Is that the date already?

Apologies first of all that you received nothing from us last month. Please don’t blame us – blame Burns! Well we have been busy, working on a whole new raft of events for you to get your teeth into. That and hosting our biggest ‘Burns-a-thon’ ever, plus a visit to a couple of the UK’s newest distilleries… However, we are now ready to unleash our latest events on you so hold tight!

IT’S BACK!

The series that in many ways defined us as a company before we were even a company! This is a tasting that we always love putting on – almost as much as you seem to love coming to it. Put simply, a blind tasting of three Japanese whiskies vs three Scotch whiskies. We do it blind so you pick what you truly think is best, denied the fripperies of packaging. This time we are excited to be partnering with the Nikka Whisky Company – founded by the ‘Daddy’ of Japanese whisky himself – Masataka Taketsuru. Their whiskies are extremely well-respected and are normally to be found with sparks flying off the medals they are dragging around…

JAPAN Vs SCOTLAND DATES & VENUES

WEDS.  11th March      SHEFFIELD, The Tap, Sheffield Station, 7pm

WEDS.  18th March      LONDON, Salt Bar, Seymour St., W2, 7pm

WEDS.  18th March      LIVERPOOL, Jenny’s Bar, Fenwick St., L2, 7pm

FRIDAY 20th March      NEWCASTLE, Blackfriars, Friar St., NE1, 7pm

FRIDAY 20th March      MANCHESTER, Britons Protection, Gt. Bridgwater St, 7pm

SAT.       21st March      YORK, Brigantes, Micklegate, YO1, 7pm

THURS. 26th March      LEEDS, The Cross Keys, Water Lane, LS2, 7pm

THURS. 26th March      BRIGHTON, Hilton Metropole, Kings St., 7pm

All of the above tastings are ready to book and are only £20 per person. Of course, if you are not able to attend for whatever reason, but would still like to take part, you can pre-order the relevant ‘Tasting from Home’ pack at £25 that can be found HERE.

FESTIVALS!

After our relatively ‘quiet’ year of only 6 Whisky Festivals in 2014, we have ramped things up again for 2015. We are returning to all of the cities of 2014, plus 2 that we did in 2013 – Aberdeen and Bristol. Hopefully this means that even more of you can make it to these cracking events this year.

NEWCASTLE, 7th MARCH

Newcastle is always our first festival of the year and as such, we are always keen to kick things of with a bang! Now in its 7th Year, the festival has become an absolute must attend for local whisky-lovers and the whisky-curious alike. We have secured a fantastical variety of exhibitors from Scotland, England, Wales, the USA and Japan, so there is more than ever to go at. Tickets for both sessions are nearly sold out so if you do want to come, be quick and click HERE or on the banner.

LONDON, 11th & 12th APRIL

Our ‘Whisky Weekender’ in London returns for a second year. A slight departure from our Whisky Festival ‘template’ with more in the way of food, music and other enticements.  However, at the core of it is still our mission to bring you the best the industry has to offer. Along with the usual range of fantastic whiskies, this year we are focusing on ‘craft distilling’ so we will have an area dedicated to this, featuring the best small distillers from the UK and the US. Further details and tickets can be found HERE

ABERDEEN, 25th APRIL

After a 2 year absence (well, more like 18 months to be fair), we are returning to the ‘Granite City’. We loved our first outing in 2013 but decided to ‘rest’ the show (and ourselves) last year. As always we are aiming at bigger and better, and with this in mind we are housing ourselves this year at the AECC. Added to this, more exhibitors and more whiskies, this should be a great day of dramming near the heart of whisky-making Scotland. Details and tickets can be found HERE.

BRISTOL, 13th JUNE

The second returning event of the year, Bristol was another festival we loved doing in 2013 but couldn’t stretch to in 2014. Once again we are the beautiful Coniston Hall and will be bringing a whole host of the great and the good of the distilling world. More whiskies than you can shake a stick at! We have an early-bird special (2 tickets for £40) for the first 100 people to book, so if you want to get involved in that, head over to the booking page by clicking HERE.

ISLAY FESTIVAL 2015

We have sold all but one ticket for our Finlaggan House legs of this fabulous time of a lifetime. However, we do still have places available on the beautiful tall ship Irene. Not only do you get to soak up the world famous Islay festival you get to sleep and sail around this beautiful island on a genuine tall ship. If you have some time in May and would like to join us on Islay, click HERE to find out more. Remember you can always ask us any questions about this or any other event by emailing us here

FINAL CALL

At the end of this month we host the inimitable Colin Dunn of Diageo for 3 special ‘Ultimalt’ tastings at three venues in the UK. London and Manchester are sold out but there are still places in Newcastle on Saturday 28th February. Click HERE to find out more and for tickets.

Eddie’s ‘Mini-Tour’ of new distilleries

Completely spontaneously – because thats the kind of guy he is – Eddie decided to set off on a mini-tour of three of the UK’s newest distilleries. Starting two Mondays ago and finishing on the Wednesday, Eddie travelled to The Lakes Distillery, near Cockermouth, Penderyn in South Wales and finally to The Cotswolds Distillery. Needless to say, he had an amazing time and the trip seems to have ‘fed his soul’, particularly in regards to new distilleries. You can read about his trip over at the website where he has written up each visit individually. Click HERE then go and visit these worthwhile and brilliant ventures. The Lakes will be at least one of our UK Festivals this year, with Penderyn appearing at no less than 6 in 2015. We are hopeful that the Cotswolds will join us too.

JOE’S BOOK!

Our very own Joe Clark has written his first whisky book! Under the title ‘The Ultimate Book of Whisky’, in his own words, ‘this project ate up my life in ways I can’t even begin to describe.’ We are obviously incredibly proud of Joe and we are only to happy to offer his book for sale on our website. It is a fantastic reference book for the novice and budding whisky enthusiast with loads of facts and information on distilleries old and new. It is a beautifully presented item. It comes in a slipcase and has an ‘archive’ notebook included for people to make their own notes. A lovely gift! The cost to you is £30 which includes next day UK delivery. Click HERE for more details and to buy!