Contributors

  • Emma Andersson

    Born and raised in Stockholm, Emma is a co-founder and editor-in-chief of the magazine Allt om Whisky, which was launched in 2003. What was just a job for her in the beginning has now evolved to become a great hobby, with the magazine now boasting 65,000 readers from all over Scandinavia and the Nordic countries. Emma believes that whisky brings people together.

  • Sean Baxter

    Sean Baxter has been working with Scotch whisky for over 14 years both across the bar and as a professional trainer. He has journeyed across Scotland from the Lowlands to the Highlands, sampling whisky and learning his craft from some of the most experienced hands in the business. Sean currently works as the national brand ambassador for Johnnie Walker and the Classic Malts in Australia.

  • Fiona Beckett

    Fiona Beckett is an award-winning food and drink writer who has contributed to many of the UK’s national newspapers and magazines. Currently she's drinks columnist for The Guardian. In 2014 she was voted IWSC (International Wine & Spirit Competition) Blogger of the Year. She has written 23 books and publishes her own website, matchingfoodandwine.com, which pairs food with wine, beer, whisky and other drinks.

  • Tom Bruce-Gardyne

    Tom Bruce-Gardyne is an award-winning drinks journalist and author with a deep passion for Scotch whisky and his adopted city of Edinburgh. He is a regular columnist for The Herald, and his books include: The Scotch Whisky Book and the forthcoming Scotch Whisky Treasures. He is a Master of the Quaich.

  • Lew Bryson

    Lew Bryson has been writing about beer and spirits full-time since 1995. He was the managing editor of Whisky Advocate from 1996 through 2015, writing a regular column on American whiskey, reviewing craft, Canadian, and American whiskeys, and a frequent feature writer. Bryson is the author of Tasting Whiskey (Storey Publishing, 2014), a broad survey of the whiskeys of the world, their history and manufacture, and lives north of Philadelphia with his wife and two Welsh Corgis.

  • Vic Cameron

    Vic worked in malt whisky production for Diageo for over 23 years until he was called into church ministry. As well as pastoring a church, Vic now performs the role of independent ambassador and educator for Scotch whisky. He is Whisky Lecturer at the University of the Highlands and Islands, and is an organiser of the prestigious Whisky School at the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival (among other things).

  • Ryan Chetiyawardana

    Ryan Chetiyawardana (aka Mr Lyan) has been involved in several of the UK’s best bars for over a decade. He has been named UK Bartender of the Year twice and in 2015 was named International Bartender of the Year. He helps design and judge several notable national and international competitions whilst acting as a mentor to competitors. Ryan has been a contributing columnist to Imbibe, Class Magazine, The Gourmand and Gin&It Magazine, and is the cocktail and drinks writer for The Huffington Post and Whisky Magazine. He has recently opened three ‘Mr Lyan’ bars – ‘Henry’ at the Hudson Hotel in New York, and ‘White Lyan’ – the first cocktail bar in the world to feature no perishables – in London, which was awarded ‘Best New Bar in the World’ at the 2014 Spirited Awards. ‘Dandelyan’ launched on Southbank, London, within the Mondrian Hotel in October 2014.

  • Tim Forbes

    Tim Forbes has been working in the drinks industry since 1998, beginning with Oddbins before a 10-year stint at The Whisky Exchange. He is now a freelance drinks writer.

  • Signe Johansen

    Signe Johansen is a Norwegian-American food and drink writer based in London who has written two critically-acclaimed cookbooks on Scandinavian food (‘Scandilicious: Secrets of Scandinavian Cooking’ and ‘Scandilicious Baking’), and contributed to 12 other books on food. She’s written for the FT, delicious. magazine, and The Daily Telegraph. Current projects include getting more women into whisky and showing people how to ‘hygge’: to live like a Scandinavian. Aside from whisky and pretty much all food, Signe loves the outdoors, yoga, swimming, road trips, anthropology, perfume and dancing.

  • Daniel Jones

    Daniel Jones hails from Camden in New South Wales, Australia, and started working in hospitality full time in 2005. In 2008, Daniel honed his skills specifically in cocktails and whisky, working in venues such as The Victoria Room, The Roosevelt and Dead Ringer. Nowadays, Daniel holds the position of Reserve brand ambassador of North India for drinks giant Diageo, owner of brands including Johnnie Walker and Talisker. Outside of the world of whisky, Daniel is an all round entertainer and likes nothing better than a good ol’ karaoke performance. However, he’s not so fond of the word ‘smooth’ and limp handshakes.

