JUNE TASTINGS & EVENTS

Summer Solstice Live Music in Queen Street Gardens – 28 Queen Street – Sat 20 June  More >

Father’s Day Brunch & Roast – The Vaults – Sun 21 June  More >

Rum Tasting – 19 Greville Street – Tue 23 June   More >

Dundee Preview Tasting – Malmaison – Fri 26 June  More >

Manchester Preview Tasting – Malmaison – Fri 26 June  More >

Melrose Preview Tasting – Town House Hotel – Fri 26 June  More >

New Members’ Tasting – 19 Greville Street – Tue 30 June  More >

FREE ENTERTAINMENT AT THE VAULTS

Free Live Music with Jack of Diamonds >  Wed 24 June

Monday Night drop-in: Peat Lovers Night >  Mon 29 June

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

Browse All Tastings >

www.festiwalwhisky.pl

 JUNE TASTINGS & EVENTS

Eats, Malt and Staves – 19 Greville Street – Tue 16 June  More >

Summer Solstice Live Music in Queen Street Gardens – 28 Queen Street – Sat 20 June  More >

Edinburgh Whisky Solstice in Queen Street Gardens – 28 Queen Street – Sat 20 June  More >

Father’s Day Brunch & Roast – The Vaults – Sun 21 June  More >

Rum Tasting – 19 Greville Street – Tue 23 June   More >

Whisky & Ice Cream Tasting – 19 Greville Street – Wed 24 June  More >

Cambridge Preview Tasting – The Gonville Hotel – Fri 26 June  More >

Dundee Preview Tasting – Malmaison – Fri 26 June  More >

Manchester Preview Tasting – Malmaison – Fri 26 June  More >

Melrose Preview Tasting – Town House Hotel – Fri 26 June  More >

Tunbridge Wells Preview Tasting – Hotel du Vin – Fri 26 June  More >

New Members’ Tasting – 19 Greville Street – Tue 30 June  More >

FREE ENTERTAINMENT AT THE VAULTS

Monday Night drop-in: Sherry Cask Lovers Night >  Mon 15 June

Free Live Music with Jack of Diamonds >  Wed 24 June

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

Browse All Tastings >

See you in 2016 on Saturday May 7!

A big thank you goes out to all the staff, exhibitors and guests who made this year’s Spirit of Toronto a night to remember!

Once again masterclasses were fully subscribed and we extend a heartfelt thank you to all of our esteemed presenters who shared their samples and knowledge with our audience.

Those of you who kept to the show floor were equally spoiled for choice courtesy of our exhibitors, as well as a selection of rarely seen Canadian whiskies, sips of the Caol Ila 30 Year Old and Glenfarclas 40 Year Old for those who dared to test their palate in our Blind Whisky Challenge, a stellar showcase of Authentic Caribbean Rum, and our Japanese whisky bar complete with freshly prepared sushi and Edo-inspired highballs.

And of course, there were the lucky few of you who braved the scrum for a precious taste of the Yamazaki Sherry Cask 2013, recently named the Best Whisky in the World.

But a picture is worth a thousand words so please check out our photo gallery to relive the good times for yourself:

Spirit of Toronto 2015 on Flickr

Have a great summer and we look forward to welcoming you back in 2016. And in the meantime, if you’d like to help us make the best show possible, please keep reading…

Win a bottle of Talisker 25 Year Old…

But of course, there’s a catch!

The success of Spirit of Toronto depends on our exhibitors, and they’d like to know more about you! Please help us to provide them with some insight into our audience so that we can work together and ensure the quality of future events!

By taking just 2 minutes to complete our survey, you can help us to program quality content AND be entered in a draw for a bottle of Talisker 25 Year Old.

All survey responses received by Wednesday, June 17, 2015 will be entered in the draw.

To take part in our survey, please click on the link below:

Yes, I would like to win a bottle of Talisker 25 Year Old

About The Workshop:

Whether it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner there surely is a dram for all occasions!  

Together we will explore the art of matching the unique and celebrated flavours of single malts with food in a fun and interactive workshop. No other drink in the world can offer the range of flavours found in whiskies which makes it the perfect accompaniment to almost any food. In this workshop we will look at three courses of classic pairings and why they work so well. For a limited time tickets are available for just £15 which represents unbelievable value for money.

Tickets are now just £15 (reduced from £25!!) and are available now from the Stoke-on-Trent Whisky Festival website at stokewhiskyfestival.co.uk. The price includes all the food samples and whisky. Please email: info@boomwhisky.co.uk for any more information. 

About The Festival: 

Stoke’s annual whisky festival is to be held on Saturday 4th July 2015 at The Jubilee Hall, Stoke-on-Trent. The venue is part of Stoke Town Hall, a stunning grade II listed Victorian building dating back to 1834; allowing you to enjoy the beauty of the venue as you sample the fantastic range of whiskies on offer. Tickets are available now from the Stoke-on-Trent Whisky Festival website at stokewhiskyfestival.co.uk. 

