour from. Now let’s take a closer look at what those basic flavours are. Matured spirits are most commonly broken down into one of four fundamental groups: fruity, smoky, sweet, and spicy. It’s not always that easy, of course. Many overlap between several—if not all—of these […]
Butterscotch, sultanas, vanilla, Christmas Cake, dates, walnuts… The wondrous tasting notes of whiskey include some of our favourite flavours on the planet. Indeed, it’s why we love the liquid so darn much. But where are all of these delicious elements coming from? We’re glad you asked. Because we’ve got an expert answer. Let’s start off […]
Romance is in the air With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, our thoughts are turning to drink. Whether that’s to drown our sorrows, or to celebrate with a loved one, this year we’re putting a twist on our Valentine’s Day drinks and looking to Irish whiskey cocktails. While we’d always suggest drinking a whiskey from The […]
Whiskey is wonderful for so many reasons. Most of them are obvious: superior flavour and quality borne through centuries of tradition and with decades of patience. Though whiskey is enjoyed by many different types of connoisseurs, what is all too often overlooked, is its versatility as a liquid. We’ll admit it, sometimes we get so […]