The Bruichladdich “First Growth” series takes 16 year old Bruichladdich single malt whisky and finishes them off in casks gleaned from some of the finest vineyards in the world so that they may lend…

t first, what a colour – a sort of ruby-esque, sunset Pimms; like no other whisky I’ve seen yet (that’ll be those Tempranillo casks?). On the nose: gentle smoke fires, treacle, sultanas, touch of Chri…

On the nose this very gentle peat smoke, honey, custard creams, waft of smoked fish, lime cordial. (Don’t plunge your nose too far into this – it’s 57.1%, for heaven’s sake.) Each time I take a whiff of…

On the nose: mild smoke, sherry, very creamy, treacle sponge, a waft of ginger. Doesn’t come with the heft of smoke one expects from an Ardbeg, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In the mouth: I was…

Laphroaig is one of the more well-known distilleries on Islay, and the Laphroaig Quarter Cask is an attempt to distill a whisky that tastes like it would have done 200 years ago – it does this by using…

I’m not much of a fan of the Glenfiddich 12 Year Old, but the 18 Year Old has intrigued me for a while. On the whole, a bottle of the 18 Year Old will set you back between £35-40, and I think it’s worth…

This winter I made my first Christmas cake. I followed a Nigel Slater recipe, and was wowed by the smell of it cooking in the oven. It's better than anything else I've ever baked - all those flavours and…

Last autumn, I went on holiday to Scotland (photos here – totally check them out and come back). It was a glorious week, perfect weather, amazing environment and, while there, I even managed to drag my…