Lately, I feel like I’m travelling ALL the time. I’ve recently returned from a week in Speyside for the wonderful Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival. It was great seeing so many familiar faces and making new friends over a shared love of whisky. One of the many highlights of the trip was a train journey and tasting session from Dufftown to Keith. We sampled six drams, and the picturesque views from outside the train windows were a sight to behold.
Before the Speyside festival, I had a week in London for a variety of whisky events, and a couple of days in Dublin before that. At the time of writing this, I’m just a few days away from leaving for my honeymoon. I can’t wait to recline on the beach with my wife, sipping a few cocktails and allowing myself the time to relax and unwind after a busy beginning of the year.
It’s bizarre to look back a few years to a time when I barely ever had the opportunity to travel and the thought of it spooked me a little. I never went on holiday abroad and only stepped on my first plane at the age of 19. I remember having no idea what to expect. Now, it just feels like second nature (and, in all honesty, I feel much safer flying up at 50,000 feet than I do in the everyday traffic of car travel). Travelling as this magazine’s editor has never been more important. As the whisky world continues to expand, more opportunities grow for global brands to bring their new and existing products overseas.
The more I travel as part of this industry, the more I realise how small the world is, and just how alike everybody is, no matter the background. When talking whisky, it doesn’t matter whether somebody has been in the industry for 50 years and has visited every distillery in Speyside, or they only tried Scotch for the first time last year and only ever drank bourbon before that. Everybody is united with the same passion for whisky, and many even have shared experiences, despite being thousands of miles apart.
This issue highlights that theme of travelling and exploration in a number of different ways. Firstly, we’ve put a spotlight on the magnificent whiskies of Oceania. Whether it’s the incredible Tasmanian trailblazers who are producing genuinely world-class liquid, the snowy region of Cardrona in New Zealand, or examining the realities of Australia’s financial relationship with whisky, it’s inspiring to learn about the spirits culture and industry of a part of the world which, until relatively recently, wasn’t getting the whisky love it deserves. Look out for the whiskies being produced by distillieries such as Hellyers Road, Sullivans Cove, Overeem, Lark, and so many more throughout the diverse and fast-developing region.
There’s also an exciting exploration of whisky bars, recommended by our writers Harry Brennan and Blair Phillips, for the Netherlands and Toronto respectively. Bar guides are something we haven’t done regularly at Whisky Magazine for quite some time, but we realise how important this can be for those either local to the areas, or planning to travel there very soon. There’s nothing worse than arriving in a new country and having no idea where the optimal spots are for enjoying a gorgeous dram in a relaxed setting. We saw this issue in particular as a great opportunity to revitalise the bar guide.
Sometimes it’s not you or I that is travelling, but instead it’s the whisky itself. Our regular contributor Jacopo Mazzeo has written a fascinating article on Jefferson’s Bourbon — the whisky being matured at sea. I won’t spoil anything about the ins-and-outs, but it’s compelling to learn of whisky’s extreme travels in 2026.
Hopefully you will discover something new in this issue that you had no idea about before you opened these pages. Even as the editor that commissioned these pieces, I found myself utterly fascinated by learning about these different parts of the world. Next time I’m planning a trip — and providing that the current political climate and shortages will allow us to keep travelling — I’ll no doubt refer back to this particular issue to identify my next destination. You should, too!
