If you missed out on any of our October events, here is a great chance for you to binge on them (no cavities involved). Check out our YouTube Channel here, which has videos of our past Distillery Deep Dives, and links to our future ones.

The Holiday Season is upon us, and we’d love to spend some quality time with you sipping drams and learning about these amazing brands. Greetings and welcome, whisky friends.  We are planning a fantastic virtual education series and we’d love for you to join us! Sit back and fill your glass while Joshua Hatton takes the next four minutes to take you through our new ImpEx Beverages Distillery Deep Dive Series.

Now that you see the exciting vision we have for this project, let us help you put all of these events on your calendar so that we can share some excellent drams while doing a deep dive on these amazing distilleries and independent bottlers.

Below you’ll find a list of the events and their times, in order of their appearance.  If you click the the date of the event you’ll be taken to the ImpEx Facebook page event, where you can RSVP.  Links to the Facebook live event will be posted in those pages closer to the event.

If you click the title of the event you’ll be taken to the YouTube streaming link, which will start at the indicated day/time.

And if you can’t make the live streams, you can still watch the videos on the ImpEx Beverages YouTube channel.

November 8 (Sunday, 5pm EST, 2pm PST)
Milk & Honey Distillery with Tal and Tomer

M&H Head distiller with 18 years of Distilling and brewing experience Tomer is the Head distiller and blender at the Tel Aviv distillery. Tomer worked a long side the Late Doctor Jim swan from day 1 at the M&H distillery, planning all production process. Tomer is also a judge in international whisky competitions, and runs the Whisky Live Israel show as well as his independent bottling line. Tal Chotiner, the M&H head of International Sales has over 20 years of experience in the world of whisky. Tal used to work for Diageo in Israel and was a Johnnie Walker Brand Ambassador for the Middle East and “Single Malt advocate” from Diageo. When Tal is in Israel his job is to interrupt Tomer’s work with crazy ideas and stupid questions.

November 11 (Wednesday, 8:30pm EST, 5:30 PST)
Ohishi and Fukano with Chris Uhde

As ImpEx Beverages Vice President, Chris’ expertise lies not only in whisky as a product and symbol of Scottish culture and heritage, but he has also proven to be gifted in sales, marketing, and business operations from specialty exclusive accounts to large scale region-wide programs.

November 18 (Wednesday, 8:30pm EST, 5:30 PST)
Port Askaig with Oliver Chilton

Over the years Oliver Chilton has been involved in most parts of Elixir Distillers’ sister company, Specialty Drinks, having started out in the original Whisky Exchange shop at London Bridge before being moved to the head office to assist with running The Whisky Show in its early days.  His palate helped secure him a role selecting casks for independent bottling with the company – leading the way to the creation of Elixir Distillers.

December 2 (Wednesday, 8:30pm EST, 5:30 PST)
Single Malts of Scotland with Oliver Chilton

December 9 (Wednesday, 8:30pm EST, 5:30 PST)
Matsui Distillery brands with Chris Uhde

December 16 (Wednesday, 8:30pm EST, 5:30 PST)
Single Cask Nation with Jason Johnstone-Yellin

We’ll see you again around Thanksgiving for another update showing our gratitude to our faithful supporters in you, Whisky Lovers. And if you can’t make the live streams, you can still watch the videos on the ImpEx Beverages YouTube channel. If you have any questions or would like any additional information, please don’t hesitate to email office@impexbev.com. ImpEx encourages responsible drinking by those of legal age.

November 7th @ 5.30pm PST:

Virtual Bourbon Tasting with High West Distillery 

Go behind the scenes of High West distillery at our expert presented virtual whiskey tasting! Whiskey expert presenter Arianna King will take us through the distillery’s storied history and three award-winning High West whiskies, followed by an audience Q&A.

Sitting high in the Wasatch-Uinta mountains in Wanship, Utah, High West distillery creates award-winning ryes and blended whiskies with the help of great ingredients and a 1,600 gallon copperpot still. In 2016, Whisky Advocate, America’s leading whiskey magazine, named High West its “Distiller of the Year.” 

Featured Whiskies:

High West American Prairie Bourbon

High West Double Rye

High West Campfire 

Tasting sets are available for $25 

Click Here to RSVP

What’s New?…

Greetings from TWL Lockdown HQ

Firstly a massive thank you to everyone who took part in our Whisky Festival in a Box on the 16th to 18th October. If you missed it, all of the tastings and fun are available to watch on Facebook and YouTube, so please do check it out. 31st of October would have been our home festival in York – an event we look forward to (along with many of you) every year.

