November saw the official opening of Diageo’s Cambus Cooperage, part of a multi-million pound set of improvements and new projects the company has been undertaking in recent years. In the company of other whisky writers and some leading Scotch Whisky retailers I was invited to go and see the new plant, much of it computer controlled and with some tasks manned by robots. More than a passing resemblance to Number 5 and Wall-E there, but on a bigger scale.... read more »

After attracting over 7,000 entries and 94,000 votes, The Macallan single malt has announced that the winner of the first ever ‘Masters of Photography Masterclass’, in partnership with legendary Scottish photographer Albert Watson, is ‘Waiting for the Eclipse’ by Luke Bhothipiti from the USA.... read more »

It's great to see the new owners of Glen Moray - the French group La Martiniquiase who took over in November 2008 - starting to make this little Elgin distillery more visible.... read more »

It was a great pleasure back in May to be able to attend the ceilidh and dinner that marked Glenfarclas’ 175th anniversary as an independent distillery.   It’s unusual for any distillery to survive so long, and really remarkable that it should remain independent, in family ownership and concentrating solely on single malt whisky.  In an age of consolidation, globalisation and portfolio management, Glenfarclas’ determinedly old-fashioned approach is to be commended and celebrated.... read more »

Mothballed in 2010, Tamdhu Distillery has recently been purchased from Edrington by much smaller independent, Ian Macleod Distillers. It’s only eight years since they bought Glengoyne, also from Edrington and they’ve had great success with that. It just feels like they’ve owned it for longer.... read more »