The 150th Victoria Highland Games Association
***Whisky School***
This past weekend Whisky Intelligence was afforded the opportunity to once again help run the Whisky School at the 150th Victoria Highland Games Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th of May in Victoria, British Columbia. As an obvious whisky enthusiast this was not something to let slip by, a whisky school held in a tent in the midst of a Highland Games; magic!
HRH the Duke of York was the Chieftain of the Games and was very much in evidence along with his RCMP close protection detail. Some 25,000 people attended the Games over the course of the weekend which was a record crowd. The Whisky School was located in a prime central location with lots of foot traffic.
While the weather was quite good for an outdoor event Saturday it certainly leaned towards the traditional Scottish model (umbrellas part of the day and slightly chilly), Sunday followed the west coast model and was warm and sunny.
Before the action....
The Whisky School was laid out into three classes a day with 44 attendees in each class with a really good variety of whiskies were presented; here are the official class descriptions;
1) Saturday May 18th 12-1:00 PM. The Whyte and Mackay Blending Seminar with J. Wheelock
Want to impress your friends at parties? Want to improve your resume? How about… sampling some excellent Whiskies while trying your hand at being a Master Blender? The Whyte and Mackay Blending Seminar will be conducted by ambassador J. Wheelock and the lucky attendees will nose and sample 5 of the component Whiskies in the Whyte and Mackay Special and then actually blend them together. Participants will then go on to compare with their neighbours as to how well they did compared to the control sample of Whyte and Mackay Special Blend. Seats are limited; don’t miss your chance to have the best bragging rights in town. P.S. We’re just kidding about the resume thing. This only counts as FUN.” (Note: the Saturday & Sunday seminars are identical in format).
2) Saturday May 18th 1:45-2:45 PM. Scotch & Irish Whisk(e)y 101 with Graeme Macaloney PhD.
Looking to understand how Scotch & Irish whiskies are made, where their flavours come from, and taste the final product? This Scotch & Irish Whisky 101 tasting session will encompass classic whiskies including blended Scotch, triple distilled Irish whisky, a Speyside single malt and Island Scotch single malts from Edrington and Beam Global. A Scotsman and university trained in fermentation, Graeme Macaloney will take you through an organoleptic tasting experience of these ‘old-country’ whiskies and how they are made.
3) Saturday May 18th 3:30-4:30 PM. Around The World in Six Whiskies with Roberto Roberti
Strap yourselves in for a round the world journey where ambassador Roberto Roberti will show case some exceptional award winning whiskies from a variety of countries. This class will be conducted so that the attendees will not know which whisky is which until revealed by Roberto. Test your skills and see if you can determine from where each whisky is from!
4) Sunday May 19th 12-1:00 PM. The Scotch Malt Whisky Society with Colin Southcombe
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society is the largest private whisky club in the world and it has finally arrived in British Columbia! Society whiskies are by their very nature unique, extremely limited and quite deliciously varied. Colin Southcombe will be leading this class and the single malts being poured will be a revelation!
5) Sunday May 19th 1:45-2:45 PM. The Independents with Roberto Roberti
Ambassador Roberto Roberti has reached into his magnificent bag of whiskies to formulate the lineup for this class which will feature two of Scotland’s most famous independent bottlers including some award winning blends, some single cask limited editions and two whiskies from a distillery whose name was only recent revealed.
6) Sunday May 19th 3:30-4:30 PM. The Whyte and Mackay Blending Seminar with J. Wheelock
Want to impress your friends at parties? Want to improve your resume? How about… sampling some excellent Whiskies while trying your hand at being a Master Blender? The Whyte and Mackay Blending Seminar will be conducted by ambassador J. Wheelock and the lucky attendees will nose and sample 5 of the component Whiskies in the Whyte and Mackay Special and then actually blend them together. Participants will then go on to compare with their neighbours as to how well they did compared to the control sample of Whyte and Mackay Special Blend. Seats are limited; don’t miss your chance to have the best bragging rights in town. P.S. We’re just kidding about the resume thing. This only counts as FUN.” (Note: the Saturday & Sunday seminars are identical in format).
