by tashmcgill | Jun 24, 2017 | Opinion, Travel
There are some people and some places that have a certain magic to them. If you are lucky enough to encounter the magic people in the magic places, then things get turned around, upside down and put back to centre inside you – in a way that means you cannot...
by tashmcgill | Jun 3, 2017 | Opinion, Tasting Notes
Earlier this year, I was having lunch with Dr. Bill Lumsden, master distiller and my favourite whisky chemist. We were celebrating the release of the long-awaited Glenmorangie Bacalta, a baked madeira finished whisky and their 8th Private Edition release but I...
by tashmcgill | Sep 19, 2016 | Opinion, See, Theatre
The remarkable NZ Opera is a treasure of the New Zealand art and cultural landscape. There is a magic and mystique in wrapping up on dark night and entering the starlit wonderland of Auckland’s The Civic. Within these graceful walls, I’ve seen...
by tashmcgill | Aug 15, 2016 | Opinion
People often ask me, ‘how did you become a whisky girl?’ Mostly, I imagine they expect it was my father or an ex-boyfriend, perhaps a favourite university professor who shared a dram with me and set me on the path. But they’re wrong to imagine that....
by tashmcgill | Jun 27, 2016 | Drink, Opinion
Around my fireplace (indoors in winter, outdoors in summer), whisky nerd-dom and booze geekery gives way to philosophy more often than not. We may talk for a few moments of taste, colour, texture, body and the characteristics of the wood, but quickly the whisky leads...
by tashmcgill | Jun 27, 2016 | Eat, Opinion
There is a silky, moreish perfection of squid ink risotto sliding over my tongue and giving way between my teeth. I always have to start with the rice when eating risotto. The glistening, crispy morsels of squid sitting in that dark bed are patiently waiting their...