  • Davin de Kergommeaux

    Davin de Kergommeaux is the author of Canadian Whisky: The Portable Expert, the definitive guide to Canadian whisky, and has contributed to several other whisky and drinks books. He has been writing about, talking about, and teaching about whisky for nearly two decades. Twitter and Instagram: @Davindek.

  • Christine Lambert

    A French journalist based in Paris, Christine Lambert spent too many years writing about social issues before she decided it was time to focus on important topics. She is now ranting about whisky on a weekly basis for Slate.fr; belly dancing for Whisky Magazine France and Fine Spirits; and keeping up the good spirits anywhere when asked nicely. She is also the author of ‘Tu ne mettras pas de glaçons dans ton whisky’ (Google Translate is your friend).

  • Rocky Lancer

    Rocky worked part time at Wine Rack while studying for a transport degree in Oxford. Quickly catching the ‘booze bug’, he turned his back on a life of town planning and joined wine merchant Berry Bros & Rudd at the ripe age of 20. Having been a wine advisor in the company’s London and Heathrow shops, ex-cellars sales support and stock controller in the wholesale division, and finally spirits specialist in the Basingstoke shop, he joined The Whisky Exchange in 2013 as web content editor. Rocky is Scotchwhisky.com’s bottle librarian and is responsible for ensuring the records of more than 45,000 bottles are accurate and the database is kept up to date.

  • Alice Lascelles

    Alice Lascelles has been writing about hard liquor for more than 10 years, during which time she’s written drinks columns for The Times, The Sunday Times, Time Out and Prospect, as well as co-founding the leading trade magazine for bartenders and sommeliers, Imbibe. She is a regular contributor to the Financial Times, Vice and a wide range of drinks magazines and websites, and recently published her first book: Ten Cocktails: The Art of Convivial Drinking (Saltyard 2015). She is a Keeper of the Quaich and lives in London.

  • Charles MacLean

    Described by The Times as ‘Scotland’s leading whisky expert’, Charles MacLean has written 10 books to date on the subject of Scotch whisky, including ‘Scotch Whisky’ and ‘Malt Whisky’. Trained in the ‘sensory evaluation of potable spirits’ by the Scotch Whisky Research Institute, he has presented numerous tastings and talks in the UK and abroad for whisky companies, corporations, universities and clubs, and on radio and television. He acts as a consultant to the industry on a variety of matters, and lives with his wife and three sons near Edinburgh.

  • Angus MacRaild

    Angus MacRaild is a freelance writer and consultant based in Leith, Edinburgh. He has worked in whisky his entire adult life, with a background specialising in whisky auctioneering and the sourcing and valuation of old and rare bottles, which has made him one of the leading authorities in this area. He writes regularly for various publications, including Whisky Magazine France and Distilled Magazine Canada. He also regularly hosts rare whisky tastings at festivals, societies and specialist retailers.

  • Rachel McCormack

    Rachel McCormack is a writer and broadcaster mostly known as a panellist on BBC Radio 4’s The Kitchen Cabinet. Daughter of a Macallan drinker, she got a rude awakening at the age of 18 upon ordering the house whisky in a pub and discovered that not all whisky is the same. She has also broadcast on the BBC Radio 4's From Our Own Correspondent, the Food Programme and appeared as an expert guest on BBC Radio 2 on both the Simon Mayo show and the Chris Evans show. She has persuaded the publishers Simon and Schuster that it would be a good idea for her to travel around Scotland visiting whisky distilleries and writing a book about it. If her liver doesn’t pack in before then, the book will be published in Spring 2017.

  • Jihane Miller

    With an initial grounding in the wine & spirits trade, Jihane has contributed to numerous publications on a freelance basis throughout her career. She was Editor-At-Large for the Dubai-based drinks publication, Aqua Vitae, and is currently Managing Editor of men's luxury lifestyle publication, Debonair, as well as Co-Founder of the online drinks publication, Tonique Magazine. When she’s not writing, cooking or sampling wine, Jihane likes to listen to music on vinyl.

  • Tom Morton

    Tom Morton is a writer and broadcaster based in the Shetland Islands. He presents a weekly Saturday music show on Radio Vera Ireland and Mixcloud, and is a regular contributor to iScot, Scottish Memories and 60 North magazines. He is the author of the seminal whisky travelogue Spirit of Adventure and the recent 'interactive whisky novel' A Whisky in Monsterville.

