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taste of the year
Drawn entirely from one chosen harvest, vintage Champagne offers a taste of a year that will never unfold in quite the same way again.
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A Question of Taste: Should Caramel Colouring Belong in Spirits?
Caramel colouring might be one of the most debated ingredients in modern spirits. Labelled as E150a, it’s a form of plain caramel made by heating sugars, used primarily to adjust colour rather than flavour. You’ll find it most commonly in whisky, where producers use it to create consistency from batch to batch, ensuring the liquid in the glass matches what consumers expect on the shelf.
Supporters argue it’s a practical tool. A way to standardize appearance without materially affecting taste. Critics see it differently.
Colour, In Theory
For our ‘One Bottle Three Ways’ series, we’re changing things up in this edition. Instead of building multiple drinks around a single bottle, we explored the full Nikka Coffey range, asking pro-bartender Kim Xie from Calgary, Alberta, to create a cocktail inspired by the colour of each label.
Maximalism Meets Malt
Over the last couple of years, bold, energetic launches of hotel bars have brought a new sense of style to Scotland’s finest destinations. With it, new visitors are invited to discover the fabulous flavours of whisky and mixology found up and down the country.
Blue: The Flavour We Can’t Agree On
In a world where colour signals flavour, blue breaks the pattern. For this edition of the Conversation List, we leaned into the ambiguity. These are spirits that wear blue, are named blue, or feel blue in character. Think of this less as a verdict and more as a conversation with one colour, many hues.
Designing the Drink Experience
How can you capture the northern lights in a cocktail? Or create a space that invites guests to be a part of the process? Or take them on a journey to a forest floor in the middle of a concrete jungle?
Experimental bars in three very distinct North American cities are going beyond taste, creating immersive experiences that transport guests from one world to another.
Flavour Files: Bright is the Vibe for 2026
Each year, Flavor Camp names a flavour direction to capture the mood of how we want things to taste and feel. For 2026, we’ve selected Bright, a profile that brings clarity, energy, and lift to everything it touches.
The Taste of Sound, The Colour of Smell, and the Shape of Flavour
There are more than 80 types of synesthesia, or ways the human brain can cross its sensory wires. Experts who “taste” spirits through sound, vision and other sensory cues are speaking out—and changing the industry.
The Curious Colour of Clear Spirits
Gin may appear perfectly colourless in the glass, yet few spirits conjure such vivid imagery. One sip can suggest citrus groves, cool green gardens, pale florals, or the darker warmth of roasted spices. Hendrick’s has built its reputation on exactly this kind of sensory illusion. While the liquid itself remains clear, the flavours inside feel anything but.
From Field to Flask: The Corn Connection
Canadian whisky may be synonymous with rye, but look behind almost every glass and you’ll find corn quietly doing the heavy lifting. It’s the workhorse grain of the industry, prized for its high starch content, approachable sweetness, and ability to form the backbone of blends. And nowhere is corn’s role more central than Ontario, where nearly two-thirds of Canada’s corn is grown.
The Spirit of Here: Rethinking Vodka’s Blank Reputation
Vodka has long been the spirit people drink without talking about. It sits in nearly every home bar, behind every cocktail rail, and quietly fills more glasses than most of its rivals. Yet culturally, vodka is the quiet one in the room: present, relied upon, but rarely celebrated.
The Smartest Whisky Cocktail Is Also the Simplest
A refreshing highball is proof that less really can taste like more.
Sacred Serves: The Rituals That Make Drinking Human
Beverage rituals are usually encountered at one of two moments: when a drink is assembled, or when it is consumed. But no matter when or where the ritual takes place, doing or saying something special before you drink is an act of intentional threshold crossing and fellowship — it signals that the experience is about to begin and that everyone involved is partaking in good faith.
One Bottle Three Ways: Drambuie
Beverage rituals are usually encountered at one of two moments: when a drink is assembled, or when it is consumed. But no matter when or where the ritual takes place, doing or saying something special before you drink is an act of intentional threshold crossing and fellowship — it signals that the experience is about to begin and that everyone involved is partaking in good faith.
Sensei of Place
Gins from and inspired by Japan capture a unique aura of place, culture and agriculture of the country and its distinct regions.
Agave on the Frontier
For 500 years agave spirits have been synonyms with Mexico but in just the last decade the world of agave spirits has grown and spread around the globe. As a fan of agave spirits this is an exciting time to taste this evolution in real time and witness how the terroir, culture, and people unique to each new region imprint themselves on the spirits.
Cognac: Where Terroir, Technique & Time Collide
Cognac isn’t just another aged spirit tucked away on the back bar. It’s a living system — soil, grape, distillation, and aging — bound together by some of the most rigorous rules in the drinks world.
The Flavour Index: Peat Edition
In this edition of The Flavour Index, we compare 24 peated whiskies from around the world to explore how geography, peat composition, and production choices shape their character. The list is not exhaustive, but it offers a guide to understanding how place transforms smoke into flavour, from the gentle hearth-like warmth of the Highlands to the briny power of Islay and the earthy depth of whiskies made far beyond Scotland’s shores.
The Conversation List: Canadian Whiskies
What makes a bottle worth talking about? Is it the story behind it, the flavour in the glass, or the way it connects people?
Niagara’s Next Chapter: Canada’s New Whisky Destination
When most travellers think of Niagara, they picture the roaring waterfalls or a glass of sweet, chilled Icewine. Yet, tucked between vineyards, orchards, and misty riverbanks, a quiet whisky revolution is taking root.
Between the Rockies & the Rodeo: Calgary’s Untamed Whisky Trail
It’s not on any tourism map, yet Calgary has the makings of an unofficial whisky trail, where each stop is shaped by prairie grain, wild weather, and a restless drive to experiment.