It’s been rather a while since I’ve dropped a note on here, and with lots of excellent things having happened and to come, it’s way beyond time that I did.
Since my last update, I’ve been to shows and tastings England, Scotland, Spain, Cyprus, the USA and Japan, and visited a stack of distillers, blenders and booze makers. I co-hosted a 24-hour worldwide whisky broadcast and even found time to both pass my WSET Level 3 Sake exams and get accredited as an Certified Armagnac Educator. You can generally follow my adventures best over on Instagram, but we’ve also started a new educational section on The Whisky Exchange website, and you can see some of the results of my travels over there – The Whisky Exchange: Inspiration.
Here on PhilosophyOfWhisky.com, I’ve updated the Media section to include a load more podcasts and videos, so if you’d like to hear me wiffle on about the wonderful world of spirits, head over there to find more.
For me, the most exciting update is that the lovely people at New Scientist magazine have asked me to host some Science of Whisky workshops at this year’s New Scientist Live, their yearly celebration of science and science communication. I’ll be running four sessions over the weekend of Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 October 2025, jumping into how whisky is made and some of the science behind it all. There will, of course, be a couple of whiskies to taste, but this will be focused on the science and the creation of flavour.
You’ll need a ticket to New Scientist Live to attend (and, when I’m not running a class, I intend to be running around like one of the many kids who will be there, pressing as many buttons and prodding as many actual scientists as I can) and can find tickets to my workshops over on their website – The Science of Whisky Workshop with Billy Abbott.
Continuing the New Scientist theme, I’ve been hosting whisky cruises for them for the past couple of years, although unfortunately this year has been cancelled due to boat logistics issues. Hopefully they will return in the future, and I’ll be able to roam the waves talking about booze again. To see where we went and what we tasted last year, head over to my New Scientist Discovery Tours Science of Whisky Cruise 2024 page.
And last but not least, there are a few festivals coming up where I hope to be, both pouring whisky and hawking books. You’ll be able to find me at Maltstock in the Nijmegen in September, Whisky Show in London in October (where I will be running around running tastings and talks), Whisky Live Madrid and Madrid Whisky Week in November (more info to come…), Kendal Whisky Festival in December and The Independent Spirits Festival 2026 in Leith next March. There are more shows and tastings in the works (including, if all goes to plan, a couple more up in Scotland), and I will hopefully remember to update the website, and maybe even write an occasional newsletter as things get confirmed. See you all at a tasting soon!