London Is the Best Place to Drink Whisky Right Now. Here’s Where to Sip
The city was the ideal setting to taste spring’s most exciting new releases.
The Kioku bar at the Raffles London has expansive Japanese whisky offerings.
Photographer: Carla BarberHappy belated start of spring, my fellow spirit sippers. I hope your season is off to a quaffable start. I uncorked mine with a liquid-themed pilgrimage to the UK. As I’m a committed whisky writer, it should surprise no one that I often find myself touring the idyllic peat-packed landscapes of Scotland. Indeed, I’ve explored this part of the world more expansively than any other region beyond my own backyard—some 25 journeys in total.
It’s the least I can do considering the sheer magnitude of product rolling off the stills there. According to the latest figures from the Scotch Whisky Association, about 44 bottles’ worth of the native juice is exported every second, reaching more than 160 markets around the globe. That means domestically, at any given moment, there are an estimated 22 million casks filled with slumbering spirit: about one for every living Scottish national.