In response to our Whisky in History series, the people over at The Macallan have written a blog post which parallels our series, highlighting The Macallan’s history.  Here are two such dates:
(1824) Alexander Reid, a local farmer known for his advanced farming methods and for the superior quality of his whiskies, obtains a license to distil whisky in Scotland – one of the first ever licenses. This was followed by the set up of a lease of eight acres from the Earl of Seafield to establish a distillery. With this, …

A family member of mine has an extreme allergy to sulfates, so certain wines can cause unpleasant reactions such as headaches and swollen lips and throat.  While there is a small amount of sulfates naturally occurring in the grapes, most winemakers also add extra sulfates in order to control fermentation, preventing the wine from becoming vinegar.

While there are sulfury compounds in whisky, according to Dr. Bill Lumsden (of Glenmorangie) the “only way there could be [sulfates] in whisky is if it’s wine or sherry barrels which have been treated with …

Eyes getting tired of reading blog after blog on your favourite topic?  Would you rather spend your time out and about, while still absorbing the latest cigar and whisky intel?  Podcasts are the answer.  Subscribe to a podcast and get the latest show each week synced to your iPod or MP3 player.  It’s the audio equivalent of an RSS feed, delivered to iTunes (or your preferred player) on a regular basis.  I thought I would take this opportunity to round up the whisky and cigar podcasts that I am aware …

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There really are some great quality Canadian whiskies out there.  From the mass-produced to the boutique, the Canadian whisky scene is rich in variety and constantly improving with regular new arrivals on shelves from both corporate and small-scale brands.  Distilled by Alberta Distillers of Calgary, a subsidiary of Fortune Brands (who own Jim Beam), Alberta Springs 10 Years Old recently appeared on my local liquor store’s shelves (although the product itself is much older), so I grabbed a bottle.
I was incredibly impressed with this 100% rye whisky

Continuing along our  Whisky in History series (via images from the Life Archive), we now cover 1960 onwards.  In 1972, Life become a monthly rather than a weekly publication, hence the reduced number of images.  If you missed the earlier posts, you can find them