The First Ever Rye Whisky From Islay, And Other News From Food & Wine

I’ve written a bunch of stuff for the fine folks at Food & Wine over the last several weeks and, true to form, haven’t linked to very much of it here. So this is a content dump of sorts, led by what I think is a genuinely interesting and tasty new whisky. For reasons I go into in the article, rye whisky doesn’t even qualify as an afterthought in Scotland — it’s barely a thought at all. But in the last few years, spurred on by the rye revival of the last 10-15 years in the States, a couple of Scottish distilleries have started experimenting with rye. The biggest and best-known brand yet to dip its toe in the rye mash is Bruichladdich — also the first-ever distillery on Islay to make a rye. Laddie Rye, as it’s called, is delicious. I got to chat with master distiller Adam Hannett about it, and you can read all about it by clicking the link, which is -> HERE <-.

In other news… Westland, one of the oldest — and for my money, best — American single malt distilleries, celebrated its 15th anniversary, and the 10th anniversary of its celebrated Garryana expression, with a special Garryana bottling. a few thousand bottles of which were stolen and have yet to reappear. So a rare collectors item is now even rarer and more collectable, but not at all the way the distillery wanted it to be. Regardless, there are still bottles to be had, and they’re delicious. I don’t know of another distillery that ages its whiskey in Garry oak, and if there is one that does it, I can’t imagine it being as good as Westland’s. Read all about it -> HERE <-, and may karma come and bite the thieves square in the ass.

It’s always a happy day when a press release from Michter’s shows up in the ol’ inbox announcing some new delicious thing they’re putting out. It happens pretty often, and fortunately I’ve gotten to write up a bunch of Michter’s releases for F & W. The latest is the new bottling of their 20 Year Old bourbon, which defies the laws of nature by not tasting like an oak stave after all that time in new charred American oak. How do they do it, and do it consistently (they’ve been releasing it on a semi-regular basis since 2012)? I talked with Michter’s Master of Maturation Andrea Wilson and got the scoop. Find out for yourself -> HERE <-.

The Glenlivet doesn’t have the greatest reputation among Scotch whisky snobs, probably because it’s so damn easy to drink and it’s not as complex as a lot of its peers. But the signature 12 Year Old is delicate and sweet and lovely and is nice to return to every now and then. They’ve added a new wrinkle to the old 12 with their Beyond Speyside series, in which they finish the whisky in casks from around the world. For the first release in the series, they’ve gone to Jamaica, where they sourced rum casks that impart a… well, why don’t you read it for yourself. Link is right over -> HERE <-.

And last and probably least… I write news items for Food & Wine, and spirits competition awards are indeed news. It’s funny, I’ve been a judge in several competitions over the years, and I always enjoy myself, but I rarely bother to find out who won the awards. But clearly people DO care who wins these things, and I wrote about the winning tequilas in the prestigious European competition Concours Mondial de Bruxelles. Go ahead, have a look! Link is -> HERE <-.