Cask & Still Issue 4

As I write this, Autumn is in full swing and the Festive Season is looming large. My palate has been shaken and stirred of late, with the Whisky Challenge run by our sister publication Scottish Field keeping my tumbler full and my mind addled for much of the past month. But my, what a glorious way to help the weeks slip by! Aided and abetted by outstanding, award-winning drams from Glen Scotia, Glen Grant, Glenglassaugh, Arran and countless other points in between, it’s been a good year so far.
But while we’ll keep our eye on all things amber (as you can hopefully see from these pages) our attention is also turning to the demands of Christmas and Hogmanay. For me this is a time of year defined by booze – whether it’s mulled wine, gin or cider on Christmas Eve, fizz with smoked salmon on Christmas morning, the stickies that accompany Christmas pud or the bullshots that make the Boxing Day forced march bearable, my whole regime revolves around family, food and booze.
And that is, of course, without mentioning first footing at Hogmanay when we get through a small lake of whisky, or later in January when all rightthinking souls splash a wee bit of uisge beatha over their haggis on Burns Night. ‘Tis surely the season to be (very) merry... Slàinte!

EDITOR Richard Bath

Cask and Still Issue 4