Joel Harrison is an award-winning spirits writer, Keeper of the Quaich, Musketeer of Armagnac and Gin Guild ‘rectifier’. Now 40, he has given up all hope of ever playing for Oxford United.
Recent contributions
01
Features
The best rye whiskies from around the world
Joel Harrison takes a look at how the grain became fashionable again, and picks out six of the best rye whiskies
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02
News
Bowmore and Aston Martin join forces for £50,000 bottling
Last month, Diageo took the wraps off its £20,000, eight-bottle collection. Now historic Islay distillery Bowmore has trumped it with an astonishing single release
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03
Vive la révolution! Cognac reinvents itself
The image of Cognac is being transformed, from the most traditional of spirits to mixologists' favourite. On World Cognac Day, Joel Harrison shelves his balloon glass and suggests three Cognac cocktails
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04
News
Keeping spirits alive: Scotch distilleries set to release new bottlings
Scottish distilleries may be closed to visitors, but a raft of new releases will provide cheer to whisky lovers in the second half of the year
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All contributions
News
Distilleries may be closed, but the show goes online for whisky lovers
Scotch isn’t on the rocks yet, with a flurry of rare releases offering solace to fans bereft of the usual May festivals
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Features
Islay, Scotland: the darling of the whisky world
Joel Harrison charts the rise and rise of Islay, a remote island off the west coast of Scotland where distilleries were closing down just 40 years ago
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Features
Lockdown cocktails – keeping the spirit alive
A cocktail should, all things being equal, be blended by a top mixologist behind your favourite bar in your favourite city. All things aren’t equal right now, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still indulge. So welcome to the new normal, as our spirits consultant Joel Harrison bring you his best recipes to shake at home
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News
Ten “exceptional expressions” of WhistlePig whiskey on offer at Fine+Rare
The casks have been selected by Fine+Rares’s head of spirits David Walters in collaboration with WhistlePig’s master blender Peter Lynch
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Reports
The rarest and most collectible Scotch whiskies
A select group of whisky lovers was presented with some of the rarest bottles of Scotch in the Justerini & Brooks portfolio last week. Joel Harrison reports
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