Like most humans, whisky abhors isolation. A social drink, it comes alive when things come together. When groups gather. When knowledge is shared. When spirit interacts with wood and innovation complements tradition. This natural affinity fuels many of whisky’s finest moments and is central to the growth of a much-loved local institution, WhiskyBrother (https://www.whiskybrother.com/).

When founder Marc Pendlebury decided to follow his heart and open a niche store to quench the thirst of a burgeoning whisky community, he couldn’t have known that, within a decade, it would be one of the world’s foremost whisky brands. That’s not an opinion, it’s the verdict from the international Icons of Whisky 2020 awards, where the Hyde Park, Johannesburg, shop was recently named Single Outlet Retailer of the Year. Put simply: there’s no better place to buy a dram.

It’s a huge achievement that shows how far WhiskyBrother has come since 2012, when Pendlebury quit his job, cashed in his provident fund, sold his car and went about turning his eponymous whisky blog into a shop...