As we enter another week of lockdown, we’re starting to get into the swing of connecting together online as we all stay at home. To help all our members stay in touch with the Society, and each other, we’ve got another busy week coming up in our virtual Members’ Room. Check out what’s coming up.

BRINGING THE FESTIVAL TO YOU!

Normally in May we’d be out and about, meeting members from all over the world at the whisky festivals of Speyside, the Highlands, Campbeltown and Islay. Since we can’t be there in person, we’re bringing the festival to you. We have celebratory bottlings, virtual pub sessions, music, quizzes and special tastings – take a look at the full programme and see how you can get involved.

SEE FESTIVAL PROGRAM

OUR FIRST VIRTUAL TASTINGS STAT THIS WEEK

If you bought one of our Virtual Tasting Discovery Packs last month, the wait is almost over – the live tastings start this week! We’ll be hosting screenings with local ambassadors across the UK and Europe, so you can join the one nearest to you. Remember to check the start time and platform for your chosen tasting, then get your glasses and Discovery Pack ready to join in. You can even download and print our exclusive tasting mat, and join in the conversation using #alltogethersmws

FIND MY EVENT

DOWNLOAD TASTING MAT

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

We had a great time celebrating the Spirt of Speyside Festival on Friday with the launch of our first virtual pub session. Streamed on our UK Facebook and YouTube page, members got together at the ‘bar’ to share a dram and chat with whisky writer Hans Offringa and Glen Moray ambassador Iain Allan, talk whisky and wildlife with expert Nick Baker, and enjoy music and a good old pub quiz.

If you missed out, don’t worry – you can join us this Friday, 8 May to raise a toast to the Highland Whisky Festival – featuring whisky legend Richard Paterson from Whyte & Mackay, and the Whisky Bard himself, Robin Laing. The festivities kick off at 8pm.

RELIVE THE SPEYSIDE NIGHT

THE FESTIVAL FINALE REGIONAL SAFARI

We’re already looking ahead to our next virtual tasting, where we’ll be enjoying a flavour safari round Scotland’s whisky regions. If you were lucky enough to get your hands on a Festival Discovery Pack, with five 25ml drams from this year’s festival bottlings then join us online for an evening of untamed entertainment on 29 May

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

We’re all disappointed that we can’t gather together at Scotland’s festivals this year, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t celebrate our love for whisky. Throughout May, we’ll be bringing the festival experience to you virtually, featuring online pub sessions with tastings, live music, quizzes and Q&As. Head to the website now and explore our programme to find out what’s coming up – we look forward to sharing a virtual dram with you soon!

DISCOVER MORE

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

This Sunday 3^rd May Smokehead TV is going on a virtual American road trip with hell raising national guitar madman Dave Arcari. Dave is a trash, punk, country, rockabilly and delta blues kind of a guy who’s toured the US nine times covering virtually every state. A big friend of Smokehead, he’s invited fellow musicians like Seasick Steve to experience it on the road and even written a song to our Islay Single Malt.

We’ll be drinking Sherry Bomb, making Smokehead cocktails, playing his signature National Reso-Phonic guitar and giving you guys a chance to win cool Smokehead merch – we hope you can join our live session.

Stay safe, stay indoors Smokeheads.

SHOP NOW

 During this challenging time, £1 from the sale of each bottle purchased from www.smokehead.com will be donated to the Drinks Trust and The Ben to support their mission of providing care and support to our hospitality colleagues.

Join us for a Virtual Whisky Tasting!

During these extraordinary times as we shelter-at-home, we can still get together remotely to enjoy some great drams and discover more about our favorite spirits. 

Look out for more virtual tastings & #stayhome whisky events in the future!

Upcoming Virtual Tastings Calendar

(click listings for more details) 

 Monday, May 4th, 5PM:

Glenmorangie Single Malt Scotch

Thursday, May 7th 5:30PM:

Balcones Bourbon

Monday, May 4th,  5PM:

Glenmorangie Single Malt 

Join us for a Virtual Happy Hour with Glenmorangie Scotch, presented by Global Ambassador and Keeper of the Quaich David Blackmore! This roughly 1 hour presentation will feature the Original 10yr, La Santa, Quinta Ruban, and Nectar D’or Glenmorangie expressions. Additionally The Whisky Shop has a special sale price for featured whiskies: The Glenmorangie Collection Taster Set is $20 off. (Was $45, now $25).

