News — Whisky

You could make the argument that the most important dividing line in American whiskey is citrus. Of course, there’s no citrus in whiskey – but there are chemical elements that the brain recognizes as citrus, most often oranges or lemons. And when they’re there, they lighten a whiskey in a way some people like, and some don’t. Citrus aromas are a top note, meaning when it’s there, it tends to really pop in the first sniff, or the first time the whiskey touches the tongue. It’s quickly overwhelmed by heavier notes like brown sugar or vanilla. Citrus aromas are more...

In Scotland, there's a burgeoning environmental movement to ban the harvesting and burning of peat, one of the world's dirtiest fuels. The mining of peat is about as destructive as strip mining. Hundreds of thousands of acres have been laid waste by centuries of peat extraction. Only a small percentage of that harvest is used in the distilling of whisky, but it's absolutely crucial. That's why Diageo, maker of two of the peatiest whiskies in the world -- Lagavulin and Caol Ila -- has locked-up the rights to continue harvesting peat on Islay until there is no more peat to...