Speyside Food and Drinks Festival Returns with a Larger Serving

Following the soaraway success of a festival launched last year to celebrate one of Scotland’s most fruitful food and drink regions, Spirt of Speyside: Distilled is to return – with an even greater range of home-grown flavours.

World leading drinks brands will join small artisan producers for the weekend festival at Elgin Town Hall on September 1 and 2 in a showcase of Speyside’s finest whisky, gin, beer and food. Classic drams will be served up alongside contemporary cocktails with speciality coffee to try alongside grown-up fudge.

This year’s event has been extended to cover two floors of the venue with even more opportunities to sample food and drink and meet the producers passionate about Speyside and its produce.

It’s not just about the tastes that makes the Speyside region  – home to more than half of Scotland’s malt whisky distilleries – renowned across the world for its food and drink. Distilled gives opportunities to experience and learn more about the flavours, through a range of tutorials or ‘masterclasses’ staged by experts.

Tickets for Distilled go on sale on at 9am on Friday, June 16 and with limited places available, food and drink lovers are urged to get in quick to ensure they don’t miss out.

Distilled is delivered by the same team behind the world-famous Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival and the inaugural mini-festival went down a treat with audiences last year.

Festival manager Pery Zakeri says, “Distilled is a melting pot of fantastic flavours and wonderful personalities sharing their enthusiasm for fine food and drink. It offers the chance to enjoy so many different tastes, as well as broadening knowledge of food and drink through our menu of masterclasses.

“We were delighted with the feedback from our inaugural event last year, which introduced a much younger audience to Speyside’s food and drink offering, and we are building on that with this year’s offering.

“We are proud to be playing a lead role in championing the region’s booming food and drink industry by bringing producers and the public together under one roof in celebration of the Speyside larder.”

Distilled drew gastronomes from all over Scotland as well as  visitors from overseas who wanted to be part of first festival of this kind to be held in Speyside. The big global players of the drinks industry stood shoulder to shoulder with small, up-and-coming producers in a mix that went down well with audiences.

Masterclasses ranged from the chance to sample rare and cask strength drams, to cocktail making and food pairing. A range of masterclasses are being offered again this year, costing an additional £15 per person, with full details of the range and times to be announced on the event website.

This celebration of Speyside’s food and drink features four different sessions and these take place from 1-5pm and 6-10pm each day. Tickets are priced at £20 which includes entry, six vouchers for tasting samples of gin, whisky or beer, a lanyard and a Glencairn crystal nosing and tasting glass.

All whisky, gin, beer and foods on offer will have a Speyside provenance and there will be the chance to purchase products from stand holders. There will also be festival merchandise available to buy.

For more information and to book tickets  visit www.distilled.scot

Distilled is active on social media at www.facebook.com/distilledscot on Twitter and Instagram @distilledscot.  Follow the festival at #distilled17

Pictures – Distilled, a delicious mix of Speyside’s finest food and drinks, returns to Elgin Town Hall on September 1 and 2.

Poland’s first whisky festival, which premiered in August 2014 in Jastrzebia Gora, founded and organised by Polish whisky bar Dom Whisky. 

Our whisky festival is the only Polish event that gathers the greatest personalities of the whisky world, whisky enthusiasts and people just starting their whisky adventure all in one place.  

We’re not about imposing rules, but showing people how to extract the most from the world of whisky. Guided by the motto ‘whisky is like a friendship, the older, the better’, we believe that together we create a unique atmosphere at the festival, and our relationship will mature over the years like the precious ‘water of life’.  

The fourth edition of the festival will offer:

– More than 600 whiskies to taste at very attractive prices,

– Masterclasses conducted by the greatest personalities in the world of whisky

– Whisky bottles available at very attractive prices

– Presentations, tastings, workshops and live music. 

The first show brought together 1,500 guests, while the second event grew to 4,000 guests. The third gathered more than 6,500 people. This year, we are looking forward to Your visit.

