Virtual Whisky Show is shaping up to be the best drinks show of 2020! It features the largest tasting line-up of any virtual show, seven days of demos, sessions and seminars, and the opportunity to meet ‘face to face’ with some of the world’s top distillers and industry legends, all accessible wherever you are in the world. Add to that a selection of more than 70 Perfect Measure tasting packs, so that you can taste along with the experts, and your October just got a lot more interesting.

We have much more to tell you over the coming weeks, but in the meantime, you can grab your ticket to Virtual Whisky Show below!

Book now 

VIRTUAL DEMO SESSION

Goodbye Zoom! We’ll be hosting Virtual Whisky Show on a dedicated online show platform: Hopin. Join us for a demo session on 26 August 2020 at 7pm (BST) to take a tour of the home of Virtual Whisky Show, accompanied by some friendly faces. Register below for free – spaces are limited so don’t delay!

REGISTER NOW 

VIRTUAL EXHIBITORS

Virtual Whisky Show will host a dynamic selection of more than 50 exhibitors from around the globe. Exhibitors will soon be releasing their schedules, so you can plan out your dram-packed week well in advance.

SEE VIRTUAL EXHIBITORS 

TASTING PACKS

There will be a whopping selection of more than 70 Perfect Measure tasting packs available to purchase for Virtual Whisky Show. From discovering Scotland and indie bottlers, to getting your geek on, we’ll have something for everyone.

DISCOVER OUR TASTING PACKS 

JOHNNIE WALKER BLENDING SESSIONS

Previously part of our show at Old Billingsgate, this session lets you become an expert blender from the comfort of your own home with the tutelage of Johnnie Walker Scotch whisky ambassador Ali Reynolds.

LEARN MORE 

VIRTUAL SHOW DETAILS

2-9 October 2020
BOOK NOW 

The Whisky Exchange is the registered trademark of Speciality Drinks Limited.

Registered in England and Wales (Company No. 4449145).

Registered Office: Elixir House, Whitby Avenue, Park Royal, London NW10 7SF, UK.

Our new episode of Japanese Whisky World is just minutes away. Tune in now.Discover the famous whisky from one of Japan’s most renowned distilleries.

Dekanta
2-49-7 Minamiikebukuro Toshima-ku, Tokyo

Win Tobermory’s Golden Dram!

We have hidden a bottle of Ledaig 42 Year Old in one of our Tobermory 12 Year Old gift boxes. With a one in 300 chance to win, today could be your lucky day to get your hands on one of the last bottles of this highly-limited golden dram!

Peated, finished in Spanish sherry oak casks and worth a whopping £2,800; there’s no mistaking that Tobermory’s Ledaig 42 Year Old is the epitome of liquid gold.

To enter: simply buy a bottle of award-winning Tobermory 12 Year Old online (currently on sale!) before midnight on Sunday 30th August. When it comes to receiving your order, instead of the 12-year-old, perhaps your whisky gift box will reveal the golden dram…

Entrants must be 18 years and over; read the full T&Cs here.

Tobermory 12 Year Old
Was £50.00
Now £37.99

Buy Now ›

While the months have both dragged and sped by this year, they have still continued to bounce along, and have now led us to one of the most important moments of 2020 – nominations for The Whisky Exchange Whisky of the Year are now open!

Nom nom nom

Last year, we decided to shake up our Whisky of the Year awards and throw them open to you, the whisky drinkers of the world. Rather than relying on The Whisky Exchange team and a carefully chosen cadre of drinks professionals, we would instead turn to you and find out what whiskies had been tickling your fancies in recent times.

It worked out so well, that we’re doing it again.

The nomination process is very simple: head to The Whisky Exchange Whisky of the Year nomination page and let us know which three whiskies you think should win.

Getting the nomination is like gravy. Winning would be like whatever is better than gravy.

Of course it can’t be quite that simple. With so many whiskies in the wild, we need to put a few restrictions in place.

To be eligible for The Whisky Exchange Whisky of the Year award, a whisky must be:

• £65 or under
• 48% ABV or under
• Not a limited release

That still gives us a huge range of whiskies to choose from, but also makes sure there’s a good chance that you’ll be able to find a bottle of the winner.

