SEASONAL SUGGESTIONS

Dawn Davies, Buying Director for Speciality Drinks and The Whisky Exchange, travels the globe to source her favourite bottles for spring

The New World of Whisk(e)y

With the cost of Scotch whisky going upward and availability going downward, we’re on the hunt for new things to fill our drinks cabinet with. Luckily, the whisky world is exploding with choice.

We can start in our own backyard – from Lochlea in Scotland to White Peak in England, we’re seeing a wealth of new distilleries. Over in Ireland, there’s a host of upand-coming distilleries too: Boann, for example, is doing some insanely exciting stuff with heritage grains and Teeling is playing around with all sorts of casks from rum to ginger beer. But be warned, most ‘new’ Irish brands are just buying aged stock from the same few established distilleries and finishing it, so do your research.

Hop across the Channel and you hit France – Eddu and Glann ar Mor are two favourites. Travel north to the Netherlands and seek out the wonderful whiskies from Zuidam. To the east we find Milk & Honey with their experiments in ageing by the Dead Sea, the lowest place on Earth. Then head on to India, Taiwan and even China, where there’s great liquid to be had.

Australia is also getting in on the action – try out Gospel’s ryes. A stunner from New Zealand is Thomson’s manuka-smoked single malt. The Americas have corn whiskey from Mexico and amazing ryes from Canada, and don’t forget the new class of single malts in America #notjustaboutbourbon.

Whether you like your whisk(e)y with an ‘e’ or just a ‘y’ it really is everywhere. From Aurora Spirit in Norway at 69.39°N to Cardrona in New Zealand at 44.8°S, there’s never been a more exciting time to be a whisky explorer.

All available from thewhiskyexchange.com