The Dominic Roskrow awards

RUNNER UP: GILLIAN WELCH

Gillian – pronounced with a hard ‘G’ – Welch is a Tennessee singer songwriter who plays heady mix of country, blues, folk and bluegrass, often to harrowing effect. She is accompanied by the ridiculously talented guitarist Dave Rawlings, and her songs are carved from the depressed deep south, punctuated with dustbowl imagery.

They’re haunted anthems for a neglected underclass, and are perfect snapshots of many people’s lives right now.

Why’s she an award winner? Because no current artist has a higher whiskey to song ratio. Her writing is seeped in Jack, and whiskey features in many of her musings, the fuel for her whimsies. Her album the Harrow & The Harvest was one of the year’s best releases. Her live show was nigh on perfect.

RUNNER UP: CAPTAIN HADDOCK

I never liked comics or cartoons as a boy, but I made a very big exception with TinTin. I loved his books, and read them over and over again. I have’t seen the new film and have read some pretty average reviews, but I am drawn to it more than any other film that’s been released this year, and I’ve been impressed by the trailers I’ve seen and the seemingly faithful recreation of the lead characters.

Captain Haddock was always my favourite character, a larger than life bear of a man with comedy in every bone in his body. But what made him special was his good heartedness, under-stated strength, and effortless ability to offer protection and safety. And of course he likes a good whisky or three. Didn’t mean much to me 40 years ago, but means masses now.

WINNER: LADY GAGA

One of the challenges facing some spirits categories is attracting a new generation of drinkers. Over the years drinks such as gin, brandy, whisky, rum, sherry and port have had to address the issue of ‘baggage’ and attempt to throw off, often unsuccessfully, an old-fashioned and staid image. Sometimes a drink category hits pay-dirt. Cognac became the drink of wealthy rap stars. Jack Daniel’s became an essential accessory for any aspiring heavy rock star, gin has reinvented itself as a hip ‘chap’ drink. And single malt is enjoying something of a fashion surge. This year we saw the first attempt to bring 20 something indie music fans and whisky together with the launch of Pure, a music and whisky festival. But whisky’s place in the fashion sun came courtesy of Lady Gaga and an awesome performance on British television chat show The Graham Norton Show.

She was funny, articulate and engaging and she took the show by storm, offering a cooking demonstration and peppering proceedings with a healthy dose of irreverence. And through it all she drank whisky, requested refills on at least two occasions, and sang the drink’s praise.

Priceless support. Lady Gaga, we bow before you. And if you ever want a tutored tasting, I’m your man…