  • Martine Nouet

    Martine Nouet has written extensively on food and drink, including a book on single malt whisky, Les Routes des Malts, and for six years was editor of Whisky Magazine France, where she became known as ‘La Reine de L’Alambic’ (Queen of the Stills). She is a regular contributor to different magazines in French and in English, and was made a Master of the Quaich in 2012. Born in Normandy, she now lives and works on Islay.

  • gaz regan

    gaz regan – the bartender formerly known as Gary Regan – is a bartender at The Dead Rabbit, NYC, was the cocktail columnist for The San Francisco Chronicle for 14 years, and is the author of Joy of Mixology, among many other tomes. Gaz publishes three weekly email newsletters and gaz regan’s 101 Best New Cocktails, another annual publication. He also manages the Worldwide Bartender Database, though he might be best known for not paying for a drink for over 17 years.

  • Iain Russell

    Iain Russell has been researching and writing about the history of Scotch whisky brands and distilleries since 1989. He was involved in setting up the Chivas archive at Strathisla during the 1990s and has been employed since 2008 as brands heritage manager with the Glenmorangie Company. He lives a short walk from Firhill Stadium in Glasgow, home of Partick Thistle FC (and, as you may be able to tell, has played swamp football. But only once).

  • Scotchwhisky.com editorial

    The editorial team here at Scotchwhisky.com.

  • Gavin D Smith

    Gavin D Smith is a professional freelance journalist and author, specialising in writing about whisky and other drink subjects. His work regularly appears in a wide range of dedicated publications including Whisky Advocate, Whisky Magazine, Whisky Etc, Whiskeria, The Keeper, Allt Om Whisky and Hot Rum Cow, as well as on several leading whisky websites. He is the author of more than 20 whisky-related books and most recently co-edited the seventh edition of Michael Jackson’s Malt Whisky Companion. He is a Keeper of the Quaich.

  • Erkin Tuzmukhamedov

    Erkin’s business card says: ‘Divine office of Bacchus, department of public relations – living and working in a state that is falling down into an abyss of medieval obscurantism, you have to show that you are at least somehow related to God's ways.’ So that’s all right then. He’s also the author of seven books on spirits, four of them on whisky, a judge of bartender competitions, and wine and spirits challenges. And the owner of sommelier school Angel’s Share, specialising in spirits and fortified wines.

  • Dave Waddell

    Man of many arrows, writer, journalist and copywriter, Dave Waddell's love affair with whisky began if not on first sip, then certainly on the second. He is the author of The Knowledge: Whisky (2015).

  • The Whisky Professor

    After several decades spent studying all facets of Scotch whisky production, the Whisky Professor’s planet-sized brain is crammed to the brim with all manner of knowledge, from grain to glass. Think of him as a kind of whisky agony uncle. But without the agony…

  • The Whisky Virgin

    New to this old and rabid industry of ours, the Whisky Virgin is our invention. Designed to roam at will through whisky’s corridors, the Virgin asks inappropriate questions in all the right places. Where they come from, how long they’ll stay, and where they go next, are as unknowable as their claims to liquid chastity.

  • Neil Wilson

    Neil Wilson has been a publisher and whisky writer since the early 1980s. He has contributed to national broadcast and press media and trade journals, and has written a number of whisky books including Ardbeg: The Jewel of Islay, Scotch and Water, The Island Whisky Trail and Whisky In Your Pocket. He lives in Dumfries & Galloway.

  • Ian Wisniewski

    Ian Wisniewski is a freelance food, drink and travel writer focusing on spirits, particularly Scotch whisky. He has contributed to various publications, including The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Observer and Whisky Magazine, and is the author of 10 books, including Classic Malt Whisky. He conducts tastings and courses, and is a regular visitor to distilleries in Scotland, as this is always the best way to learn more about one of his favourite subjects. He is a Master of the Quaich. (Photo: Finlandia Vodka)

  • Naren Young

    Naren started studying classic cocktails at the tender age of, ahem, 15. Since then his 20-year career in the hospitality industry has taken him around the world. Naren was once ‘The Cocktail Guy’ for the Avroko Hospitality Group in New York, before he went on to be the cocktail director for the Empellon Group in New York. Naren is also a well respected and widely published food and drinks journalist who was has been nominated three times as one of the top four drinks writers in the world at the Tales of the Cocktail Awards, held every year in New Orleans. You will find him regularly tending bar at his new establishment, Dante, located in New York’s historic Greenwich Village.

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