And obviously a condition of entry, as well as being of legal age, was that guests did not drink and drive.
Looking in....
The Whisky School volunteers were from the Victoria chapter of the Companions of the Quaich which has chapters all across Canada and many of them have years of experience volunteering at the Victoria Whisky Festival; they can turn over a class and pour a whole set of samples in minutes.
We volunteers had a myriad of duties that ran the gambit from setting up the tent on the Friday before the event, laying out the tasting mats and glasses, selling tickets for the classes (but not on the day of the event, local liquor regulations forbid that; the mind boggles at the stupidity of it but seriously who comes up with maddening petty regulations?) to pouring the samples, introducing the speakers and checking in the lucky ticket holders to their respective classes. The majority of tickets were sold prior to the weekend and included access to the Highland Games for the day of the ticket so the combination of the Highland Games ticket and the Whisky School ticket provided very good value.
"No Mom, I don't want to leave Whisky School!"
While the classes were in session there was always a steady stream of people inquiring about the Whisky School or eagerly buying engraved Glencairn glasses. There were also lots of people who were greatly dismayed that they couldn’t buy tickets since they had arrived too late; the few remaining tickets for Sunday classes all sold in a short while on Saturday.
Anne and Jim of the VIP hospitality tent sent two of their volunteers to attend a class and they later reported that while the volunteers enjoyed the class their participation in the class had reduced their operational effectiveness in the hospitality tent to zero (for a period)!
When there was an infrequent quite moment there was a chance to wander through the Games to take in all the vendors and the various events from the sheep dogs at work to the massed bands to the heavy events, dance competitions or even a visit the VIP hospitality tent for a cup of tea or a snack. (They seemed to have forgiven us for previous damage done to their volunteers). If more exotic fare was desired then there was a good selection of food trucks and vendors on site. WI was over joyed to find Island Highlander Company’s stand and their excellent Sticky Toffee Pudding(s); two were purchased for quite enjoyment later. Scottish meat pies and HP Sauce are a Whisky School tradition however they must be purchased early since the vendors always run out. Another perk was an occasional dram found its way into a volunteers glass…
Another amusement enjoyed by the Whisky School volunteers was watching the RCMP close protection detail trying to keep up with HRH the Duke of York and he steamed around the Games at full tilt. Happily he didn’t visit the Whisky School looking for a seat since the Whisky School was sold out…
WI managed to secure tickets to J. Wheelock’s The Whyte & MacKay Blending Seminar on Saturday which focused on the constituent malts that make up that blend with a really nice dram of Flaming Heart from Compass Box thrown in for variety.
On Sunday the class of choice was the Scotch Malt Whisky Society class led by Colin Southcombe with 8 very nice samples (121.54 Don’t worry about a thing…, 26.87 Passion-fruit scented candles, 7.77 Elegant ladies taking tea, 16.32 Leather armchairs and old wardrobes, 105.19 ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’, 76.92 Ticks all the boxes, 4.168 Gunpowder, treason and plot and 53.162 The Happiness Machine).
Pretty whisky.....and Colin
Roberto, Graeme, J. and Colin did an excellent job of presenting while pipe bands played just across the field although at times it was best just best to sit back and enjoy your dram and listen to the pipe music. At one point there was even a little cannon fire but none of these distracted from the fine whiskies on offer.
All in all the experience volunteering at the 150th Victoria Highland Games Whisky School was very enjoyable experience and the team did a superb job of running the school and helping to educate many people in the joys of whisky. The proceeds from the Whisky School support the Victoria Highland Games Association. Thanks to Bev, Glenn, Duncan, Frank, Ann Marie, Clare, Heather, Al, Maggie Warren and Greg for their hard work and sense of humour! Tickets for the 2014 Whisky School will be available on the Victoria Highland Games Association in late March or early April. Don’t miss out!
J. leading the action...