FIND YOUR RAY OF SUNSHINE

With the start of summer on the horizon our thoughts are turning to warm lazy days, gentle breezes and enjoying the outdoors. We’ve put together five whiskies that are perfect for summer sipping. Buy them online now before the sun dwindles and they are gone forever.

BROWSE WHISKY

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

Ardbeg Kelpie 2017 limited release

A limited edition celebrating Ardbeg Day at the 2017 Fèis Ìle, this Islay single malt is the distillery’s first to use virgin oak from the Black Sea coast for maturation. Known for imparting incredibly deep flavour notes, only a handful of whiskies have ever been matured in these casks. Combined with hallmark ex-bourbon Ardbeg, the result is a whisky that tells of its ties to the Black Sea and the waves of flavour taken from the casks.

£96 Buy Now

Available while stocks last Orders dispatched week commencing 19th June

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 166: Auchentoshan 17 Year Old 1987 for Belgium 

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, always has a good bottle of Scotch on him when he travels. He recently visited Berlin and took along a special bottling of one of his favorite malts: Auchentoshan. This single sherry cask at 61,5% was bottled exclusively for Belgium and is a very powerful, but also very sexy malt. Find out why in this Rambling, that he recorded at the Berlin Dom.

https://youtu.be/74UQciBOrOw

BUFFALO TRACE DISTILLERY EARNS PATENT PENDING FOR ITS OLD FASHIONED SOUR MASH PROCESS 

FRANKFORT, Franklin County, Ky (June, 2017) – Many years ago the “old timers” at Buffalo Trace Distillery gathered together and discussed the process for making Old Fashioned Sour Mash whiskey, which differs from the traditional bourbon production method as the mash sours naturally before fermenting.

            In April 2002, Buffalo Trace decided to recreate this process, and bottled the bourbon nine years later as part of the inaugural release of the E. H. Taylor, Jr. collection. Named for the former distillery owner and bourbon aristocrat who used this Old Fashioned Sour Mash technique for his bourbons years ago, it was only fitting Buffalo Trace Distillery would close the loop by applying for a patent on this sour mash process. Currently the patent is pending, and Buffalo Trace is moving full steam ahead on making additional stocks of Old Fashioned Sour Mash process bourbons, which will likely be released under the E. H. Taylor, Jr. line in the future. Any release using this process will now be designated as “patent pending.”

            To further cement the Taylor legacy at Buffalo Trace, the Distillery plans to start using one of the Colonel’s original fermenting vats recently found buried on property dating back to 1882 to produce some of the Old Fashioned Sour Mash similar to how he did nearly 150 years ago.  “It really is extraordinarily fortuitous how this all came about,” said Mark Brown, president and chief executive officer, Buffalo Trace Distillery. “We’ve been working on the patent application for Taylor’s process for making Old Fashioned Sour Mash since 2015, and then in 2016 we discover his fermenters inside a building he had built, with an intact foundation dating back to 1873. It was obvious once we found them and realized what it was we needed to go back and re-create the Old Fashioned Sour Mash process as Taylor did it, in his early fermenters.”

            Although the exact Old Fashioned Sour Mash process is proprietary and remains patent pending, it does differ from the standard sour mash process traditionally used in distilling in that this sour mash is naturally soured through the holding time instead of forcing the souring with the addition of spent mash from the still as is traditionally done.

            It will be several years before this sour mash patent may be approved, provided the Distillery decides to proceed with the full patent application, or just keep the existing “patent pending” status. “For us, just to have the Old Fashioned Sour Mash process patent be pending achieves a long held goal we’ve had, as a tribute to E. H. Taylor, Jr,” added Brown.

