Just In 👉 Whitley Neill's New Japanese Plum & Sansho Pepper...

Check Out These Other Blogs

We're all about making craft spirits more accessible and helping you get more confident around these drinks. All this would not be possible if we haven't received guidance from friends who author and produce some of the most insightful and educational content and reviews.

If you have the time, we really hope you would also check these folks out:–

 Name (Alphabetical Order) Description

Fat Rum Pirate, The

Categories: Rum

Wes Burgin of The Fat Rum Pirate runs a great resource for rum reviews and glossary of rum concepts really helpful for new drinkers of rum. 

Felipe Schrieberg

Categories: Whisk(e)y

Felipe is a London-based whisky writer, tastings host, and competition judge who frequently writes for publications such as Forbes, Whisky Magazine and The Whiskey Wash.

He is a leading voice in the world of Scotch and has recently been named 2022 Whisky Communicator of the Year by Whisky Magazine. Fortunately, his writing also happens to be one of the friendliest to malt beginners.

Felipe has a column on 88 Bamboo – check it out here

Japanese Whisky Dictionary

Categories: Japanese whisky

Started by folks behind Bar Shinkai in Japan, Japanese Whisky Dictionary is a sincere and rather comprehensive catalogue of Japanese whisky reviews, distillery write-ups and new releases on the Japanese whisky scene.

JWD has column on 88 Bamboo – check it out here!

Joe Micallef

Categories: Whisk(e)y, Rum, Brandy, Mezcal

Joe is a leading spirits expert who often writes about serious geopolitics issues on Forbes and The Epoch Times. He brings many decades of experience with these craft spirits. His articles are highly in-depth, bringing you into the fascinating world of whisky, rum, Cognac, mezcal and wines.

Joe has a column on 88 Bamboo – check it out here!

John Go 

Categories: Whisk(e)y, Rum, Brandy, Mezcal

John is a cocktail and spirits writer born and raised in Manila, where he often pens reviews for Malt UK. He has some of the broadest experience with different categories of spirits- from single malts, to Cognacs, mezcal and rum. His reviews are often accompanied by interesting contextual stories behind the spirit. 

Kanpai Planet

Categories: Japanese whisky, spirits and drinks

Mac Salman from the UK runs Kanpai Planet, a YouTube channel with video reviews of Japanese whisky, saké, and other Japanese drinks. There are also educational videos on behind-the-scenes production shot in a documentary style. 

Lone Caner, The 

Categories: Rum

Started in 2013 to provide rum lovers some respite from a sea of "rabid whisky aficionados", Lance, The Lone Caner, runs one of the most respected rum review sites in the online community. 

On The Lone Caner, you'll find rum reviews, commentaries on rum producers, and Lance's thoughts on news and issues of the rum world. 

Nomunication

Categories: Japanese whisky, spirits and drinks

Japan's rich culture of whisky, shochu and saké wouldn't have been known to Westerners had it not been for the work of people like Richard from Nomunication – set up to better "communicate" Japanese drinks ("nomu" or 飲む ) to the wider Anglosphere. 

The site provides a helpful traveller's guide to bars, cocktails, news, events and area guides around Tokyo and Japan.

Sku

Categories: Whisk(e)y, Bourbon, Brandy

One of those who inspire people to apply to law school, Sku is by day a public interest lawyer based in California. By night, Sku eats, drinks and makes merry in the Koreatown neighbourhood of Los Angeles. He brings good perspectives on both single malts and the American whiskey scene.

Sku has a column on 88 Bamboo – check it out here!

Trooper Beers Tunes

Categories: Music, Craft beer

We never knew we'd see this, but apparently Eminem's albums pair well with craft session IPAs. Two guys from Melbourne with a taste for both good music and indie craft beer created Trooper Beers Tune where craft beers are reviewed alongside pop music albums! Truly men of culture.

Trooper Beers Tunes has a column on 88 Bamboo – check it out here!

Weixiang Liu

Categories: Rum

Don't let his youthful features fool you. Weixiang Liu is really familiar with a great deal of rum history and the ins and outs of a rather opaque industry. He also collects and tastes some of the rarest bottles still available, and pens some of the most eloquent rum tasting notes we've come across.

We're lucky to have him as a contributor on 88 Bamboo. Check out his work!

Whisky Gospel

Categories: Whisk(e)y

Friendly Yoav from Whisky Gospel pens a wide range of whisky reviews and also diligently covers news and new releases from the whisky and spirits scene.

Whisuki

Categories: Japanese whisky

Two expat lawyers working in Japan, this charming couple are the friendly people behind Whisuki – a great Instagram resource about whisky distilleries, bars and whisky events in Japan with a strong following of enthusiasts like ourselves.

We particularly like their handy Guides on their favourite Japanese Distilleries and Japanese Bars.

We've also done an in-depth interview with them so check it out here!

Whiskyfun

Categories: Whisk(e)y, Rum, Brandy and other spirits

Serge Valentin is the most prolific online whisky reviewer with a wry sense of humour. His bottle ratings are authoritative to many – kinda like the Rotten Tomatoes of the whisky scene. He focuses on single malts, but occasionally covers American whiskey, rum, and brandy.

Whiskynotes

Categories: Whisk(e)y, Rum, Brandy and other spirits

Ruben of Whiskynotes is an other authoritative source of whisky reviews and helpful commentary on upcoming whisky releases.

Whiskyph

Categories: Whisk(e)y

Ef is a whisky enthusiast from the Philippines who shares his notes and thoughts about the latest drams he's purchased on Instagram.

Ef has a column on 88 Bamboo – check it out here!