Our Editorial Approach
Dram Verdict is currently run and edited by Kaz, a chief bartender in Japan.
How it works is simple to state: the experience is human, the production is AI-assisted, and the editorial responsibility is human. I taste the whisky and I make the calls. Research, drafting, structure, translation and editing happen with AI tools alongside me.
This page is about how articles are made. How whisky is tasted and scored is covered in the Review Policy.
The Four Kinds of Article
Not every article here does the same job, and the rules differ accordingly.
Reviews are the core. A review only exists if I have drunk the bottle. It carries a Dram Verdict score and my own nose, palate and finish notes, and those are never written from anyone else’s tasting.
Best lists and rankings put my own picks in order. Anything placed in the ranking — the top pick, best overall, best value — is a bottle I have tasted, because calling something the best is my judgment rather than a summary of other people’s. A best list may also point to bottles I have not tasted, in a separate “also consider” section outside the ranking. Those carry no score, no tasting notes and no position.
Comparisons may include a bottle I have not tasted. When they do, that side is compared on specifications, style, price, availability and what the wider evidence says, and the conclusion asks which bottle makes more sense for you rather than declaring which one tastes better. When I have tasted both, I say which I prefer.
Guides are explanatory. They can discuss bottles I have not tasted, described from official and published sources.
The rule underneath all four: a bottle I have not tasted never receives a Dram Verdict score, never receives my personal tasting notes, and is never written about as though I drank it.
Research & Sources
Research is a normal part of making these articles. Distillery and brand information, importer and retailer material, whisky publications, international and Japanese reviews, community discussion and competition results are all read.
For factual claims — specifications, production details, dates — official and primary sources are preferred. Prices and availability change, so they are treated as current at the time of writing and rechecked when an article is updated. Where a specific claim, figure, award or ranking comes from somewhere in particular, that source is kept.
What does not happen: copying source text, reproducing another site’s structure, or rewriting a single review into an article.
How We Use AI
AI tools are used actively — for research, synthesis, drafting, rewriting, localisation, SEO adaptation, comparison research and editing. That is a production process, not a byline.
They do not taste whisky and they do not decide a score. Nothing here describes an experience I did not have, and I read and approve every article before it is published.
Commercial Relationships & Editorial Independence
What Dram Verdict chooses to cover and how Dram Verdict evaluates a whisky are two separate decisions.
The first is a publishing decision, and reader demand, search demand and commercial sense reasonably feed into it. The second is not for sale. Commission, affiliate availability, samples, advertising and brand relationships are never reasons to move a score, a tasting note, a ranking position or a recommendation.
A whisky does not need an affiliate link to be reviewed or recommended here. Whether a buy link exists, what it pays, and which retailers happen to stock a bottle have no bearing on a score, tasting notes, a verdict, a value assessment, a ranking position, or whether I recommend it.
I may accept samples, tastings, distillery visits, interviews, press events, invitations and industry hospitality. Where any of that relates directly to a bottle being written about — a bottle provided for review, a tasting I was invited to, travel or accommodation covered, sponsored coverage — it is disclosed on the article. No brand, distillery, importer, retailer or agency approves a review before publication; the Review Policy sets out exactly what they cannot change and why a factual correction is a different thing.
I also work behind a bar, which means the venue deals with producers, importers and retailers as any bar does. Ordinary trade — stock bought at ordinary prices, normal industry contact — is not a commercial relationship with Dram Verdict and is not disclosed as one. Anything beyond ordinary trade that relates to a specific article is.
The Affiliate Disclosure covers how affiliate links work.
Updates & Corrections
Objective details are rechecked before publication, when an article is substantially updated, when something may have changed, and when a reader or producer reports an error. Reader reports are verified against reliable sources before anything is changed.
Small edits are made without a note. Corrections that change what you would take away from an article — and any correction that moves a score — are recorded on it. The full detail is in the Review Policy.
Editorial Responsibility
I take editorial responsibility for everything published under my name on Dram Verdict. If guest contributors are introduced in the future, their work will be clearly attributed to them, so you always know whose judgment you are reading. A Dram Verdict score or a personal tasting note will never appear under my name unless I tasted the whisky myself.
Questions, corrections and feedback are always welcome.