TMG Blog

Rough stones, a clump of dark peat, dried sea kelp and loose grain husks in separate small piles beside a whisky glass — A region is geography not taste
Buying Guide

Whisky regions describe geography, not flavour

Shelves get organised by region because region is the easiest thing to organise by. Speyside...
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Two plain whisky bottles of the same shape side by side, one sealed in red wax and one in green, a cask sample vial between them — The bottler is not the distiller
Buying Guide

Independent bottlings and why one distillery tastes different

Under the distillery name, in smaller type, sits a company nobody has heard of. Then...
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An unopened whisky bottle wrapped in plain brown paper with loose ribbon, set apart from a row of identical plain boxes — A known name is not a safe gift
Buying Guide

Choosing a whisky as a gift when recognition is the trap

You have twenty minutes and you need a bottle. Dinner at someone's flat, a wedding,...
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Three whisky glasses of differing amber hues lined up, oak staves behind them stained by sherry, port and Sauternes — Cask finishes add wood, not age
Buying Guide

Sherry, port and Sauternes cask finishes: what the wood adds

The label says finished in oloroso sherry casks. The one beside it says port pipe...
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A single whisky dram beside a weathered oak cask end, grain worn and faded, curls of sawdust on a dark wooden bench — Age names the youngest cask
Buying Guide

An age statement is a fact about the youngest cask

An 18 next to a distillery name is a fact. It is also close to...
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Two identical grape clusters rest on a weathered fence post splitting the frame diagonally, soil texture shifting across it — Same grape, triple the price
Burgundy

Same grape, same grower, triple the price: what the gap is

Two bottles are sitting next to each other on the shelf. Same grape, same producer,...
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An ornate old bottle with a wax sealed cork sits untouched on velvet cloth beside a plain everyday glass — Some nights waste the good bottle
Buying Guide

Nine occasions when the expensive bottle is wasted

Spending more feels like the generous choice, and sometimes it is. Often it is a...
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A wine glass sits on a small balance beam beside a stack of numbered wooden blocks on a dark surface — A score records a moment only
Buying Guide

What a 94-point score records, and what it does not

A shelf talker says 94 points. The bottle next to it says 89. The 94...
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Five identical wine glasses stand in ascending height on a wooden riser, each holding a different depth of red wine — Each rung buys something specific
Buying Guide

What each step up the wine price ladder actually buys

The gap between a HK$300 bottle and a HK$600 bottle is usually easy to taste....
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A wine bottle wrapped in plain brown paper with twine sits in an open gift box beside crumpled tissue — A safe gift still carries risk
Buying Guide

Buying wine for someone whose taste you do not know

You need a bottle for someone by Friday. You know their name, roughly their seniority,...
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A wine glass sits beside a small notebook with a pencil across an open blank page, dried lavender and citrus peel nearby — Describe wine so it can be found
Buying Guide

How to describe the wine you like so someone can find it

Someone asks what kind of wine you like and you hear yourself say "something smooth,...
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An unlabelled bottle lies on its side, back facing up with a blank paper label and a loupe propped against it — The back label tells half a story
Buying Guide

What a back label must tell you, and what it never will

Back labels get read in shops by people hoping to find out whether the wine...
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Recent Post

Macallan TIME : SPACE Sherry Cask and Mastery
Glass Notes
Glass Notes: Macallan's yellow case is out. Why is the red one selling for half? 黃盒上市，紅盒點解跌咗一半？
Neat rows of dark oak whisky casks stacked beneath a wooden warehouse roof, a single dram glass resting on a barrel head — One distillery, its own casks
Producer Guide
Yamazaki and why Japanese distilleries do not swap casks
Fossil flecked grey limestone fragments with tiny oyster shell imprints scattered on dark soil beside a pale tinted glass of white wine — Kimmeridgian rock shapes Chablis
Burgundy
William Fevre, Chablis and what Kimmeridgian rock does