Keith Trusler

The Godfather is a two-ingredient cocktail that punches well above its simplicity. Scotch and amaretto, stirred over ice, nothing else. And yet the combination of smoky malt whisky and sweet almond liqueur produces something that tastes far more considered than the sum of its parts. If you have ever dismissed simple drinks as boring, this […]

A good cook keeps the kitchen stocked with ingredients from everywhere, and I treat my whisky shelves the same way. A peaty Islay single malt sits beside a clean Japanese blend and a spicy Canadian rye, and each one earned its spot. Different grains, water sources, casks, and ageing climates give every bottle a distinct

When I first ordered a Highland Fling, I was tucked into a snug bar in Edinburgh, the smell of malt and peat hanging in the air around me. I have been mixing cocktails for years, and I still think this one is underrated. It is not flashy. It does not need a dozen ingredients. At

Sustainable whisky used to be a niche pitch, something a distillery mentioned in a footnote to look current. That era is over. Every major spirits group now publishes a sustainability report with carbon and water targets attached, and a new generation of distilleries is being built around renewable energy from day one. For investors, that

Few modern cocktails have earned their place behind the bar as quickly as the Penicillin. Built on blended Scotch, fresh lemon, and honey-ginger syrup, then crowned with a float of smoky Islay single malt, it hits sweet, sour, and smoky in a single sip. I first had one at a small bar in Toronto’s west

A good whisky sour is three ingredients and a little patience. Scotch makes the drink more interesting than the bourbon version most bars default to: the malt and smoke push back against the lemon, and when the balance lands, you get a glass with real depth. The formulas below all share the same skeleton, so

A single bottle of Macallan 1926 sold at Sotheby’s in November 2023 for US$2.7 million, the most ever paid for a spirit at auction. That headline grabbed attention far beyond the whisky community, and it raised a fair question for anyone sitting on a dusty bottle or two: could rare whisky actually be a sound

During Prohibition, Americans crossed the border or ducked into speakeasies for a drink, and bartenders on both sides of the line kept mixing. One cocktail that came out of that era is the Scofflaw, a sharp, fruity rye drink built on dry vermouth, lemon, and grenadine. It tastes brighter than most Prohibition-era cocktails, and it

A whisky barrel is far more than a storage vessel. Short of the distillate itself, the cask is the single biggest influence on what ends up in your glass. Distillers will tell you the barrel drives most of a matured whisky’s colour and flavour, and anyone who has tasted the same new-make spirit aged side