About Boom Whisky: 

Boom Whisky is a tasting event group based in Manchester. They aim to offer an entertaining yet informative take on whisky tasting. Boom Whisky are available for private events, bar staff training as well as hosting a range of themed whisky tastings across Manchester’s bars and pubs. More information available at www.boomwhisky.co.uk.

OUR VERY FIRST FEIS ILE TASTING!

PEATY TREATS FROM THE ISLAY FESTIVAL 2015

So this is very exciting! If you’ve seen our Twitter or Facebook feeds lately you may have noticed that we’d sent an intrepid member of staff up to Scotland. Our man-on-the-ground visited Campbeltown (more news on this soon!) then crossed the water to the hallowed Isle of Islay.

His task was to fill our shop and bar shelves with a host of limited edition bottles from the festival and the famous Islay distilleries. Naturally, as we took stock of his impressive haul, we thought it would only be fair to give everyone the chance to try some of these (largely) smoky drams. As such, we have set up our very first Feis Ile masterclass where you can sample six of the festival releases from: Bunnahbhain, Caol Ila, Bowmore, Laphroaig, Kilchoman – and even a very special 24 year old Lagvulin!

The event will be hosted at Milroy’s of Soho, beginning at 18:30 and concluding at approximately 20:00 on Monday 3rd August 2015. The event is priced at £35 per ticket and can be purchased here – right now!

WhistlePig “Smokin’ Hog & Rye”

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

6:30pm-8:30pm

$60 per person

Gordon’s Fine Wines & Liquors is hosting Andy Husbands and WhistlePig

for a special dinner event to celebrate the release of the Gordon’s Private Barrel of WhistlePig!!!   

You may recognize Andy from Season 6 of Hell’s Kitchen. Andy is the Chef/Owner of Tremont 647 and Sister Sorel. He specializes in barbecuing and other carnivorous delights. He and his team were the first ever Jack Daniel’s BBQ World Champions from New England.

Andy is bringing his smoker to Gordon’s and WhistlePig is bringing a Pig. The result will be delectable smoked pork to pair with a variety of WhistlePig Rye whiskey samples. The menu will include:

Lexington Slaw

Warm Cornbread with Honey Sea-Salt Butter

Pit Beans

Stunning Collard Greens

Three of Andy’s Sauces:

Andy’s First Place Pork Glaze Golden Glaze

Red State Banana Pudding with Caramel and Mini Chocolate Chips for Dessert

We will start with some cocktails, including Whiskey Smashes, Manhattans and Mint Juleps using the WhistlePig 10-year-old Rye.

After the cocktails we will taste the following:

The WhistlePig Old World

The WhistlePig Boss Hog

Gordon’s Private Barrel

Gordon’s Fine Wines & Liquors has a great relationship with WhistlePig Farms up in Vermont. A few months ago we enjoyed a trip up to the farm and sampled several of the best WhistlePig barrels in the warehouse. We picked a 118 proof 125 month-old barrel that is stunning.  Join us for a delightful dinner and sampling and come celebrate the release of our new whiskey!

BUY TICKETS HERE

Additionally check out Nick’s Interview with Raj Bhakta, founder of WhistlePig.

AD Rattray Ambassador Night

We have long been fans of the AD Rattray single cask bottlings and eagerly await each release with bated breath. On this evening we will be joined by their brand ambassador who will take us through their various single cask bottlings – expect the hard-to-find and unusual!

The event will be hosted at Milroy’s of Soho, beginning at 18:30 and concluding at approximately 20:00 on Tuesday 23rd June 2015. The ticket price is redeemable against a bottle of AD Rattray whisky on the evening.

BUY NOW | £15

Bootleggers & Bourbon Masterclass

We’ve resurrected our popular American whiskey evening. Since we’ve reopened we’ve been bowled over by the growth in popularity of Bourbon and rye whiskey, and now, more than ever, is a tasting dedicated to Scotch’s transatlantic cousins more appropriate. Our resident American whiskey enthusiast Angus will be taking us through his favourite whiskeys and the honourable and illicit tales that surround them, from the Civil War to Mad Men!

The event will be hosted at Milroy’s of Soho, beginning at 18:30 and concluding at approximately 20:00 on Monday 29th June 2015.

BUY NOW | £35

Thanks to those lovely people at Speciality Brands we are going to be able to run a second night of the Nikka Japanese whisky tasting and this will be on Thursday 25th June.  The line up for the evening will be the same six whiskies from the Nikka range as on the previous night but there will be a change of presenter as it will be Stefanie Holt who will be coming along.  As a guide to what you can expect on the night here is a quick reminder.

