It was August 1999, deep in the sweltering summer sunshine of the South of France. Aged 13, I was on a family holiday in the Dordogne - happy to be there but (like every teenager), happy to be anywhere other than school on one of those 6 week summer breaks that seemed to last a... Continue Reading →
It’s fair to say that the aroma that was rising from my clothes, so pungent that I had half expected to see a visible haze, was reminiscent of a smoked ham (if that ham had been smoked in the fumes of Chilli Heatwave Doritos, undercooked Pot Noodles and week old socks)… I was returning home... Continue Reading →
As the summer months begin to peter out, with the days becoming shorter and the evenings becoming darker, the inevitable changing of the seasons is nigh. For most people, Autumns arrival will conjure imagery of rust coloured tree tops, seemingly alive with the burning oranges and yellows of a blinding sunset, whilst simultaneously signalling the... Continue Reading →
I’ve never been a fan of Harry Potter. I don’t know what to tell you - I could just never get on board with the lad… I remember picking up the first book in the series, ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stoned’ I think it was called. After suffering through the first 2 and a... Continue Reading →
I’ve got a ‘tip’ for you…if you’re going to try and act silky smooth in front of an audience, then at least make sure you’ve done your maths right first. Otherwise it’ll all end in passive aggressive pleasantries, overly dramatic body language and a whole lot of eye rolling… But perhaps at this point I... Continue Reading →
Now I don’t have a strict mantra that I live my life by. But, and call me old fashioned here, the rule of ‘never drink an unknown liquid from an unmarked glass bottle found at the back of the kitchen cupboard’ has served me well thus far… But then again, they do say that some... Continue Reading →
When I was in secondary school, there was a rumour that overtook the corridors and canteen queues for a good week or so one summer. There was a buzz of excitement and a feeling of incandescent disbelief. A teacher had only gone and won the flipping lottery!… …or so he had told a class of... Continue Reading →
Down on my luck and with my back against the wind, I was literally down to my last few pennies. Whilst I had always been told that a life of gambling never pays - ‘the banker always wins’ and all that - I had entered the fray full of confidence and with a fist full... Continue Reading →
I’ve been a long time fan boy of Red Door Gin. And when I say ‘fan boy’ I mean that I may as well have posters of them stuck up on my bedroom walls! Ever since its release in the summer of 2018, Red Door Gin has been an ever present on my gin shelf.... Continue Reading →
I was recently stood in my kitchen staring at a message in a bottle. Though this was a very different kind of ‘SOS’ altogether... Rather than a cry for help, this was actually the latest gin drop to arrive from north of the border; SOS Gin, Scotland’s Other Spirit. I was recently very fortunate to... Continue Reading →
The Gin Shelf 
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