We, like everyone, have been through a lot this year so far. In 2020 we have gone from a team of 8 full-time and 8 part-time people, to just me, with some help from Chris, two days a week. Obviously not forgetting Connas with his contributions to the blog and weekly news.

Instead of 200 tastings and 9 festivals, and celebrating our 10th year of TWL festivals in London, we have done 10 tastings and 1 Festival.

We are using a ‘Bounce-Back Loan’ to survive and launch a new website, with the focus on virtual tastings and the Festival in a Box program.

However, I feel lucky to have had time at home and with loved ones that I would not otherwise have had. Although I have never worked so hard in my life at the same time! I also realise how fortunate I am to still be able to work in an industry I love – unlike so many others – as well as mine and my family’s health.

That’s why this newsletter is not about selling you anything. It is about asking for your help and support, which I hope will inject some much-needed fun into all our lives, the only cost is a little of your time and some creativity.

Over the coming two weeks, we will be launching a new subscription service, new virtual tasting series, the next Festival in a Box, what we are doing for Burns Night and much, much more.

Costs you nothing,
means everything to us

All we want from you is…

A simple ‘Like’ or ‘Follow Us’, or similar, on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Get your friends and family to sign up to our Newsletter. Leave a Google review if you’ve been to an event and enjoyed it.

This small, but important, effort on your part makes us more attractive and relevant to global brands, distillers and potential sponsors. This in turn helps our events, virtual and actual, become even more interesting and diverse, while putting us further up internet searches for people looking to buy gifts.

Interesting fact: 80% of all whisky bought, is bought as gifts.

We normally do 60% of our annual sales in the next 6 weeks.

The TWL Whisky Challenge!

Give-away time!

We have 12 bottles of whisky to give away in return for entry into the #whiskychallenge…

What is the whisky challenge?

It is a video of you explaining what whisky is in 21 seconds or less.

Here is a cracking example of one done by our friend, Kate Watt at Watt Whisky, to get your creative juices flowing…

Post your video on your social platform of choice, tag us in and use the #whiskychallenge hashtag.

As a reminder, our tags are;

Facebook       therealwhiskylounge
Instagram       thewhiskylounge
Twitter.           thewhiskylounge

Every Wednesday and Friday we will choose our favourite and that person will get a bottle of whisky from the TWL ‘archive’.

Thanks for reading, take care of you and yours and hope to hear from you soon.

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

Friday October 30th, 6:30 PM:

GlenDronach Halloween Whisky and Chocolate Event

with Rory Glasgow

Celebrate Halloween with The Whisky Shop at our expert presented virtual tasting! We’ve pulled out all the stops for our first virtual holiday tasting, with single malt, chocolates, distillery gifts, and whisky expert Rory Glasgow presenting. Our tasting pairs the award-winning Highland dram with Berkeley based chocolate maker TCHO’s richly flavored sweets, a luxurious experience for any palate and perfect for Halloween.

Tasting sets are sold out!

However this event is still free to view and join.

Click Here to RSVP

If you would like to buy GlenDronach in advance, all bottles are 10% off with the code ‘VIRTUAL‘ at checkout.

Bag a whisky bargain!

From Highland Park’s award-winning 18 Year Old to Caol Ila’s Distillers Edition – here’s a sneak peek at what’s on sale this week. Shop the sale to discover the rest and snap these prices up before they disappear!

Shop the Sale ›

AWARDS NIGHT MOVES TO DIGITAL BROADCAST

The national awards celebration for the Scotch Whisky Industry has revealed its plans to broadcast a digital event this year to reveal winners in its annual competition.

The 2nd Annual Scottish Whisky Awards (Thursday 19th November 2020) reported a 50% increase in the volume of entries in this highly challenging year of business for distilleries and independent bottlers.  The competition which launched in March of this year has now completed its judging in both the business and the taste competition with panels assessing over 150 whiskies from 40 producers.

Winners will be announced as part of a digital event which will  be broadcast from the Glasgow Doubletree Hilton hotel by comedian Des Clarke, however the event will only be open to registered ticket holders who will be able to watch from any computer or mobile phone device.

The chair of the judging panel, Professor Alan Wolstenholme, commented,

“It’s important that we take time to recognise the achievements of the Scotch whisky industry in this year when businesses have been faced by extraordinary challenges.  We’ve been very heartened to read of the phenomenal social enterprise going on across Scotland to support communities and it has reminded us all about the truly special role Scotch whisky has in Scottish society.”