About Buffalo Trace Distillery

Buffalo Trace Distillery is an American family-owned company based in Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky. The Distillery’s rich tradition dates back to 1773 and includes such legends as Col. E.H. Taylor, Jr., George T. Stagg, Albert B. Blanton, Orville Schupp, and Elmer T. Lee.  Buffalo Trace Distillery is a fully operational Distillery producing bourbon, rye and vodka on site and is a National Historic Landmark as well as is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Distillery has won 17 distillery titles since 2000 from such notable publications as Whisky Magazine, Whisky Advocate Magazine and Wine Enthusiast Magazine. It was named “Brand Innovator of the Year” by Whisky Magazine at its Icons of Whisky America Awards 2015.  Buffalo Trace Distillery has also garnered more than 300 awards for its wide range of premium whiskies. To learn more about Buffalo Trace Distillery visit www.buffalotracedistillery.com/.

Whisky and food pairing guide: cupcakes

When you think of food and whisky pairings, cheese, chocolate and meat may come to mind, but cupcakes? Elements of Islay international brand ambassador Mariella Romano hosted a whisky and cupcake evening for our Covent Garden shop’s Ladies Night tasting.

Mariella Romano from Elements of Islay was our guide for the evening

Believe it or not, those bundles of spongy, iced goodness are a very good match with whisky. Mariella paired a variety of cupcakes with Elements of Islay whiskies, a range of single malts from Islay packaged in laboratory-like bottles. This is what we tried:

Elements of Islay Br6 with pistachio

With a core line of vanilla running through this Bruichladdich whisky, the pistachio was a harmonious, nutty accompaniment. The spicy and fruity notes in this whisky were well balanced alongside the savoury notes that the pistachio bought to this partnership. Definitely a pairing for people who enjoy the savoury side of life.

Elements of Islay Ma1 with Peanut Butter & Jelly

As Bunnahabhain’s heavily peated sister, Margadale needs something sweet to accompany it, so what better than the good old-fashioned American staple: peanut butter and jelly. The cream and acidity of the cupcake cut through the smoke but also created a creamy, luscious pairing.

Cupcakes and whisky – not the most obvious match, but it works!

Elements of Islay Peat Full Proof with Lemon Meringue

Lemon meringue pie is one of my favourite desserts, so I was looking forward to this one. The cupcake had a dollop of meringue on top and lemon infused throughout the sponge, with the citrus cutting through the highly smoky Peat. My favourite pairing!

Elements of Islay Bw4 with Lamington

Lamingtons are traditional Australian cakes made from squares of sponge coated in chocolate and rolled in coconut. I hadn’t tried them before but they worked really well with the tropical Bowmore in glass number four. The coconut topping enriched the pineapple and mango, culminating in a smoky finish – a match made in Caribbean heaven.

Elements of Islay Lp7 with Nutella

What goes well with chocolate? Salt. The smoky Laphroaig with notes of seaweed and salt was teamed up with nutty and creamy chocolate. The medicinal quality of the whisky needs a rich flavour to balance it out and the Nutella cupcake was the perfect partner.

Elements of Islay Oc3 with Red Velvet

Oc3, an Octomore, was the smokiest whisky we tried. The red-velvet cupcakes offered silky-smooth, rich flavours which really held their own against the waves of smoke. Rather than fighting the smoke, the cupcake worked really well with it, creating a beautiful pairing.

I would highly recommend anyone to get out of their comfort zone and try some cupcakes next time they pour a dram. People are becoming ever more adventurous and I really believe that whisky and food pairing will be in the same position as wine and food matching in a few years – watch this space.

GlenDronach Cask Strength Batch 6

Our malt of the month for June is from the stunning cask strength series from GlenDronach distillery. Already priced extremely well, we’re now offering a further £4 off Batch 6, until the end of the month…

BUY NOW

Macallan 12 Year Old Sherry Oak

This is the modern interpretation of the Macallan style for which the distillery is so well known – refined, rich, and rounded with plenty of sherry cask influence. Very definitely a dram to be enjoyed with friends.

£55 Buy Now Was £70

Ralfy uncovers a young affordable age-stated affordable malt with Ralfy Review 659 – Kilkerran 8yo @ 56.2%vol