As Christmas is the best time of year for enjoying good whisky, we like to do the season justice here at the Dram Team. And since we all need a little bit of extra luxury this year, what better way to celebrate than with a box dedicated to the most decadent of whiskies – sherry … Continue reading “A Very Sherry Whiskymas: Christmas Box”

Hello Dram Teamers, and welcome back to our series on how whisky is made! In this blog, we’re looking at rye whiskey.  Today we’ll be taking a look at the most pun-friendly of whiskeys, rye (long time members will know that we love a good whisky pun). Both a category of whisky and an ingredient, … Continue reading “How Rye Whiskey is Made”

Hello Dram Teamers, and welcome back to our series on how whisky is made! Since this month’s tasting box contained some delicious grain whisky, we thought it would be a good excuse to take a closer look at how it’s made and what makes it great. What is Grain Whisky? Technically, all whisky is grain whisky. … Continue reading “How Grain Whisky is Made”

Unconventional Whisky Breaks The Rules Rules. Some of us love them, some of us don’t. One thing’s for sure, the whisky industry is a lot better off for having them, so we know what’s actually going into our whisky. But sometimes too many rules and regulations could stifle creativity, and pushing the boundaries might lead … Continue reading “Unconventional Whisky: Distilleries That Break The Rules”

As part of our “World Whisky” series on the blog, today’s post is an introduction to American whiskey. There are quite a few persistent myths around bourbon, rye, and other American whiskey styles, which I think contributes to a lot of Scotch-heads dismissing the category.  Craft distilling has seen an enormous boom in the US … Continue reading “Introduction to American Whiskey”

What is whisky made from? It’s an important question because it’s more than an issue of taste alone; it can also be a legal issue (boo lawyers!).  The core ingredients of whisky are water, yeast and a cereal grain. Water often comes from a natural spring, but it doesn’t have to. The yeast can be … Continue reading “What is whisky made from?”

Everyone needs a good workhorse whisky. You want the best everyday and affordable whiskies. Something you can depend on, stocked up cheaply and bring out whenever the fancy takes you. These are my suggestions

Have you ever worried that your scotch whisky might go off? Imagine you’ve finally bought your dream bottle of whisky. Not a whisky to collect. The whisky you’ve always wanted to crack open and enjoy. You’ve saved it for a special occasion, poured yourself a good measure and taken a sip.

It’s everything you dreamed it would be. So, you put the top back on and wait for another special occasion. But have you made a horrible mistake? What if you wait years before you try it again? Can whisky go off? Can your whisky go out of date? 

The reason for so many glen-something whiskies is because ‘glen’ means ‘valley’ in Gaelic.

There are a lot of hills in Scotland, so there are lots of glens. Distilleries are built in glens because:

1. You need a lot of water to make whisky, so the bottle of a valley is an excellent place to be.

2. It’s easier to build a distillery at the bottle of a hill than on top of one.

A lot of distilleries take their name from their location. It isn’t a surprise there are so many scotch whiskies that have glen in their name.