High Spirits
A month’s worth of comings and goings in the world of The Whisky Exchange
With the idea of sustainability firmly at the forefront of everyone’s minds, it’s exciting to see the world of fine drinking doing its fair share to shake things up. From John Dewar & Sons’ biomass boilers to Scout’s all-out commitment to zero-waste, the artists and artisans featured below add a whole new meaning to the idea of drinking responsibly. So, let’s raise a glass to the forward-thinking whisky wizards and gin slingers and their constant search of
a more sustainable sip.
Who we’re Visiting: Scout, London
It’s not just a boycott of plastic straws that makes a drinking establishment sustainable. Shoreditch cocktail bar, Scout, has fully embraced sustainability and zero-waste whilst maintaining an exceptional standard of cocktail menu. It’s all about simplicity and seasonality. Foraged ingredients feature on the cocktail menu in abundance and the food offering is truly zero waste. And yet, even without all of this, we’d still be visiting for their absolutely knockout cocktails.
Follow them @scoutldn on Instagram to find out more. Or just dive straight in and head for the bar on Great Eastern Street, London. 0207 686 8225. www.scout.bar
What we’re Mixing: Gringroni
Whilst tequila is enjoying a bit of a renaissance (it’s not all slammers and worms you know), I’ve been discovering the other agave spirit, mezcal. With deliciously smoky notes of varying intensity, mezcal is one for whisky lovers, and its perfectly balanced agave character is definitely one for cocktails. The Gringroni, made with Ilegal mezcal is the Negroni’s feisty little cousin created by the team at TT Liquor for this year’s London Cocktail Week. Make it at home, or head there one evening from 2nd to 6th October and try it out. London Cocktail Week passes available from: www.drinkup.london/cocktailweek
INGREDIENTS
25ml Ilegal Anejo
25ml Bold London Spirit Cherry
25ml Kamm & Sons
METHOD
Stir well in a rocks glass with ice cubes and garnish with a twist of orange zest. Simple!
What we’re Dramming: Aberfeldy 21 Year Old
The clever clogs over at John Dewar & Sons installed a biomass boiler (burning wood pellets instead of gas) at the Aberfeldy distillery back in 2014. Since then it has cut the distillery’s carbon footprint by a whopping 90 percent. If that’s not reason enough to raise a dram of their deliciously honeyed 21 year old, then the rich, dried fruit complexity and toasted coconut charm of this much-coveted Highland will surely seal the deal. £132 – thewhiskyexchange.com
What we’re Drinking: Garden Swift Gin
Barney at Capreolus Distillery in the Cotswolds is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to doing things properly. For him, being sustainable means relying on renewably-sourced electricity to power the whole distillery (and recycling water used in the process), using biodegradable cleaners for the stills, sourcing sustainably-harvested corks (which in turn supports one of the most bio diverse areas in western Europe), enforcing a carbon neutral production of paper labels, and gathering 85% of the fruit for their Eaux de Vie products from within 55 miles of the distillery. That’s most of the green boxes well and truly ticked! £34.95 – thewhiskyexchange.com
Who we’re Following: @valentine_warner
His Instagram bio says it all: ‘Cook, broadcaster, writer & one of the founders of @hepple_gin. Likely near a river or stove, holding a spoon, fishing rod or mossy stick.’
Valentine embraces sustainability through his involvement in the Moorland Spirit Company who source their juniper for Hepple gin from the moorlands of Northumberland and whose co-founder, Walter Riddell, declares himself the ‘Keeper and Cultivator of the Land’. Valentine is also an avid forager, but it’s not just his obsession with food that will get your culinary senses ticking – have a listen to his regular ‘Kitchen Beets’ playlists on Spotify. Perfect tracks for dancing
in the kitchen!
Words by Liz Lock