• Dictador + Royal Tokaji – A Tale of Two Masters

    Dictador + Royal Tokaji – A Tale of Two Masters

    With extra special expressions of a spirit, the focus will often be on the mastermind behind it; or, in the case of premium rums, simply, the master. Flourishes within the alchemical process – those that are unquantifiable and ultimately impossible to replicate – are down to the man or woman in charge. They call it…

  • Tributo 2020 by Havana Club

    Tributo 2020 by Havana Club

    Havana Club has pulled back the curtain on their latest iteration of their Tributo collection. First launched back in 2016 by Maestro del Ron Cubano Asbel Morales, this ultra-prestige series of Havana Club rum seeks to embody specific tenets of traditional Cuban rum-making. Each annual edition focuses on a different element of the process and the…

  • Glenlivet — The Visible Spectra

    Glenlivet — The Visible Spectra

    The first things one seeks out in their whisky – before even liberating its cork – are its age, established flavour profiles, and the manner with which it was casked. We use these hallmarks to close in on what we know we like, or what we think we might like, according to past tastings. As…

  • Redbreast 27 — When Ruby Port met Irish Whiskey

    Redbreast 27 — When Ruby Port met Irish Whiskey

    In a world that can be turned on its head in a matter of weeks the feeling of permanence is currently a seemingly distant emotion. It was barely a month ago that I was headed to Dublin to witness the launch of a new permanent addition to the Redbreast family of Single Pot Still whiskeys,…

  • Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

    Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

    If you thought we were deep in the age of the entrepreneur before, we’re about to encounter new depths, as recent events have rocked the world in its entirety — both digital and actual — leaving business sectors worldwide needing innovation to simply survive, let alone grow. However, one “niche” sector of entrepreneurship is focused…

  • Florentine Kitchen Knives

    Florentine Kitchen Knives

    It’s no coincidence that Florentine Kitchen Knives are able to invoke an almost borderless aesthetic that somehow exemplifies very specific cultures across the globe. Florentine Kitchen Knives is the brainchild Tomer Botner – an industrial designer who spent 10 years in the restaurant industry ruminating on how he could apply his very practical mastery of…

  • OCTOMORE by Bruichladdich

    OCTOMORE by Bruichladdich

    It’s safe to say they do things a little differently up at Bruichladdich (brook-laddy). One of the smaller of the nine distilleries on the Scottish isle of Islay, they happen to employ the most people. This is because cost efficiency is not in-keeping with the Bruichladdich mantra. In fact, their dogged resistance to the risk-free,…

  • Select Aperitivo | A Venetian Story

    Select Aperitivo | A Venetian Story

    I’d never been to Venice before which is strange, firstly given my ardent love for Italy and secondly given that Venice is regarded in many minds as one of Italy’s crown jewels; it’s Waterworld-esque existence being a truly unique proposition. My task was to broaden my Aperitivo knowledge beyond the realms of drinking Aperol Spritz in…

  • SOUND OF RUM

    SOUND OF RUM

    There’s an ineffable electricity in the tang of a rum cocktail. A kind of hot, cloying constitution that limbers the soul and, more than any other spirit, tastes like a good time. You’ll be hard pushed to find a drink that is so redolent of colour and sound as rum. It’s the carnival drink; the…

  • Glenfiddich Rare Collection Cask No. 20050

    Glenfiddich Rare Collection Cask No. 20050

    The whisky industry is a sector that has little room for innovation due to the constraints that make a whisky, a whisky. Stray too far from the parameters, then you are no longer making whisky, or even worse still, you actually create a whisky — but one of inferior quality. Having said that, it doesn’t…

  • An Original Recipe | Mr King’s 1842

    An Original Recipe | Mr King’s 1842

    It was only as we made our way down to the south coast of England, that I realised I hadn’t really given much thought to the trip ahead; the busy, vicissitudinal nature of my week robbing me of that luxury. “What drink would you like?” the waitress asked me. It was after “work hours” and…

  • Where to? | Mezemiso

    Where to? | Mezemiso

    The idea of finding — or at least deciding on — a suitable place to eat can be a daunting task. “They have an App for that.” Yes, I’m sure they do but all that presents you with is a plethora of choice, more than you can realistically be bothered to sift through. So what…

  • CHIVAS VENTURE | Changing the face of Entrepreneurship

    CHIVAS VENTURE | Changing the face of Entrepreneurship

    What is a good business decision…? One that makes profit for the shareholders. Indeed… This mindset was one widely embraced as I tip-toed my way into the business world by way of education and experience. Thankfully, with increasing societal pressures and growing awareness, things are changing—and fast. The average lifecycle of a business used to…

  • DESIGN | The Rolls-Royce Champagne Chest

    DESIGN | The Rolls-Royce Champagne Chest

    The “problem” with being a brand like Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, is that everyone expects everything you make to be the best. The standard isn’t even comparable against what is, but also what could be; not “is it better than…” and more “is it that much better than…”. A good problem to have in some respects.…