Kirsten Speirs, Director of KDMedia, founder of the programme, commented;

“We’re excited to be adding this digital event to our Scottish Whisky Awards programme and it is something we will certainly schedule on a long term basis.   It is an opportunity to extend our reach beyond the live experience and bring in others from around the world to join in our celebrations of Scotch.  Naturally, we are disappointed not to see everyone live this year, but we are encouraged by the positive support of finalists and sponsors to get involved.”

This week, judging the awards completed after 25 whisky experts from across the UK and Europe participated in live tastings on Zoom, moderated by global sensory experts, Cara Technology.  Samples of Scotch whisky had been carefully decanted and dispatched to the homes of the judging panel and were arranged into a series of sessions.  Marks are now being analysed and the finalists will be announced shortly.

Details on the new digital event can be found here

Abbey Whisky Daftmill Ballot

The Abbey Whisky Daftmill Ballot closes 23:59 GMT on Thursday 29th October 2020.

For the chance to purchase a bottle, please enter the Daftmill ballot via the link below.

ENTER BALLOT

Golden Dram Volume 2:
Win an exclusive hand-filled bottle of Bunnahabhain 40 Year Old!

Golden Dram is back! And this time it’s even bigger and better with Bunnahabhain Single Malt Scotch.

For Golden Dram Vol. 2, we’ve hidden a bottle of Bunnahabhain 40 Year Old Hand-Filled Exclusive to be found in either one of our Bunnahabhain 12 Year Old or Bunnahabhain Toiteacha A Dha boxes. With a one in 300 chance to win, today could be your lucky day to get your hands on a bottle of this highly-limited golden dram!

A truly special one-off, this bespoke liquid was selected from sherry casks by Master Blender Julieann Fernandez. Unlike other 40 Year Old expressions from Bunnahabhain, only 3 of these hand-filled beauties have been bottled. Ever. Make no mistake, this exclusive Bunnahabhain 40 Year Old is the epitome of liquid gold.

To enter: simply buy a bottle of either the award-winning Bunnahabhain 12 Year Old or Bunnahabhain Toiteach A Dhá online (both currently on sale!) and you could find the golden dram in your order…

Win or lose, you’ll be gaining a brand new bottle of delicious whisky, plus we’re giving away a free Bunnahabhain branded glass with each purchase for you to sip your Scotch in style. So, what are you waiting for? Enter now while stocks last!

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

The Whisky Shop Auctions Presents:
Doddie Weir’s Charity Whisky Auction

Rugby legend, Doddie Weir, is leading the charge against Motor Neurone Disease. Finding a cure is his focus, and positivity his greatest pill.

Now celebrating its third year running, the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation was founded by Doddie in 2017 – following his diagnosis with MND – and set up to raise funds to aid research into the causes of Motor Neuron Disease and investigate potential cures.

The Whisky Shop Auctions is delighted to host Doddie’s Whisky Auction online from Wednesday 11th November to Sunday 22nd November, where a wonderful collection of unique and highly sought-after bottles will come under the hammer to raise funds for Doddie’s charity, including treasures from The Dalmore, Littlemill, Glenfiddich and many, many more.

The site is now live and ready for whisky fans to view and learn more about the foundation, the auction, and about Doddie himself, featuring an exclusive interview from Whiskeria magazine back in the summer of this year.

The page will be continuously updated to include bottle highlights in this very special auction, including the lots pictured above.

Learn more about Doddie’s Charity Whisky Auction ›

Study whisky at your leisure

We’re delighted to announce that our online Introduction to Whisky Certificate is now available in Spanish, German & French (with more languages coming soon). Explore the fascinating world of whisky at your leisure, learning everything from the history, business and production to the bottling and blending of Scotch. You’ll come away having earned a certificate and enhanced your appreciation and enjoyment of all things whisky.

If you’re not quite ready to join the course, you can also now sign up for a free taster. Simply enter your details on the course page and we’ll send you the free access link by email. You’ll get a feel for the course material, functionality and level of difficulty.

Thinking about Christmas? Let a loved one appreciate the magic behind their favourite spirit by gifting one of our concise, SQA-certified courses that are enjoyed by whisky connoisseurs and professionals alike. Perfect for anyone with a thirst for whisky knowledge, the Introduction to Whisky Certificate is now at a new lower price for the festive season.

 Read More