Best Restaurants|Restaurant Reviews|Fine Wines|Spirits|Liquor
Anyone who has spent time along the River Spey knows that its surface can be wonderfully deceitful. It slides through the Scottish hills with an easy, polished grace, yet beneath that mirror lies a muscular undertow.
It is an apt metaphor for the latest arrival from House of Hazelwood: Calm Waters 1992, a vintage blended malt.
Every 15 May, Chile marks Día del Pisco – a national toast to the grape spirit that has been distilled in the Elqui, Atacama and Coquimbo valleys since the sixteenth century, and which carries its own Denominación de Origen protecting the name for producers in those regions alone. It's a spirit built on sun: high-altitude vineyards, some of the clearest skies on earth, and Muscat grapes that ripen into something intensely aromatic before they ever reach the still.
There is a moment, somewhere between your third glass of Grenache poured on the banks of the Columbia River and a Basque-inspired Garnacha raised above Walla Walla's rolling hills, when Washington State stops surprising you — and starts making complete sense. This is a wine region that actively refuses to be defined by a single grape, a single style, or a single landscape. Over seven extraordinary days, I discovered that this refusal is not a weakness. It is Washington's greatest strength.
In this issue, I explore a collection of drinks that celebrates both deep rooted tradition and innovation. We begin in Bordeaux and Rioja, where regional classics are being thoughtfully reimagined for contemporary palates, before traveling to the storm swept coast of Galicia for an early harvest Albariño that captures the very essence of the region. For the spirits lover, I look at Japanese blending philosophy and a bold Scottish malt.
Relocating a successful restaurant is never without risk. Diners inevitably arrive with expectations, particularly when the original has built such a loyal following. Since opening in Cathedral House in 2021, Celentano's has earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand, Scottish Restaurant of the Year at the Scotsman Scran Awards and a reputation as one of Glasgow's most exciting places to eat. Moving to the newly opened Arthouse Hotel on Bath Street marked the start of a new chapter for Dean and Anna Parker, but thankfully one thing hasn't changed — the food remains exceptional.
Whisky is an industry often defined by its reverence for tradition. Yet true innovation frequently occurs when someone looks at an established practice from an entirely different angle. For independent bottler Duncan Taylor Scotch Whisky, that angle is approximately one eighth the size of a standard sherry butt.
The Penedès isn't a place that tries to announce itself to the world. It is a rather unassuming pocket of Spain that takes immense pride in its vineyards, Cavas and people. Heritage is a very important word here. It lies just an hour outside of Barcelona, so an easy day trip, or you can make the most of it and stay where we did. The beautiful and rustic Font De La Canya https://www.hotelfontdelacanya.com/en is a stone’s throw from many wineries.
Yes, I know. More rosé. I promised myself I'd move on to something else this month, but then a pair of Italian pinks landed on my table and made a nonsense of that plan. If the wines keep being this good, I'm afraid the rosé run continues — and honestly, with the sun doing what it's been doing, I don't think anyone's complaining.
These two come from Pasqua, a Veronese producer I've long admired but whose rosés I'd somehow never tried until now. Consider that oversight corrected — emphatically.
Located in the Monadhliath Mountains just south of Inverness, Tomatin Distillery was once a quiet giant of the Highlands, famed for its massive production capacity geared towards the blending industry. The distillery has spent the last 25 years though elegantly redefining itself. Today, Tomatin is celebrated for a lighter, fruit-forward, and sophisticated portfolio of single malts.
I love a surprise, and I certainly had one on a recent trip to Warner’s Distillery near Kettering. Having judged the gin category at major food and drink awards multiple times, I have grown to dread the afternoon session. That is the slot reserved for flavoured gin. Quite frankly, eighty per cent are atrocious monstrosities made with cheap artificial flavourings that taste foul. It is routinely the worst afternoon of my judging year. When you find a good one though, it can be absolutely delicious, as I was delighted to discover on the rolling hills of Falls Farm.
