Wink and a nod

Wickedly smart. Bitingly funny. Loads of caustic wit.

These are just some of the terms that might be used to describe the Scotch Whisky Review, now under the stewardship of Dave Broom and Marcin Miller - there some other well-known malcontents who contribute - but I'm pretty certain these two guys are behind the really mean-spirited knocks.

Though the web site leaves an awful lot to be desired this is forgivable as it is apparent that these guys spend the vast majority of their time coming up with the excellent content.

To fully appreciate the nuances of The Review an insider's knowledge is required - and the writers are unapologetic in that the SWR is, in fact, an insider's joke.

But even if you miss half of the innuendo, you'll gather more inside information and insight in a single issue of SWR than by reading all the news and press release aggregation sites on the web for a month  - all of it delivered with a smarmy "we are on the inside" wink and a nod.

No one is spared - including the writers themselves - as a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure I was given a prod with a fork in the latest issue.

But it's not all lampoon and satire (though it is mostly lampoon and satire) - the Scotch Whisky Review is filled with interesting articles - for example, the latest issue included a fascinating investigation into whether or not the Glenavon, recently auctioned for 15,000 GBP was, in fact, a forgery.

Other features:

• A great interview with Sukhinder Singh (frequent contributor to The Scotch Blog)
• A critique of a recent article from the Canadian Globe & Mail which heralded the forthcoming establishment of "North America's second single-malt distillery" - (ed. note: as much as the Canadian press might like to claim North America for themselves - we DO have some SM distilleries down here in the "lower 50");
• A new feature where the "trophy wives" of the Keepers of the Quaich are showcased.
• The introduction of SWR's own awards - the John Cors. Firmly tongue in cheek, the categories include such winners as the "We own that? Are you sure?" award which went to Chivas Brothers for Imperial and Glendronach.

The bottom line is that The Scotch Whisky Review should be on the reading list of every serious whisky fan.

The Scotch Whisky Review - Your source of news, gossip and outright lies from the wonderful world of whisky

Comments

[Ian Buxton]

You're far too nice to these people, Kevin. They don't need any encouragement!