Cast your net wider when choosing smoky whiskies March 9, 2021 For many casual drinkers, “smoky whiskies” are synonymous with Islay, the Inner Hebridean home of fire-wreathed sea monsters like Ardbeg, Laphroaig, and Lagavulin. But cast your net wider and you can find spectacular smoky whiskies all over Scotland, and a notable new addition is Smoke Season, the most heavily peated single malt ever to be [...]
Spirits showcase Whisky Show: Old & Rare goes digital February 20, 2021 Since 2017 the Whisky Show: Old & Rare has afforded aficionados an annual opportunity to sample some of the most elusive and legendary spirits in the world of whisky. Next week it returns, as a virtual event. This time round, the Whisky Show: Old & Rare will consist of four masterclasses, which will be streamed [...]
Get your lockdown foodie kicks with a YORStory Zoom night February 2, 2021 As the current lockdown drags into its third month, simple pleasures like a meal at a restaurant or a trip to the pub are becoming increasingly distant memories. For those of you desperate for gustatory experiences and human contact, YORStory has launched a weekly series of food and drink themed workshops to rescue your Thursday [...]
No-and-low alcohol spirits are here to stay, so do it in style January 29, 2021 Dry January has always been a challenge, but 2021 has made going sans alcohol even harder. If you have stuck with it this far – through Zoom meetings, home-schooling, and an inescapable sense of existential dread – then you deserve a treat in this final weekend of the month. We’re already well-versed in low- or [...]
Best of travel: Why the best Chinese food is found in Taiwan January 27, 2021 To tide us over until we’re able to travel again, we’re republishing classic travel stories from our archives. This week we revisit Simon Thomson’s trip to Taiwan, home to some of the world’s finest Chinese food. ••• In 1949, after years of civil war, the nationalist forces of the Kuomintang withdrew to an island in [...]
Baby alligators and Everglades – it’s Florida baby! January 22, 2021 To tide us over until we’re able to travel again, we’re republishing classic travel stories from our archives. This week we revisit Simon Thomson’s trip to Florida destination Fort Lauderdale. ••• Florida has a fearsome reputation for hurricanes, alligators and hanging chads, but in this vast sea of crazy, there is an island of tranquility. [...]
Rescue New Year’s Eve 2021 with these Bacardi cocktails December 28, 2020 The government’s pandemic policy has left New Year’s plans in disarray, and millions of Britons asking if there is any way the holidays can be saved. Fortunately, the creative team at Bacardi have invented a range of festive cocktails to help lift the mood. So raid your liquor cabinet or book a delivery slot, because [...]
Our ultimate guide to last-minute Christmas spirits, including our whiskies of the year December 21, 2020 Christmas may be ruined, but things always look better through the bottom of a bottle. If you were planning on stocking up on last-minute gifts before the big day, you may have to rethink. But the silver lining of this new lockdown means you can claw back a few days to pick up the ideal [...]
Bushmills’ Causeway Collection is the perfect Christmas dram December 15, 2020 Bushmills has the largest collection of single malt whiskey on the island of Ireland. From its 400,000 or so barrels, Master Blender Helen Mulholland has been carefully monitoring the development of select casks to create their new Causeway Collection. Helen began working at the Bushmills distillery as an intern in the early 1990s, and during [...]
Drink up to help out: The gin raising funds for hospitality December 5, 2020 Even with the lifting of the second national lockdown enabling some bars and pubs to reopen this week, hospitality remains one of the sectors worst affected by Covid restrictions. Hospitality Gin is a not-for-profit gin brand created to support the industry during the pandemic, offering the drinking public the opportunity to order in to help [...]
