Mitch Bechard has spent the better part of two decades convincing people to fall in love with whisky — first as a Diageo ambassador working golf clubs and global markets, then repping William Grant & Sons brands in the US, and now from his own base in Speyside, where he runs CopperCairn, a bespoke whisky … Read more
There was a time when a whisky finishing in a sherry, Port or Madeira cask was considered fairly adventurous. These days, whisky makers are rummaging through almost anything that once held something interesting. Tequila. Mezcal. Guinness. Tobasco. Seaweed. Pineapple. Maple syrup. Even herring! And yet, tequila and mezcal casks might be two of the more … Read more
If you know South African whisky at all, you know Dullstroom, and if you know Dullstroom, you know Wild About Whisky. What started in 2005 as a wine bar in Auldstone House has become one of the country’s true whisky destinations — a place where, on a good Saturday, a group might sit down for … Read more
The Joys and Hassles of Bottle Splits One of the great joys of being into whisky is discovering how much there is still left to taste. There are always more bottles, more distilleries, more independent releases and more expressions that catch your eye. The problem is that buying every bottle you want to try is … Read more
It turns out that compiling a weekly whisky newsletter, interviewing whisky people, and working on whisky education articles all at the same time is actually pretty demanding. Who knew?! The upside though is I’m reconnecting to the greater whisky fabric, both locally and abroad and reigniting my passion around all things whisky and that’s a … Read more
Some people build businesses. Others build communities. Over the past decade, Marc Pendlebury has quietly managed to do both. As the founder of WhiskyBrother, Marc has helped transform what began as a specialist whisky retailer into one of South Africa’s most influential voices in whisky. Along the way there have been independent bottlings, whisky festivals, … Read more