Set up by Masataka Taketsuru , the founding father of Japanese whisky, Nikka own both the Miyagikyo and Yoichi distilleries and these provide two different styles of whisky that are bottled not only as single malts but also in combination as vatted malts and in blends.  Miyagikyo distillery was designed to produce light, elegant, fruity and floral whiskies whereas Yoichi (which continues to operates traditional coal fired stills) produces a distinct rich, smoky, spicy and oily whisky.  We will taste both of these on the night along with two pure malts (i.e. vatted) which, because they contain different proportions of the two single malts, have very different characteristics.  There will also be the fruity, zesty Coffey Grain to sample and the rich and robust Nikka from the Barrel blend.

There is only a vey limited number of tickets left for this second evening of whisky tasting so you will need to be quick if you want to book!

See below for all the details and if you have any queries just contact us.

Sláinte!

Fran and Ken

Arkwrights Whisky and Wines

www.whiskyandwines.com

UPCOMING EVENT

Name Nikka Whisky Tasting

Date Thursday 25th June 2015

Time 7.00 for 7.30pm

Venue Stanton House Hotel, Stanton Fitzwarren SN6 7SD

Details Admission to the tasting is by ticket only.  Tickets are £15 per person, and this also entitles you to a discount of £3 against a bottle of one of the featured whiskies if bought or ordered on the night of the tasting.  The whiskies tasted will be available to purchase on the night so come prepared! Tickets are very strictly limited, and allocated on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.  They usually sell out very quickly so it is best to book as soon as possible. To buy tickets just log on to www.whiskyandwines.com and place an order for the number you require (up to a maximum of 6 per booking). Please note that tickets cannot be reserved without payment and are non-refundable.

N.B. We have negotiated special rates at Stanton House Hotel for anyone who wants to stay overnight after the tasting – just quote ‘Arkwrights- whisky tasting’ when booking by ‘phone or email.

Arkwrights Whisky & Wines. Phone No. 01793 765071 Fax No. 01793 764860 Registered Address. The Dormers, Highworth, Wiltshire, SN6 7PE

June Auction Live!

Bidding Ends Sunday 14th June 8PM

Fresh from the shores of Islay comes a huge selection of Feis Ile 2015 bottles for you to bid on. All the major distilleries have released their limited edition bottlings, and at Just Whisky they are fortunate enough to be the first auction house to be live after the festival. Whether you’re looking for the likes of Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain, Lagavulin or Bowmore you’ll find it in the pages of their auction this month.

Competition Time!

Fantastic Prize Giveaway

To celebrate Feis Ile, and also their biggest auction ever, Just Whisky are happy to announce they are giving away a fabulous 2015 Feis Ile release from Lagavulin. To win, it’s very simple:

1. Bid on ANY bottle on the auction this month
2. SHARE the bottle on either Facebook, Twitter or Instagram from this link.

That’s it! We wish you good luck – the winner will be announced at the end of the auction!

Just Whisky have just signed up to Instagram and will regularly be posting bottles in our forthcoming auctions. If you’d like to see this, please follow Just Whisky on Instagram – justwhiskyauctions

Of course, this month there are many more bottles than those from Islay to bid on. Log on for yourself and have a look.

As always, Just Whisky are accepting entries into their next month’s auctions. Now is a great time to get your bottles in early to ensure their place in the July auction. To take advantage, simply fill the short form available here.

BRUICHLADDICH HIGH NOON – FEIS ILE 2015

Bruichladdich’s 2015 Feis Ile bottle. This limited edition High Noon 134 has been bottled in a similar form to the Black Art series, 134 being the combined age of whiskies married to produce this whisky. This Valinch was produce with an outturn of 1881 individually numbered bottles.

• 48.7% vol
• 500ml

BOWMORE 12 YEARS OLD – FEIS ILE 2015 – FIRST FILL SHERRY BUTT

Every bottle of Bowmore is special, but this is more special than most. Hand-filled straight from the cask, by those few fortunate people during the 2015 Feis Ile. Laid down in the finest first-fill sherry butts in 07/10/2002 and release exclusively for Feis Ile 2015.

• 59.6% vol
• 700ml

BOWMORE FEIS ILE 2015 – VIRGIN OAK

This special bottling of Bowmore Single Malt has been exclusively selected for the Feis Ile 2015, solely matured in Virgin American oak casks. Bottled at cask strength with an outturn of 1,000 bottles.

• 55.7% alc./vol
• 700ml

BOWMORE 26 YEARS OLD 1988 – FEIS ILE 2015

This 26 year old bottling of Bowmore Single Malt has been specially crafted for the Feis Ile 2015 from hand-selected Sherry casks which were laid to rest on the 06/09/1988. Bottled at cask strength on the 04/03/2015, and non chill-filtered.

• 48.3%
• 700ml

VIEW AUCTION