Автор: karymsakov_qq4zn395

In an exclusive excerpt from his new memoir, the man behind Tribeca Grill offers a glimpse at the early days of the New York restaurant. In an exclusive excerpt from his new memoir, the man behind Tribeca Grill offers a glimpse at the early days of the New York restaurant.

The sprawling Bethesda home with an indoor basketball court has resurfaced after $1 million in renovations. The sprawling Bethesda home with an indoor basketball court has resurfaced after $1 million in renovations.

The stylish and sporty model struck a high design note from an automaker synonymous with more pragmatic vehicles. The stylish and sporty model struck a high design note from an automaker synonymous with more pragmatic vehicles.

In her first of her new weekly column, author and drinks writer Alice Lascelles hunts for a taste of local gold. 

However many times I visit this part of the world, it always feels like an adventure, whether it’s blowing a hooley or the seas are at peace, all a-glitter under blue skies.

These isles have produced some of whisky’s biggest names – Ardbeg, Port Ellen, Bowmore, Lagavulin, Laphroaig. More recently, they’ve also witnessed the emergence of an exciting new generation of distilleries, which have banded together to create the Hebridean Whisky Trail.

This self-guided tour takes in Torabhaig (and Talisker) on Skye, the namesake distilleries of Raasay and Harris, plus the tiny Isle of Tiree distillery, and Benbecula and North Uist distilleries on Uist.

I’m always up for a bit of island hopping so recently I paid a visit to three of them. First stop was Torabhaig on the shores of Skye’s expansive Sound of Sleat – a sea loch edged by shingly beaches, sheep-filled hills and distant mountain ranges. The approach to this traditional-style distillery is stunning – its white-washed walls, pillar-box red doors and elegant pagoda popped against the blue. On the headland beyond, the ruins of Knock Castle, a medieval fort, are also visible.

Torabhaig describes its house style as ‘elegantly rugged; an elegant interpretation of heavy peat.’ It marries tarry, maritime smoke with fresh citrus notes and hints of honey and vanilla.

Torabhaig’s first permanent whisky – a 10 year old – won’t be released until 2028. But in the meantime, master distiller Neil Mathieson is documenting its evolution with the ‘Legacy Series,’ a collection of limited-edition malts that have become much sought-after among whisky afficionados (see below for the latest). Once a year, the distillery also gives one of the distilling team free reign to create their own recipe, which is released as part of the Torabhaig Journeyman series.

We spend the night at nearby Kinloch Lodge, a handsome waterside hotel dripping in history. A former hunting lodge, it’s the ancestral home of one of Scotland’s most storied clans, the Macdonalds, some of whom still run it today. It’s all crackling fires, stags’ heads on the walls and drawing rooms full of family portraits. The well-stocked whisky bar is also excellent.

We set off early the next morning, to catch the ferry to Raasay – a drive which takes us across sweeping moors and past the foot of the menacing Cuillin mountain range.

It’s just a 20-minute ferry hop to Raasay, but it feels like another world; the tiny isle’s gentle slopes and lush woodlands are downright cosy compared to what we’ve just left behind. The compact distillery sits a short walk up the hill, looking back across the water at the spent volcanoes of Skye. I’m told they often spot seals, dolphins, orcas and even minke whales from the distillery. The only sign of wildlife on my visit, though, is one very contented Highland cow.

There’s no history of whisky-making on Raasay – no legal one, anyway. So, co-founder and master distiller Alasdair Day was free to invent his own style. “I wanted it to be Hebridean,” he says, “which to me means lightly peated with dark fruits.”

The Raasay recipe is complex; they distil both peated and unpeated malt separately, and then age in three types of casks. Ex rye-whiskey casks provide peppery base notes, chinquapin oak casks add a maple syrup sweetness, and ex red-wine casks from Bordeaux add structural tannin and damson/plum characters. The tactile bottle is imprinted with rocks and fossils – a nod to Raasay’s unique geology.

Raasay’s whisky is delicious. And it’s also a wonderful place to stay – in fact it’s the only place in Scotland where you can stay overnight in an actual working distillery. The distillery’s six-bedroom boutique bed and breakfast, Borodale House, has portholes which look straight into the still room where the whisky is made.