Vote early, vote often.

Nominations are open now and will close on 24 August 2020.

Once closed, we’ll count everything up and select the top three whiskies from the public nominations. These will then be added to three whiskies chosen by TWE co-founder Sukhinder Singh and head buyer Dawn Davies to create our final shortlist of six drams.

Special blind tasting packs will be available shortly after we’ve chosen the shortlist. They’ll contain six drams, each marked with one of the letters A to F, so that you don’t know what each one is – have a taste, have a think and then head back to our website with the unique voting code found in each box to let us know what your two favourites are. Online votes will be combined with those from an in-person tasting in London (if we’re allowed to hold in-person tastings by then), a winner will be selected and we’ll let you know who it is.

Whisky of the Year: done

NOMINATIONS NOW OPEN

Last year we opened up our Whisky Of The Year nominations to our customers. You chose your favourite whiskies, and the most-nominated three joined a shortlist of six finalists alongside three chosen by our co-founder, Sukhinder Singh, and our head buyer, Dawn Davies MW. The response to this process was great, so we’ve decided to do it again: starting today, you can nominate your favourite whiskies to be included in the runnings for our Whisky of the Year 2021.

NOMINATE NOW

COMPETITION

Simply nominating your favourite whiskies enters you into our first draw, but for a second chance to win, head over to our Facebook and Instagram profiles for more information.

NOMINATE NOW

Shop up to 50% off in our Whisky Sale!

We’ve added tonnes of new drams to our Whisky Sale! Bag a bargain on exceptional whiskies from Macallan, Johnnie Walker and more – this week only (and while stocks last)!

Shop the Sale 

Last Chance: WIN a Highland Getaway with Fettercairn!

This amazing prize includes flights from any UK airport, luxury hotel and drams with Distillery Manager Stewart Walker. You have until midnight on Friday 14th August to order online any 70cl bottle from the official Fettercairn range – including the tasty drams pictured, as well as Fettercairn’s 40 Year Old and 50 Year Old.

Shop Fettercairn ›
Read the T&Cs ›

Drinks with… Maltstock!

Last newsletter we’ve had to announce we’ll be taking a relaxed break and there will be no Maltstock this year. Well, that’s only partly true! Although we won’t be able to host a regular relaxed whisky weekend, we will be online to share a few drams.

The past years we’ve been doing the “Drinks with…” sessions at Maltstock. They are greatly appreciated by both our guests and our session hosts. Fun and relaxed. They are always for just a small group of people, first come, first serve.

This year you can all join our online “Drinks with… Maltstock!”

The Maltstock team will go online Saturday evening 12 September. We would love to connect with you, hear how you’re all doing. And of course, there will be some whisky to share and enjoy!

Annette, Bob, Klaas, Stan, Teun

12 September

We have six whiskies to try together with you. You can order a tasting set so you can join us in tasting the whisky. The whiskies will be presented by the one that donated them:

• Glenfarclas – Ian McWilliam
• Single Cask Nation – the 3J’s (Jason, Jesse and Joshua)
• Waterford – Ian O’Brian
• The Whisky Exchange – Billy Abbott
• Teeling
• To be announced soon

The evening will most likely be a couple of hours. Everyone that donated a bottle for the tasting will join us live and chat a bit about the whisky and possibly other relaxed nonsense.

We also welcome questions. Either for us or for our guests.  Please feel free to send us any questions you might have already. Serious questions, fun questions, relaxed questions, anything you always wanted to ask but never got around to. Send them to info@maltstock.com and we’ll try to answer them all when we’re live.

If you have some relaxed Maltstock stories/memories you would like to share, let us know and we can have you as a virtual guest during the Drinks with… Maltstock evening.

Order your tasting set!

…and join us! We have a limited number of tasting sets available. You can order yours here:

Order here

• Sets are just € 29,95 for six very relaxed whiskies, including shipping in the Netherlands.
• If you want to join us outside the Netherlands the sets are € 39,95 including shipping within the EU.
• If you would like to have your set shipped to a non-EU country please contact us for shipping costs.

