How to convey the breathless experience of the world’s Largest Whisky Show? We send in Ainsley. Who seems to drink the time of his life. Oh, and a lesser-seen Balmenach review, for value.

Betrayal; that of friends and family, but also the worst kind; that of distilleries! Drummond and Ainsley team up over some peaty Bunnahabhain Staoisha to discuss the fickle relationship.

Following up on his epic wine cask cheat-sheet feature, Ainsley treats us to a super-interesting French bargain banger matured in a - you guessed it - French wine cask.

After a sublime whisky-fuelled tasting event hosted by J&A Mitchell in Paris, Ainsley is inspired to crack open his smoky Kilkerran and usher in cooler evenings. Nice insider info here.

Held up as an example in how to do things right, Ainsley reviews a Hazelburn 10 while sending an open letter to Ardbeg all about how they're doing it wrong. Very wrong.

Some things turn out better than we expect, as Ainsley discovers with the recent Olympics. So, after smuggling some back from a trip, how about this rum finished Cù Bòcan?

Ainsley brings a Glen Ord banger to a 90+ points whisky night and ends up contemplating what’s different about ‘older’ whiskies that are, in whisky terms, actually pretty young.

Our Linkwood exploration continues, this time heading back to the 1990s with a Signatory and a Cadenhead’s head-to-head, which also gives Ainsley pause to consider the role of ABV.

The mule network kicks in to share mature Union Distillery malt with Ainsley in Paris and Wally in Scotland. Both tear into a surprising and well-priced 16yo cracker from Brazil.

There’s not only some whisky and casks up for sale, but an entire distillery too. It’s been making malt for 20 years and there’s little interest. Ainsley and Earie investigate.

Another continental buddy up today as Earie and Ainsley pour over a trio of different takes on Ardmore while considering the pitfalls of brand loyalty.

A buddy up review on Armorik, a French single malt with a considerable age-statement and, it would seem, a considerably impressive offering. Earie and Ainsley see what France is offering these days.

Ainsley wonders three things as he sips the 2023 Festival Blend from J&A Mitchell: is 2024 finally the year of the blend?, isn’t grain whisky basically vodka?, and why are people paying £180 for a cheap sipper?

In trying to understand why Ben Nevis is such a ‘connoisseur’s malt’ Ainsley assembles a trio of indies and pours them alongside each other for a cosy night hiding from the Parisian rain.

When we love whisky so much, it’s hard to be brutal about some of the obvious negatives. Yet sometimes, when things are clearly wrong, we just have to call it out. This decision was not taken lightly.

Dove-tailing Doog’s review of the mass-market Aberfeldy 12yo, Ainsley finds an all-too-rare alternative, one more tailored for those of a geeky bent. Inexpensive too!

With hundreds of distilleries over there, it seems inexcusable that it’s taken two years of Dramface to feature a French malt. Here it is, and it needs to stop.

In his debut piece, Frenchman Ainsley tells us how an Ardbeg 10 and visit to an Edinburgh bar with his old man would set life-changing things in motion that are still playing out today.