There are also five Scandi-style ‘bothies,’ where you can enjoy the panoramic views of Skye from the comfort of your bed. There’s a convivial bar and restaurant, too, for holing up in when the weather inevitably goes sideways.

The next day we head off to the Isle of Harris, which lies further out, to the north-west. This involves another ferry, this time from Uig in the very north of Skye. Fortified by bacon sandwiches and strong cups of tea, we make our way up on deck, and watch as Harris’s shattered coastline emerges, slightly spookily, from the horizon.

We disembark in a rocky harbor, among hills dotted with white cottages and gorse, and almost immediately come face-to-face with the distillery – a building with a pointy roof and a spartan simplicity reminiscent of a chapel.

The distillery was founded with the aim of making whisky but also creating jobs. “I used to play on the shore here,” says whisky blender Shona Macleod. “Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I’d be making whisky one day.”

Harris launched in 2015 with a sugar kelp-laced gin – which instantly made a splash. This distillery’s flagship whisky is The Hearach (Gaelic for ‘person from Harris’), a honeyed single malt with attractive meadow-y notes and an ethereal, ashy smoke (also available in a more sherried edition).

Shona takes us on a drive around Harris – an isle of two very different, but equally bewitching, parts. The east coast is all gnarly rock outcrops, interspersed with little lochs. It feels secret, almost out-of-time. I’m not surprised to learn that some scenes from 2001 Space Odyssey were filmed here.

Just a mile away, on the west coast, the landscape completely opens up into stunning white-sand beaches lapped by crystalline blue waters worthy of the tropics. The air is more humid; sheep graze sleepily amidst marshes and heather. “There are sapphires in this geology,” says Macleod in her musical Harris accent.  

We take a freezing plunge in the Atlantic and toast our efforts with ice-cold Harris gin martinis on the beach, before driving back for a dinner of giant pink langoustines with the Harris distillery team.  

The next morning, we take a ferry back to the mainland, landing at the magnificent port of Ullapool. And then set off for the east coast, in search of another exciting young distillery – but that’s another story.

Three Hebridean Whiskies to Taste

Torabhaig Sound of Sleat Batch Strength

The latest in the distillery’s sought-after Legacy Series showcases Torabhaig’s maritime style at its most intense. Enjoy with a drop of water. 60.2% abv. £75 (approx. $100), torabhaig.com

Isle of Raasay Dùn Cana Sherry Quarter Cask Release, Third Edition

A stint in smaller-than-average Oloroso and PX sherry casks dials up the chewy dried fruit notes and spice in this softly smoky malt. 52% abv. £85 (approx. $114), raasaydistillery.com

Isle of Harris Distillery The Hearach, Decade Edition

A collectable anniversary edition of The Hearach made, uniquely, with peat hand-cut from the Isle of Harris – just 2,357 bottles have been released. 46% abv. £75.00 (approx. $100), harrisdistillery.com

The Winter Egg is expected to sell for over $27 million at Christie’s London on December 7. The Winter Egg is expected to sell for over $27 million at Christie’s London on December 7.

And it has nothing to do with wine. And it has nothing to do with wine.

This 10-year-old bourbon is high-proof and well-aged. This 10-year-old bourbon is high-proof and well-aged.

Artistry in Oak is the first Scotch to reach 85 years old. 

As Britain readied itself for war, 15 first-fill sherry butts were filled with newmake spirit at Glenlivet distillery. One went on to be the oldest Scotch ever bottled: an 80-year-old, released in 2021. Today, another surpasses it, becoming the first Scotch whisky to reach 85 years old. 

They call it Artistry in Oak, and it reclaims the record for G&M from an 84-year-old Macallan released in 2024. Just 125 bottles exist: One will be auctioned for charity; the other 124 will be sold for £125,000 ($170,000) each. 

It may seem remarkable that two casks, sitting side by side for more than a lifetime, should both break the same world record. In truth, it was no accident. Gordon & MacPhail traces its penchant for hyper-aged malts back to 1933, when George Urquhart began his whisky career alongside his father, John.  

