It’s a vexed debate in the world of whisky. Malt aficionados consider it almost sacrilege to add even a single cube, while cocktail fanciers and those that like their whisky long regard it as essential. And, if your taste runs to Bourbon, ‘on the rocks’ is virtually mandatory to cut the sweetness.

It depends where and when. If you’re sipping a fine single malt after dinner then a subtle splash of water brings out the more volatile and delicate flavours (most blenders will add water when assessing a whisky’s quality) and the finer your whisky the more there is to discover. Add it a drop at a time – it’s easy to add more, hard work to get it out!

And if it’s high summer and a whisky sour is on the pre-prandial menu then lots of ice is called for. But you might want your dram cooled rather than diluted.

A stylish way to do this has also just been provided by the folks at The Macallan, with their innovative Ice Machine. What it does, with more than a dash of bar theatre, is provide a large but perfectly formed sphere of ice that just fits inside the custom glass. Such is its mass that it melts slowly, cooling but not watering the precious contents. Good bars should be carrying this piece of kit this autumn.

And that raises the question of the right glass. For serious nosing and tasting the conventional tumbler is worse than useless, dissipating the subtle aromas and sending the flavours off into the room. What’s needed is a classic sherry copita or, better still, a special whisky tasting glass such as those produced by Reidel or, more affordably, Glencairn. They’re virtually an industry standard now in tasting rooms across Scotland.

Concentrate the aromas, sniff gently, roll the taste around your mouth. There’s the widest taste spectrum of any distilled spirit in whisky – and a lifetime to explore the craft that went into it, ice or no ice.

Ian Buxton

It seems the new tactic of reserve bidding paid off for the winner of last week’s auction. The lucky winner walked away with a pair of Classic English Derbys. Fancy your chances of winning a pair of Chocolate Italian Weekend Slip-ons this Friday? The elegant pair will be available in sizes 7.5 F – 13 F. Place any reserve bids ahead of the auction at info@lodgerfootwear.com, on +442072875455, visit the store or follow the live feed on Twitter this Friday from 3pm, London Time. Whichever game strategy you draw on this week, we wish you the best of luck!

Lauren Felton

While heritage wear is popular amongst bloggers right now, there’s always been certain regions that have attracted a certain amount of blogging attention. One is Japan and the other is Scandinavia – Sweden to be exact. One label that’s helped build the scene is Acne.

Standing for Ambition to Create Novel Expressions, Acne was started by Jonny Johansson and three colleagues in 1996. Johannson states that the collective has grown exponentially since it began. “With time the original company grew four individual arms; Acne Film, Acne Digital, Acne Creative and, of course, Acne Jeans. The concept has always been to combine art and industry in a manner which felt both visionary and logical, and this spirit is still what drives us today.”

Unfortunate name aside, the label has gone from strength to strength. In a Times interview, Johannson said, “I never felt comfortable with the name and, of course, now it’s too late to change it”.

In the early days, Acne’s calling card was their denim (hence the name Acne jeans). But while Acne are known for the denim, they go far beyond that. Aside from the usual garments needed to make a lifestyle brand, they make everything from children’s toys to furniture. When asked in Interview magazine about his relatively recent move into furniture, he replied “For me it was about experimenting, about seeing if there was anything in furniture design that was connected to our work in fashion”.

When asked about the design aspect in a 2006 interview with The Smith Report, he replies, “We are absolutely design driven in every respect. The inspiration that the design team use each season pushes the whole company forward. Through the collections we are always exposed to new creative references, something which in turn also, both directly and indirectly, influences the way we choose to communicate the collections themselves. In this sense we would like to think that we always push onwards, never standing still.”

A seven-fold tie doesn’t necessarily have seven folds anymore. That isn’t because of corporate marketing and shortcuts (though the ‘VII fold’ from a certain manufacturer might qualify for that description). Rather, different ways of counting folds have become confused. And over time, seven fold has merely become a synonym for multi-fold.

But understanding how the folds can be counted should help you communicate ideas and designs. Will over at A Suitable Wardrobe reported on this problem recently when he was ordering ties from E&G Cappelli, ending up with 12-folds rather than six. So let’s run through the methods.

