WRITTEN in faded black writing on the roof supports of Benromach's filling room is the date March 24, 1983 – the day when the last cask was filled before the distillery fell silent.

"You need to find your sweet spot," whisky expert Dave Broom tells me. He is trying to convince me, and 40 others grouped in a tent in Holyrood Park at Edinburgh's Clan Gathering, that he can find a whisky that will suit all our individual tastes.

You don't get many opportunities to attend a whisky tasting on a boat - especially one that's about to embark on a 35,000 mile round-the-world race.

Second only to vintage wines in terms of its complexity and variety of styles as well as rarity and price, limited edition cask malt whiskies represents some of the most interesting and rewarding drinking sensations in the world.

WHEN you're told that you are at risk of losing your job, the one thing you want is clarity.

ON the banks of the Forth-Clyde canal just outside the small town of Falkirk lies the empty shell of Rosebank distillery. Closed for more than 15 years it is still affectionally referred to among Scotch whisky enthusiasts as the "Queen of the Lowlands".

IN 2005, the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) became aware of a number of products falsely described as "Scotch Whisky" being sold in Australia. Similarities in the labelling, and enquiries made, indicated they all came from the same source.

THERE'S nothing like a factory closure to get the blood of politicians boiling.

FANCY trying out some speciality whiskies with Scotsman Whisky's resident expert while raising money for charity at the same time?