Table of contents for January/February 2026 in Whisky Magazine

I cannot believe we’ve reached the final issue of 2025, and with it, the end of my first year as editor of Whisky Magazine. It’s been an incredible honour to put together these last seven issues, and I’m super excited for what’s to come in 2026! What I’ve loved most about this role is the responsibility. This is the biggest responsibility I’ve had in my professional career. I have a duty of care to you, the reader, to ensure that this magazine is as interesting and enjoyable to read for you as possible. But I also have a duty of care for those whose share their stories to myself and all of our wonderful contributors. It’s important we get their stories right. We all have our own different responsibilities in our…

On a steamy night in October, I visited the Savory Project, a small bar in Hong Kong with textured walls that resemble clay and make you feel like you’re in some kind of massive cave in an ancient land. The drinks, however, placed me firmly in some futuristic world. One of the bar’s co-owners, Ajit Gurung, walked me through the menu where, true to the bar’s name, salty, spicy, umami-heavy drinks were the modus operandi. He led me through a tasting of the menu that put me in the mind of ambling through some outdoor market in Mumbai or Istanbul where the onslaught of smells are as unruly and intense as the frenzied sounds. Stops on the sensory tour included the Thai Beef Salad, a rum drink with peanut, chilli,…

The days of people queuing outside overnight to acquire limited edition releases are gone. […] Many lots at auction don’t meet their reserves. The void between a buyer and seller’s expectation of things has grown bigger and bigger. Trying to close that gap has become more difficult for those involved in the broken market.” That’s Ben Odgers, founder and CEO of Spirits Sourcery, talking about the current state of the whisky market. He has 25 years of experience in the drinks industry, with senior roles across the UK and Middle East, and is now based in Spain. Odgers’ assessment may seem harsh, but it’s backed by news stories of distilleries cutting back or temporary pausing production, staff being made redundant, and decreasing profits for parent companies. Despite all this, Scotland’s…

Balmaud is the very essence of a farm distillery. It stands in a fertile landscape of golden, ripening barley and bright yellow rapeseed amidst the Strachan family’s 1,750-acre agricultural enterprise at King Edward, some four miles from the market town of Turriff, deep in rural Aberdeenshire. It is a distillery that echoes the eternal rhythms of seasons and land. Other whisky-making ventures in Aberdeenshire include Glendronach and Knockdhu, near Huntly, and Glen Garioch at Oldmeldrum, all very longestablished and deeply embedded in their local communities, while the closest existing distillery to Balmaud is Macduff, some eight miles to the north, on the banks of the River Deveron. As the new kid on the block, the Balmaud team has adopted the strapline ‘New School Distillers, Old School Farmers,’ and while they…

Once upon a time, travelling close to the Scottish east coast between the cities of Dundee and Aberdeen, there would have been little doubt that you were in whisky country. The journey would have involved passing close to North Port and Glencadam distilleries in Brechin, Lochside and Glenesk (or Hillside) at Montrose, Fettercairn, near Laurencekirk, and Royal Glenury in Stonehaven. History has not dealt kindly with the Eastern Highlands whisky-producing area, however, with only Fettercairn and Glencadam standing the test of time, although Arbikie has been a welcome addition to the region. In the historic town of Brechin, almost halfway between Dundee and Aberdeen, the site of North Port is now occupied by a Co-op supermarket, but its near neighbour of Glencadam has managed to survive the slings and arrows…

Had the Ancient Greeks distilled beer, the Olympian god could have been embodied as byne pneuma, the spirit of malted barley, or hydor zoes, water of life, comparable to anglicised whisky in Ancient Greek. The Greeks did distil fiery wine, oinos tou thymou, which featured in the Dionysian mysteries as fire displays in purification ceremonies, as part of his origin story. In 408 BCE, Euripides wrote of the Dionysian rituals in Bacchae, reporting, “They carried fire blazing upon their curls (heads), and it did not burn them.” Scholars speculate that classical writers referenced flammable liquids in these theatrical events, employing alcoholic vapours to create a spectacle of flames from crude distillations on an ambix or mastarion, an ancient Greek bronze alembic still. Seven decades later, Aristotle wrote in Meteorologica, “Ordinary…

Canadian whisky has long been the quiet achiever, often found in the rail pour of bars — an affordable and versatile mixing whisky. However, for those looking to dig deeper, there is so much more to Canadian whisky than just a Canadian Club and dry ginger ale. You’re more likely to see Canadian spirits in bars around Canada than ever at the moment, thanks to weeks of BC Distribution strikes and the US tariffs. Behind these light-bodied blends lies a rich history of innovation, rebellion, and quiet evolution — one that is now producing some of the most exciting and innovative premium drams on the global market. Mixed grain roots and innovative blending While hundreds of small-scale distilleries existed as early as 1769, the commercial whisky era truly began with…

