Behind every great whisky there is a great man. Or, increasingly these days, woman – and the purpose of this piece is to celebrate these unsung heroes.

The whisky you drink is probably a blend – Johnnie Walker, Famous Grouse, Bells. If you look on the label you’ll see the word “blended” appear somewhere. But just to confuse matters, most single malts are blended as well.

So what is a blend and how does it come about? It’s a great story of whisky making, and the heroes are the blenders. It starts in the 1860s when the Scots worked out that blending (or mixing) their strongly flavoured single malt with grain whisky produced a smoother, more palatable product. The great blending houses (Walker, Dewars, Haig & Haig) began their march to global domination, helped by the reluctance of the then-dominant Irish whiskey industry to contemplate such new-fangled ideas.

The trick in blending, when working with an inherently variable product, is to achieve a consistent taste bottle after bottle. So it’s the blender’s job to select from many whiskies to ensure uniform quality. With up to 40 different whiskies going into the blend and constant pressure from the accountants to reduce the cost, and sales not to drop the quality, it’s a delicate balance. The blender relies on an intimate knowledge of all the available whiskies and a finely-trained nose to judge a whisky’s aroma and palate, often without actually tasting.

The various Master Blenders spend many years in training, but the last couple of years have seen a changing of the guard: veterans such as Tom Aitken (at Dewars) have given way to their apprentices, in this case Sophie MacLeod. At The Famous Grouse, John Ramsay has just handed over to Gordon Motion after four years training and after 47 years the blender at William Grant & Sons, David Stewart, will hand over the reins this Christmas to new boy Brian Kinsman.

But Stewart won’t actually retire. He’s going to concentrate on his work on The Balvenie, one of the company’s single malts. Yes, single malts are a blend – but of casks of whisky exclusively from a single distillery. You could argue that only a single cask is true single malt.

Stewart’s key achievements include the crafting of The Balvenie DoubleWood, arguably the first single malt to be finished in a different wood type, and of Glenfiddich Solera Reserve, using the innovative Solera maturation process, another first in Scotch whisky.

Plus he was instrumental in choosing and blending the casks that created the landmark Glenfiddich 50-year-old, launched earlier this year. At £10,000 a bottle it’s the pinnacle of whisky craftsmanship; something from the hands of a true Master Blender.

Ian Buxton

The clubbable Edward VII (1901-1910) left us several enduring style markers – the fashion for leaving one’s bottom waistcoat button undone for one thing. He also popularised the Homburg, made wearing tweed stylish and introduced the Norfolk jacket. He managed to combine sartorial elegance with a taste for hunting, an eye to the ladies and a raffish approach to life in general that left his mother, Queen Victoria, quite unamused.

But until now he has never been associated with the world of spirits. However, it turns out that the portly monarch left one other style tip for a gentleman that has, until now, languished in sad obscurity. I’m referring, as you will shortly learn from cocktail aficionados of your acquaintance, to The King’s Ginger – a liqueur first produced around 1903 by London wine merchants Berry Bros & Rudd at the request of the King’s doctor, concerned by His Majesty’s reckless habit of taking winter morning rides in his new open-top horseless carriage (a natty Daimler as it happens).

Having concocted a full strength base enriched with macerated ginger root and a hint of lemon oil, Berry Bros appear to have more or less forgotten about it after Edward’s death. However, having recently scoured their archives, they have relaunched this splendidly-named tonic and now offer it to the hoi polloi at £17.95 the half-litre bottle. It’s actually pretty decent value, considering its versatility.

As you’d expect The King’s Ginger is a pleasantly warming drop that brings to mind hunting, shooting, fishing and other country pursuits, even long walks in Windsor Great Park. But I’d use it as an unexpected cocktail ingredient to add spice to some old favourites.

A Ginger Royale for example involves adding a dash to champagne or sparkling wine; it combines well with tonic and a plop of Angostura bitters; or mix it 50/50 with a decent Scotch for a twist on the classic Rusty Nail.

Horseless carriage not required, though the wearing of a jaunty waistcoat will add an appropriate touch of ceremony.

Ian Buxton

Please come and join us for a taste of Spring with the Lodger First Thursday on the 2nd of April.  From 6pm - 8pm we will be pouring Pimms, eating strawberries, and hoping for sun. 

We will also be offering a discount of 15% on any pair of shoes ordered on the night so it's the perfect chance to grab a pair of our vintage 1910 tennis shoes for summer. 

Hope to see you there!