 Click here to purchase the Taster Set
Tasting set includes all featured whiskies for this tasting.

All other Glenmorangie Whiskies are 10% off with coupon code ‘GLENMORANGIE’ at checkout

Click Here to Purchase Glenmorangie Whiskies

Thursday, May 7th,  5:30PM:

Balcones Bourbon 

Join us for a virtual tasting of Balcones Texas Single Malt!  From humble beginnings an old welding shop under a bridge in Waco, Texas, Balcones distillery is now recognized worldwide for their bold and intense flavors. From blue corn grown in New Mexico to the first Texas-grown malted barley, they’ve taken pains to create a truly Texas spirit – which is then distilled in magnificent copper pot whisky stills designed by Forsyths of Scotland.

Click Here to RSVP

Additionally through May, Balcones Distillery will donate $5 of every bottle sold to the USBG bartender emergency assistance fund. Get 10% off all Balcones whiskies with the coupon code ‘BALCONES’ at checkout.

Click Here to Purchase Whiskies

Tasting experiences are held over Zoom and allow a limited number of participants, so please do not wait until the last minute to reserve your ticket! After purchasing and shortly before the tasting, an email will be sent to you with instructions to access the tasting via Zoom.

Hebridean Businesses Collaborate for Remote Tastings

A company which sources ‘wild water’ from the Isle of Lewis for whisky drinkers to enjoy with their dram is uniting remote island communities in a digital collaboration with a small whisky shop in the Outer Hebrides, a well-known Scottish distiller and a whisky expert.

James McIntosh, the founder of wild water brand Larkfire, is launching an online ‘Whisky & Wild’ tastings series together with whisky expert Matt Chambers and Jura single malt whisky, produced on the island of Jura nestled off the West Coast of Scotland.

Larkfire is sending free tasting packs of its wild water and samples of 12, 18 and 21-year-old Jura single malt whisky to islanders with the aim of keeping spirits high while businesses and communities are on lockdown and tourism is on hold.

Whisky blogger and awards judge Matt Chambers will be hosting the live whisky tastings on Instagram, encouraging islanders to connect and communicate during lockdown.

James McIntosh, whose Larkfire business already supports local initiatives through a partnership which donates a percentage of sales to The Stornoway Trust, hopes that the new digital initiative will support communities.

He said: “We’re keen to support communities and businesses on the islands and were mulling over what we could do to help, just to raise spirits a little.

“We heard about Stornoway start-up business, the Island Spirit Whisky shop, having to postpone its opening because of the current situation, and it gave us the idea of doing something virtually.  We contacted owner Iain Faller and he’s put us in contact with other businesses.

“What sounds like the start of a joke about a bar – a wild water for whisky, a whisky shop and a distiller start working together – is happening, ironically, because there are no bars open.

“We are launching the first ‘Whisky & Wild’ tasting on 1 May, inviting islanders to join a free online session hosted by Matt.  We hope to unite many people in raising a glass during lockdown, supporting each other and promoting local businesses across the islands and beyond.”

Kirsteen Beeston, Head of International Malts at Whyte and Mackay which owns the Jura brand, said: “We are delighted to support this creative initiative of bringing together fellow Scottish island communities.”

Larkfire – a natural ‘wild water’ that brings out the full flavour of whisky – is stocked by prestigious venues including Boisdale Group sites in Mayfair, Belgravia, Canary Wharf and Bishopsgate. Soho Whisky Club also uses Larkfire for its tasting events, and Islington restaurant Frederick’s offers Larkfire alongside its range of world whiskies.  It was named Best Premium Drink at the World Beverage Innovation Awards.

To enquire about future ‘Whisky & Wild’ online tastings email James@larkfire.co.uk

End-of-Line Whisky Sale

Our overstock & end of line sales continue with more local whiskies and rare single malts to pick from – get them while you still can!

Click here to see the sale at whiskyshopusa.com

Discover the famous whisky from one of Japan’s most renowned distilleries. Don’t miss our new video series filled with Japanese Whisky, comedy, music and more whisky. Watch now.