We hope to meet you on Saturday 12 September, and remember, any questions or stories to share please contact us!

Stay healthy stay relaxed

Relax! We’ll be back in 2021!

Dates for next year are

10-12 September 2021

Ticket sales will start in September 2020.

We hope to see you all next year. That would be very relaxed!

What’s New?…
And just in case you missed it!

Greetings from Whisky Lounge Lock-Down HQ!

We hope you are enjoyed that incredible July (!) we all had and managing some time off – safely obviously…

The Covid situation seems so fluid at the moment and it makes it very challenging for all of us. We are – at all times – trying to bring a little light entertainment and drinks education into your life with our Desert Island Drams every Wednesday (live on Facebook at 9pm), and our virtual tastings and taste at home packs, with £5 of every pack sold going to charities supporting hard-hit hospitality workers.

So what have we in-store for you this week? Well read on my friends, read on…

NEW SCOTTISH DISTILLERIES PACK & TASTING
OK, so the name is not that snappy, but it is what it is!

Regardless, we are extremely excited about this one. Similarly to the English single malt tasting from a couple of months ago, we have managed to assemble six of the finest and most exciting ‘new’ Scottish distilleries for one exclusive tasting.

New distilleries have been popping up all over the world and it is possible, with this global ‘trend’, that those being built and established in Scotland are being over-looked. We aim to right that ‘wrong’ with this event…

The tasting on the 14th August will see key personnel from each distillery come together, under the Whisky Lounge banner, to talk about their distillery and the liquid you will be tasting. There will also be the opportunity for you to ask questions of the presenters throughout.

Not able to make the ‘live’ tasting? No problem, you can watch it anytime after it has taken place on our Facebook page…

The list of distilleries and bottlings on tasting;

Daftmill (Lowland)                        Winter 2007 Release 
Kilchoman (Islay)                          Machir Bay
Kingsbarns (Lowland)                  Dream to Dram
Lindores Abbey (Lowland)          Aqua Vitae
Strathearn (Highland)                   Batch #001
Wolfburn (Highland)                     Langskip

This is an incredible opportunity to taste both ‘works in progress’ and mature spirit from these trail-blazing distillers.

Once again, we will be giving £5 for each pack sold to The Drinks Trust, to help those in the drinks and hospitality industries in need during this time.

There are only 90 of these packs, and places on the Zoom tasting, available. So hit ‘BUY’ below to secure your pack and place!

Just to note that these packs do take a little while to get together, so please be patient. You will receive it before the tasting, but do not expect it within days of ordering it. Thanks!

Buy ‘New Scottish Distilleries’ Pack Now

USA WHISKEY PACK AND TASTING

Another tasting pack?! So soon?

Well, why not?

This one is for those amongst you who have a hankering for whiskies originating from across the pond, or those who would like to discover them. We don’t often get the opportunity to taste American whiskies together, but here is one for you now!

The Whiskey, Bourbon and Rye pack will contain 5 whiskies and, in the accompanying tasting on the 21st August, Eddie Ludlow, founder of The Whisky Lounge, will take you through the ins and outs of US whiskies.

Eddie will even show you how to make one of his favourite Bourbon-based cocktails, the classic ‘Old Fashioned’, with a few drops of bitters included in the tasting pack for you. Get your rocks glasses and ice at the ready!

The whiskies on tasting…

Westward Single Malt Whiskey 45%
Four Roses Bourbon 40%
Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon 45%
Four Roses Single Barrel 50%
James E Pepper Rye 46%

This should be a little light-hearted and a lot of FUN!

We will be giving £5 for each pack sold to The Drinks Trust so no excuse to not get involved.

There are only 90 of these packs, and places on the Zoom tasting, available. So hit ‘BUY’ below to secure your pack and place!

Please be patient after ordering one of these. As long as you get it before the tasting, it’s all good, right?