By 1940, both John and George appreciated how whisky continues to improve if left to age in oak for decades. Even then, against the grain of an industry addicted to young spirit, the casks were expected to be around long after he and his father left the company. 

That foresight is all the more striking given it came in the early days of WWII, as Stephen Rankin, Gordon & MacPhail’s director of prestige and great-grandson of John Urquhart, told me: “Early in 1940, the Ministry of Food cut the supply of barley to distilleries by a third. At Glenlivet, production dropped by two thirds. That makes this whisky even more of a miracle.  

“You had people laying down spirit not knowing what flag was going to be flying over their house when it turned into a Scotch whisky: a Union flag or a Swastika. For companies like Gordon & MacPhail to be laying down spirit through these tough years was a real statement of optimism.” 

Another statement of optimism is the price point. It’s one of the most expensive single malt whiskies ever on the primary market. The Macallan placed a $190,000 price tag on its 84-year-old Time : Space last year, but the 2025 market is a very different place.  

Rankin, however, isn’t worried about finding 125 buyers. “It’s absolutely worth it,” he said. “While this is very expensive, we want people to see the value in it. This is a piece of British history. To give you an idea of rarity, more people this year alone will summit Everest than will ever taste this whisky.” 

Even so, short-term investors need not apply. The secondary market has fallen significantly from its heady days, and Artistry in Oak won’t be the oldest Scotch for long, at least if its predecessor’s trajectory is anything to go by. That held the title for less than a year before The Macallan’s 81-year-old Reach surpassed it. It’s now fourth on the all-time list.  

There’s also another cask from that fateful February day, destined to succeed its younger siblings. “There’s one left,” Rankin told me. “It’s still evolving and will only be bottled when it’s amazing. It’s not going to happen for some time, although it won’t reach 100 [years old].” 

It’s not just about the age though; the presentation makes its own statement. Jeanne Gang, a world-leading architect in the sincerest sense, designed a vessel that suspends the whisky in twisted bronze stems, echoing an oak tree encasing a piece of amber. It’s a reminder that the cask itself was once a living tree, decades in the making before the whisky even touched it. Elaborate packaging often takes emphasis away from the liquid. Here, it complements it. The whisky’s golden color is central to the concept. 

And now we come to the liquid. I tried a 10ml sample of the 85 Year Old (take that, Everest summiteers), just enough to get a good idea of the profile. To state the obvious, buyers need to enjoy the antique side of whisky’s flavor map. Varnished oak and worn leather sit prominently on the tongue, but there’s life in the old dog yet. Any vibrancy or sweetness in a whisky this age would be surprising, yet this has plenty of it. At 43.7% ABV, a drop of water releases those sweeter flavors in abundance. 

On the nose, worn, soft leather gives way to a sweet and citrussy note of marmalade. That develops into fresh tropical notes, with a hint of pineapple mixed with aniseed. The palate is spicy at first, with chilli oil, before mellowing into worn leather, dried tobacco and cigar box. Sweetness follows in orange zest and golden sultanas, balanced against drying tannins. The finish is long and layered, carrying herbal notes that linger with a quiet persistence. 

The most interesting aspect is an inherent smokiness that sits in the background throughout. There’s no peat, but in 1940, Speyside was a very coal-fired environment. Smoke was everywhere, from direct-fire stills to on-site barley maltings. In that sense, they certainly don’t make whisky like this anymore

Artistry in Oak will be available globally for an RRP of £125,000 (approx. $170,000), gordonandmacphail.com 

Robb Report got an exclusive first look at the duplex aerie which comes furnished top to bottom, no decorating required.   Robb Report got an exclusive first look at the duplex aerie which comes furnished top to bottom, no decorating required.  

The addition of this transatlantic, entry-level Gulfstream, with a biggest-in-class cabin and advanced cockpit, completes its «Next-Generation» fleet. The addition of this transatlantic, entry-level Gulfstream, with a biggest-in-class cabin and advanced cockpit, completes its «Next-Generation» fleet.