A new year of whisky adventures

Welcome to the new year, and all the possibilities it brings when we start afresh and think about everything that’s ahead in 2024.

For the Society, it’s going to be a chance to focus on everything that we do best for our members around the world. We’re kicking off this January with a feature about how our focus on flavour drives every aspect of what we do, from cask selection to maturation, from the Tasting Panel’s expertise to how we present our bottles to members across our 12 flavour profiles.

I’m hugely excited that 2024 is also going to be a year of celebrating the Society’s approach to sherry-cask maturation. We’ve been busy digging into that and are ready to share our experiences with the written word as well as in our videos. Check out Julien Willems’ feature on the Society’s history of sherry-cask maturation in this issue, accompanied by a Q&A with Euan Campbell in a Jerez bodega when we were out on a visit to the Sherry Triangle.

We’re also going to be looking at where flavour comes from in various parts of the whisky making process this year, and Gavin D Smith kicks off that series with a focus on one of the fundamental ingredients, malted barley.

Finally, we’re going to be taking you around the world this year on a global tour of cities where the Society can lead you on a cracking night out and a few drams in one of our local partner bars. First up is Melbourne, with Adam Ioannidis from the Society team in Australia as your local guide.

I hope you enjoy all of that, as well as everything else we’re serving up as we start the year.

Here’s to a fantastic 2024 and the whisky adventures ahead,

Cheers,