Imagine a slap bang Kiddush with endless cholent but without the pretext of prayer, and you are imagining the second annual Whisky Jewbilee. It was a Kim Kardashian of simchas. Instead of being famous for being famous, this was a festive occasion that was thrown in celebration of itself. Enough Orthodox Ashkenazi men to found…
October has come, and the warmth of the summer has fled those parts of these United States that only carry it seasonally. While Florida and California continue to sip their sparkling white wines, other regions are looking forward to that most enticing of prophylactic belly-glows: whisky. While San Francisco mulls its recent Simchat Torah WhiskyFest…
As anyone who has visited the dry garden at the Zen temple Ryoanji, in Kyoto, Japan, can tell you, it’s not just the raw materials that make a site worth visiting. If raked gravel were all it took to attract tourists, then the world’s quarries would be mobbed. Likewise, the aura that surrounds Scottish whisky…
In the summer of 2010 kosher-observant whisky drinkers were surprised to hear that the OU had just certified three scotches from the LVMH Group (Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton) — Glenmorangie Original, Glenmorangie Astar and Ardbeg. These were three among many with no hekhsher that had long been enjoyed by minyans and at Jewish celebrations…
As the Forward’s international whisky correspondent I was hoping for some modest representation of the tribe at the 2010 New York WhiskyFest this Tuesday. What I wasn’t ready for, though, was a minyan davening maariv in the lobby just before the doors opened for the non-VIP guests. That sense of hevruta set the scene for…
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