As monks go, St Columba was pretty rock ‘n’ roll. A great-great-grandson of High King Niall of the Nine Hostages, he once started a war over a copyright issue and ended up narrowly avoiding excommunication by exiling himself to Scotland. He sailed past Islay, where Irish monks introduced distilling to the Scots, and set up […]
Tag: booze
Weapon of choice
What is a baseball bat? Is it a piece of sports equipment, used by athletes the world over, a symbol of the unifying power of team sports? Or is it a weapon, used by thugs the world over, a symbol of gang violence? Is it the embodiment of America’s national pastime – or is it […]
Powers that be
You just can’t go wrong with Powers. It is my drink of choice on the rare occasion that I actually get out for the night. It’s easily found in most pubs, is reasonably priced, and – to my palate – packs a bigger punch than it’s more popular sibling, Jameson. I always think of Indian food […]
Of blood and whiskey
There are things that I miss about being in a newsroom. The flow of insider information, the unprintable story behind the story, the kernels of truth you occasionally stumble across. It is like an addiction – once gone from it, you feel the withdrawal, you realise that you are now on the outside. But that isn’t necessarily […]
Whiskey in the jar
Great shot of Phil Lynott at Slane in 1981 yoinked from the Indo. The grand plans of Jack Daniels parent firm – and Slane Whiskey owners – Brown Forman were revealed yesterday: Lawson Whiting, Brown-Forman’s chief brands officer, told DI the company’s family structure enabled it to “think long term” in the Irish whiskey category […]
Drambusters
A nice PR shot of me mincing across the floor at last year’s Irish Whiskey Live with some sheets of paper and zero mates. This year I am going to be there again, but this time I am dragging my brother in law along so I don’t look like a total sad case. That said, […]
Li Wei’s lovely photos for Pernod Ricard, taken at Pernod sites around the world – including Midleton, as revealed by moi back in May. Small towns eh, can’t even get a world-famous photoartist to conduct a shoot using a massive crane and dangling humans without some local yokel coming along and taking photos from the […]
Cotter’s cut
I interviewed this remarkable young woman last week and it went into print today, but due to space restraints they had to cut it in half. So here it is in full: The summer of 1975 wasn’t a particularly remarkable one. The somnambulist prog of 10CC’s I’m Not In Love topped the Irish charts, there […]
Craft works
So I went to the launch of the new micro-distillery in Midleton last night. Terrible photos above that completely fail to do it justice, will stick up decent ones and some more details when I get a chance. Article on the young lady in charge of the facility goes into the Irish Examiner today. I’m […]
Midleton Food And Drink Festival – Part Deux
Amazing day closed with some really amazing whiskeys – especially the Dair Ghaelach. Remarkable stuff.
Dingle and ready to mingle
I took part in the Dingle Distillery whiskey school – it’s a great way to spend a couple of days in an amazing part of the country. I highly recommend it. The article ran in the Irish Examiner over the summer, but here it is in full. If Oliver Hughes has a crystal ball, he […]
If this photoshoot gets any classier a porno might break out
More like Sons Of Wankery, amirite? Anyway, it’s this: It was not so much the Angels’ Share, more the “Hell’s” Angels’ Share as Speyside Distillery crossed to the dark side to launch its new black whisky – Beinn Dubh – at Europe’s biggest Harley Davidson motorcycle rally today (30 August, 2015). The single malt was unveiled to over 3,000 motorbike enthusiasts who gathered in Aviemore in […]
Kindred spirits
My article on the Spirit Of Speyside whisky festival in Scotland went into Saturday’s Irish Examiner, naturally they had to trim it as I had written The Lord Of The Rings, so I’m posting the full version here. I wrote a separate blog post about it here, which covers all the events I attended, and […]
When pale ale is not a euphemism
The launch of the Franciscan Well Jameson-Aged Pale Ale in the Oliver Plunkett late last year. And from today’s Irish Examiner: The Franciscan Well Brewery, on the North Mall, won two golds, a silver and three bronze medals, adding to 23 previous major awards in the past two years. The brewery won the double gold for […]
Fancy getting wankered down in Anchorage, Alaska? Well, you’ll be (Michelle) Shocked to learn that a distillery in the Great White North is looking for a master distiller. Please enjoy responsibly as apparently they go all Thirty Days Of Night if they have more than two gats.
Double act: the making of Handmade 2015’s picnic whisky set, by Peter Ivy – *Wallpaper