Buy ‘Whiskey, Bourbon & Rye’ Pack Now

FESTIVAL UPDATE

If you have a ticket for any of the festivals that should have taken place by now (Bristol, London and Edinburgh), and fancy taking part in one of these tastings -in place of your festival ticket – no problem.

Just send us an email to info@thewhiskylounge.com and tell us that’s what you’d like to do. There may be a small additional amount to pay (for the postage of the pack/s) but it won’t be much!

More news on Virtual Festivals and Actual Festivals next week, we promise!

COMPETITION

We have been so touched and pleased to see the rainbow and hope-related pics that we have decided to keep it rolling.

To make it even easier for you, we are letting you add your photos directly to the Facebook album on our page – you can find it HERE.

We will have a fortnightly winner, with the first of these being….drum roll…. Snoops Taylor and the double rainbow at Port Ellen on Islay! And here it is:

Absolutely beautiful Snoops, thank you. Send in your address and we will send you your Kavalan face masks and some other goodies.

You can see more photos on the aforementioned Facebook page, and many thanks to all of those who have contributed so far!

That’s it!

Don’t forget to catch up on the latest whisky news from Connas HERE.

We look forward to seeing you – on-line – soon!

In the meantime – Stay Safe. Stay in. Have a dram.

Sláinte and best wishes,
Eddie, and the whole Whisky Lounge Team

2020 FESTIVALS

Current/Old Dates   New Dates
Bristol 18th April TBC                
London 15th-17th May NOW 4th-6th September
Edinburgh 6th June NOW 27th-29th Nov       

    Liverpool 19th September
Manchester  23rd-24th October
York  31st October
Nottingham 14th November

WHISKY SHOW 2020 UPDATE

The past few months have been a hugely daunting time in the world and our team at The Whisky Exchange have been fighting to make the 12th year of our beloved Whisky Show happen in a safe and pleasant environment. From relentlessly researching PPE to cutting back certain aspects of the show to create the most secure environment possible, we have exhausted all avenues in bringing together the show safely for 2020.

Unfortunately, we have come to a point where we can no longer continue with the physical show and must confirm the cancellation of Whisky Show 2020, which was due to take place at Old Billingsgate, London, 2-4 October. This was not a decision we took lightly and we would like to extend our sincerest apologies to you all. While we are unable to meet in person this year, we are delighted to be launching Virtual Whisky Show. Get ready for a week-long whisky extravaganza featuring everything you love about Whisky Show.

All tickets purchased, including those for masterclasses and Johnnie Walker blending classes, will be fully refunded to the original card used for payment. Our team are beginning to process refunds which should be received within five working days, along with a confirmation email. Please be aware that this can sometimes take longer depending on your card provider. If you have not received a refund from us within ten working days, then please contact us at office@whiskyshow.com.

We can’t wait to see you all back at Old Billingsgate in 2021, but in the meantime we’ll see you online!

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Enjoy an invasion of flavour on the senses with our August Outturn, packed with 22 new out-of-this-world bottlings. Become a whisky ‘anorak’ and delve into the stories behind the creation of these fantastic spirits, including our brand-new small batch bottling, Black Oak, a single malt from Speyside.

VIEW ALL NEW WHISKIES                VIEW ALL WHISKIES

It’s been tough to gather with loved ones this year, but nothing can stop us from celebrating our amazing membership, whether we can travel in person or not. We’ll be celebrating all things Society at The Gathering from 31 August, with a week-long programme of physical and digital events, tastings and festivals happening all across the globe. The week will end with a Virtual Tasting streamed live from our spiritual home, The Vaults and we want as many members as possible to get involved. All you need to take part is our limited-edition Discovery Pack, including five exclusive Gathering bottlings. You can join in on your own, or why not organise your own gathering at home and take part with your friends? The packs are available now so grab yours before they disappear.

BUY THE GATHERING DISCOVERY PACK

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, The Vaults, 87 Giles Street, Leith EH6 6BZ

Contact: sales@smws.com or call 0131 555 2929 (Mon-Fri 9am-4.45pm). Visit the Society at here for membership information

This is your chance to join and to take advantage of their great offers!

Spot the SMWS bottles in this amusing You Tube video