Dekanta

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

Mark the New Date!

We’re happy to confirm that this year’s Spirit of Toronto has been rescheduled for Thursday October 15 at 6:30pm at Roy Thomson Hall.

Tickets go on sale Thursday September 10th at 10am, and those of you subscribed to this list will get another update post-Labour Day.

And now it’s time to open some special bottles…

Spirit of Toronto Online Masterclass Series

With fifteen years under our belt, it’s fair to say that Spirit of Toronto has accrued a considerable archive and the time has come for us to share this bounty.

These are dusties acquired over our many years of travel and tasting, waiting for the right occasion to be opened. We always knew we’d recognize when the time was right, and if recent events have taught us anything, it’s to cherish our human connections, near and far — and that hoarding really is a bad look…

With this in mind, we’re excited to be presenting an online edition of our ever-popular masterclass series: eight virtual tastings to be held daily 5:30-6:30pm EDT from Friday, May 8 to Friday, May 15, delivered to you in the comfort of your own home.

We’ve dug deep into our cellars for the occasion, and look forward to offering our friends and fans the singular opportunity to enjoy a guided tasting of some truly engrossing, thought-provoking drams. Most of these collectibles are rarely ever opened for tasting, and all promise much to savour and contemplate.

We’re entrusting none other than Regis Lemaitre to present this series of unique and unrepeatable masterclasses. A long time friend and presenter at Spirit of Toronto, Regis’ love of whisky runs deep, having previously curated the whisky bars at both the Gleneagles and Old Course Hotel in St Andrews, Scotland, as well as judging on a variety of awards panels. He is currently an accredited trainer with Scotland’s Whisky Ambassador program, in addition to being an ambassador for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society.

Masterclass registration includes four 20ml samples in an engraved wooden box, tasting mat, pipette, netiquette guide to online participation, and an email link to join the tasting on the scheduled day and time. In the event you register for a class and are unable to join the live tasting, a recording of the session will be archived for your viewing.

These online masterclass sessions will be open for registration as of Friday April 24 at 12pm EDT. There are only 30 spots available per session so don’t delay in booking.

Regrettably, due to shipping restrictions, these masterclasses are only available to Canadian residents.

Click for our Online Masterclass Schedule

Smokehead TV is back for episode 3 this Sunday 24^th April at 5pm – The Smokehead film awards night featuring our resident film geek, and friend of Smokehead Mr Pickles. This week we’re paying tribute to the definitive Smokehead film performance. We asked Smokeheads what film or actor captures the bold, upbeat and distinctly individual character of our Smokehead whisky. And the winner was… a Bruce Willis/Sin City/Pulp Fiction/Tarantino mash up. There will be Smokehead cocktails to celebrate, Mr Pickles geeking out on all things cinema and merch to be won by answering some of our trivia. Grab a bottle and join us again on Sunday. We’re offering free delivery on UK orders over £29.99.

Stay safe, stay indoors, Smokeheads.

SHOP NOW

During this challenging time, £1 from the sale of each bottle purchased from www.smokehead.com will be donated to the Drinks Trust and The Ben to support their mission of providing care and support to our hospitality colleagues.

We’re living in strange times just now, where unfortunately we’ve seen the cancellation of our member tastings and the doors closing on our partner bars and Members’ Rooms. However, the Society is all about coming together so we’ve been working hard behind the scenes to bring our members together and enjoy a whisky tasting….virtually!

We’re delighted to bring you the details of our first round of virtual tastings, which will be held on 9th and 10th May, over on our YouTube channel, Facebook or Zoom.

These will be hosted by brand ambassadors from the UK and across Europe, so you can choose an event local to you and join in with nearby members.

To get involved, all you need to do is purchase the special Discovery Pack we have curated for these events, which includes the five 25ml drams the ambassador will be sharing during the tasting. Then simply sit back, have your glassware and water ready and log on to the correct channel for your chosen event to enjoy this experience with us.

We look forward to seeing you all then!
#alltogethersmws

VIEW ALL VIRTUAL EVENTS                                     BUY VIRTUAL 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