PARCHED | 5 GREAT WHISKY STORIES

How Frank Sinatra Drank American Whiskey His Way

By Noah Rothbaum

We toast Ol’ Blue Eyes on the 18th anniversary of his passing, with a slug of what he most liked to drink.

It’s hard to listen to Frank Sinatra without a stiff drink in your hand. And I don’t think Ol’ Blue Eyes would have it any other way.

While Sinatra famously liked to enjoy a glass of whiskey (especially on stage), since his death 18 years ago today, his imbibing and partying has gotten ever more storied.

And now tales of the Rat Pack’s carousing abound—many of which, naturally, involve starlets, politicians, the mob and, of course, a river of alcohol.

But long before he was hanging out in Vegas and Palm Springs with Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, Joey Bishop and Sammy Davis Jr., Sinatra was quite comfortable inside a bar and learned at an early age the allure of liquor. That’s because he literally grew up inside a speakeasy…

Read the rest at Daily Beast

Bill Murray whisky

The Bullshitter’s Guide to Scotch Whisky

By Jonah Maddox

GQ meets up with Alan Winchester, the Master Distiller at The Glenlivet, to talk through the do’s and don’ts of Scotch whisky.

First things first. To call itself a scotch whisky, a potential scotch whisky has a few hoops to jump through before it earns the moniker. It must be made from malted barley, it must have been aged for no less than three years in an oak cask, it must have no less than 40 per cent alcoholic volume and, of course, it must have been distilled in Scotland. The Glenlivet ticks all of these boxes and it was, arguably, where scotch whisky, as we know it, began. Now listen up…

Do know your history

There is evidence of whisky, or uisge beatha to give it its Gaelic name, having been distilled in Scotland for hundreds of years, and the argument for the first ever expression (that’s whisky talk for batch) is a hotly contested debate. However, because the English levied large taxes on small-scale distilling of scotch whisky, throughout the 18th century the country was rife with illicit production.

In 1823 King George IV visited Scotland and asked for a dram of Glenlivet; little did he know he was supping some illegal liquor. So it’s no great surprise that in the same year an Excise Act was introduced that permitted small distilleries at a reduced tax rate. The first to get an official license to distill was a chap called George Smith who owned The Glenlivet.

Read the rest at GQ

Meet The World’s First Female Master Whisky Blender

By Chris McCall

The Springburn Bond in Glasgow isn’t what you imagine the home of a Scotch whisky company to look like. There are no sea views or rolling hills here. Located in an industrial estate in the north end of the city, you’re more likely to spot a stray dog wandering past than a majestic Highland stag.

But this urban setting is the main operations hub of Morrison Bowmore Distillers (MBD), one of the world’s leading high-end whisky producers.

It’s here that spirits from the firm’s historic distilleries across Scotland are brought for quality testing before being sold. If you’ve ever enjoyed an Auchentoshan, Glen Garioch, or Bowmore single malt, the golden liquid would have passed through Springburn en route to your glass.

And if you’ve tried the distiller’s more select products, chances are it was the work of Rachel Barrie, the world’s first female master blender.

It’s a title only 12 people in the whisky world currently hold.

“I’m quite bold, that’s part of why I’m a blender,” Barrie cheerfully says of her position on a typically dreich Scottish day in early February. “I want to transform things. I hate the status quo—which is a bit of a paradox, as I’m also a guardian of tradition.”

Read the rest at Munchies

Lagavulin whisky

The Man Who Made Lagavulin

The story of ‘Restless’ Peter Mackie, a man whose lifelong love affair with Islay Malt Whisky saw him pioneer the marketing of Lagavulin, making it and White Horse famous around the world.

In the nineteenth century, a whisky distillery that wished to succeed needed all its stars aligned. Fine stills, natural ingredients and a good workforce, of course. Appreciative customers and a route to market, naturally. But also, and vitally, a champion who would spare no effort to drive sales and spread the good word.

In many a whisky success story, you find such a man (or woman, such as Elizabeth Cumming of Cardhu). But in Lagavulin’s case, even though steady progress was achieved by founder John Johnston and his successors, the Graham family, that drive was largely absent after the distillery’s first sixty years.

One day in 1878, a boat docked at Port Ellen on Islay and all that changed. Peter Jeffrey Mackie was just 23, and he stepped ashore and into history.

Some years before, Glasgow merchant James Logan Mackie had taken control of Lagavulin, in partnership with Captain Graham. But Mackie had no son and heir. He had probably already decided that his nephew Peter was to be that man, so he had better learn the secrets of distilling. Where better than at Lagavulin?

Peter began a lifelong love affair with Islay on his first visit. Returning to the firm’s base in Glasgow, he soon began to expand its business by marketing Lagavulin more widely as a single malt (a “single” or “self” whisky in the parlance of the time) and later, by developing new blended whiskies.

Read the rest at Malts

Aberlour1

Adventures With Aberlour

By David Fuhrmann-Lim

In which our Parched editor talks about the first whisky that popped his sherry.

You never forget your first time. For me, she was sweet, sexy, friendly, with a beautiful exotic golden tone, and a ripe full body. She was also a little bit young, but oh so alluring and welcoming – my life changed when we met. I’m pretty sure many others found her just as evocative and elusive, and it’s pretty sad that she’s no longer in my life. I’ve asked around, but she’s difficult to track down, and no, I can’t stalk her on FB. Sometimes you grow up and you gotta let the past go, and just revel in memories and the mayhem you got up to. Ah, my Aberlour 15, how I missed you.

The Aberlour 15 Year Old Select Cask Whisky was the one that really popped my single malt cherry. Before that it was a banal array of basic blends and far-too-smoky drams that kept me on the periphery of peat.

But there we were, in a villa in Phuket overlooking the bay, ready to rip into a New Year’s Eve weekend, and out came a bottle of the 15 Year Old a friend had bought at duty free (my belated eternal gratitude, btw). Nose was fruity, sweet, with honey, and it tasted of raisins, almonds, orange peel – like sunshine on a jackpot day. It certainly felt like my stars had aligned…

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