Not all good whiskies share the same genesis story: some journey from concept to bottle in only a few years, others bide their time for more than a decade before they are deemed ready to emerge. Set in the heart of the Herefordshire countryside, Rosemaund Farm Distillery sits firmly in the latter category. As a working farm, Rosemaund itself is anything but new. Its long history, including years as a significant hop-growing estate, is still visible in the architecture throughout the facilities. Distilling on site is nothing new, either. Co-owner James Dashwood Chase had already made his mark here alongside his brother Harry and father William, when the family launched the highly successful Chase gin and vodka brand in 2008. The venture became a driving force in the British gin…

The Whisky Magazine Hall of Fame is sponsored by AMORIM TOP SERIES INDUCTEE NO 104 SUSAN MORRISON The Scotch Whisky Experience Susan Morrison is chief executive of the Scotch Whisky Experience, leading one of Scotland’s most recognised visitor attractions and a cornerstone of Scotch whisky tourism. With over 35 years in the industry, Susan has guided the organisation through periods of major transformation, investment, and change while maintaining its commitment to quality, people, and inclusive multi-lingual storytelling. Beginning her career at the Scotch Whisky Experience (then Heritage Centre) the day the doors opened in 1988, Susan worked across operations, retail, and management, developing whisky tasting experiences, and the Scotch Whisky Training School, before progressing to director and ultimately chief executive in 2018. Susan has contributed extensively to Scotland’s wider tourism…

You only need a passing interest in the whisky business to know that times are tough. Whether it’s declining exports, production pauses, distillery closures, or the familiar spectre of overproduction and bankruptcy, the headlines have made for grim reading of late. That sombre mood has filtered through to the travel retail world, too. At this year’s TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes, the biggest event in the duty-free calendar, the number of new distillery releases was notably down on previous years. After a decade of ever-grander, eye-wateringly expensive “exclusive” bottlings for travellers, 2025 has clearly marked a shift toward value and accessibility, which perhaps is no bad thing. Take Suntory Global Spirits, for example, which unveiled Laphroaig 12 Years Old at the show, a new travelretail exclusive that’s initially available only…

Long-time followers of my work will know I’m immensely passionate about Scotland’s hospitality industry. While editing our former sister title, Scotland Magazine, I championed the best places to stay, eat, and visit, and I was closely involved in the Scottish Hotel Awards. We are no strangers to playing host, either. Our luxury castle for whisky connoisseurs, Rothes Glen, welcomes well-heeled guests to enjoy the very best Speyside has to offer: shooting on the hills, fishing in the Spey, sampling the best local provender through the culinary skills of private chef Alan Robertson, and, of course, visiting a distillery or two. This is a long way of saying that we know a fair bit about both sides of high-end Scottish hospitality, and I hope this will add a little weight to…

Fedje is a small, wild, granite island on the western fringe of Norway. Lashed by damp winds off the North Sea and home to just 500 people, it is not the place you’d expect to find a whisky distillery. Yet it is home to one that is creating an exciting niche for itself in the world of Scandinavian spirits. After 30 minutes on an electric car ferry, we slide into the calming embrace of Fedje’s harbour. Our attention is fixed on the painted wooden houses clinging precariously to the rocky shore before we realise that right on the quayside is a distillery. Feddie Ocean Distillery is housed in a utilitarian relic of the island’s former wealth — fish processing. More recently home to a brewery, the stills are upstairs, with…

There was a brief moment — a year into his whisky career, to be precise — when Adam Hannett nearly changed direction entirely. That, as they say, would be a different story. Instead, he was lured back into the world of whisky, and he hasn’t looked back since. Hannett has recently been named master blender for Bruichladdich Distillery after more than two decades with the brand. As someone born and raised on the bucolic whisky island of Islay, it would seem like a natural fit. However, as Hannett explains, it wasn’t always on the cards. “Growing up, you’re surrounded by distilleries, but I didn’t think I’d become a master distiller or anything,” he says. After finishing school he headed briefly to the mainland to study at the University of Aberdeen,…

It’s hard to imagine what the sneaky chaps who distilled by the Highland moonlight would think of whisky making today. Like grilling meat or gathering honey, it’s arguably one of the most primitive scientific processes of all. Is technology really necessary when things have worked fine for centuries? And yet, artificial intelligence (AI) is here. These years will certainly be looked back on as the primeval days of AI, but activity taking place now gives us a hint of what’s to come. We reached out to people from various aspects of the industry to share thoughts on what that might look like. Everyone we spoke to is in agreement that no form of computational input could necessarily make quantitatively better whiskey — yet. But can it open up opportunities for…