Most normal ties have three obvious folds. If you look at the back of the front blade, the silk has been folded in on itself on either side, and one of those flaps has just been tucked under – creating a small, third fold.

Now while retaining the same width of those two flaps, the silk can be folded in on itself almost as many times as you like. You just have to start with more silk and the tie becomes thicker. Take the tie illustrated, made for me by the silk weaver Vanners in Suffolk. There are 10 folds here.

Look at the left-hand side. The first fold, like you get on a three-fold tie, is just a crease in this picture – half way up the left-hand edge. Then there’s a fold at the top-left corner, where the tie folds in. Then another where it folds out. Then two more to get you to the centre. And while you can’t see it in the picture, I can tell you neither side has an extra, small flap like you get on a three-fold. So five folds either side, 10 in total. This goes right through the tie (or it does on a good one) and can be seen on the back blade, though this might be hard to see as it will be quite high up inside.

Yet one manufacturer described this to me as seven-fold. Three outwards folds on either side (the other two of the five I described just now being inwards) and the seventh being the tipping of the tie that makes it look like it is folded in half before construction.

This is an odd method and not one I have heard echoed anywhere else. So let’s stick with the first method. On that, this is a 10-fold. Also, Bulgari ties that the company refers to as seven-folds are actually six-fold. You can tell because for a tie to have an uneven number of folds, it must either have a little lip like the three-folds (which few multi-folds do) or the folds must overlap and concertina into each other. My Hermes ties, for instance are five folds – three on one side and two on the other, folded in between each other. If they didn’t overlap like this, the tie would have one side that was thicker than the other.

And that’s what a seven-fold should have – four folds on one side and three on the other, overlapping. My Isaia tie does this.

Then there’s lined or unlined ties, whether that or the extra silk adds better body, and which creates a more pleasing movement. Much more personal taste, really.

Another city, another shoe shine stall. I was recently in Madrid with GC editor Simon Crompton and he couldn’t resist the allure of El Salón del Limpiabotas at El Jardin de Serrano.

The seat was comfortable enough and the smiles of the assistants were friendly enough, but I think he was rewarding himself for not spending all of his money in the plethora of shops at the up-market mall.

So, I got my pen and pad out and decided to compare his experience with that of mine in New York last month. Eduardo sat Simon down, removed his laces and placed plastic inserts into the side of his black oxfords to protect his socks.

He used two large brushes to dust the shoes completely. After failed attempts at broken Spanish, it took my (admittedly terrible) impression of a horse to establish where the hair on the brush came from. Eduardo then liberally applied what translates as conditioner onto the uppers and welt with a duster.

The horsehair brushes were then used to even out the liquid before black shoe cream was applied with a small circular brush. Simon confided to me that he would usually use neutral, but he put his trust into Eduardo.

So far, the major differences to New York were that there had been no wax polish or sylvette involved. The Madrid process is quicker, but, seemingly, not as in-depth. Then Eduardo pulled out a cotton cloth and buffed the shoes vigorously from side to side. The shine was almost instant. He worked his way around the shoe, making sure not to miss a spot.

Finally, he pulled out a fluffy mitt that rolls up into a tube with a clip. This finished the polish off and left Simon rather pleased with the result. For €5, he had received a quick and effective shoe shine. But the fluffy mitt had caught his eye. Again, he couldn’t resist.

I will not embarrass him by revealing how much he spent on it, but I will tell you that he knew it was a silly purchase instantly. He has since admitted that he rarely uses the mitt when polishing, but does run it over his shoes before leaving the house in the morning. The rest of the time it entertains his toddler as a glove puppet.

Oh, and the Gentleman’s Corner shoeshine curse struck again. We left the shopping centre to find that the rainclouds had descended. “How annoying” is a polite transcript of Simon’s reaction.

Last night saw the transformation of Lodger for one evening into a games parlour with a roulette wheel taking centre stage upstairs and a Wii for gamers downstairs. In addition to wine, the bar was also stocked with french cider and real ale. Thanks to all who attended the evening and making it a success. Look forward to seeing you all for our next event, which is Lodger’s 1st Birthday, being held on Thursday 12th November.