single cask

Single Malt Whisky Tasting Experiences in the USA

A few months ago I was asked by my friend Bob who has joined many of my week long whisky experiences in Scotland, if I would be interested in hosting a series of Scotch whisky tastings in the USA. I had never been to The States before so I jumped at the chance. I dug out my passport, booked my tickets and off I headed to Indiana followed by an extensive tour of the Bourbon distilleries of Kentucky.

I’m hoping to write about the trip over a series of blog posts so watch this space if you would like to read about my tour of many distilleries in Kentucky.

Whisky Tasting Experience for Storied Company in Indianapolis

First up for the series of events was at a great shop in Indianapolis called Storied Company. Storied is a fantastic wine and spirits merchants which is ran by Denis Lynch and Simon O’Grady. Denis and Simon like to stock wines and spirits that have been produced by smaller, independent wineries and distilleries especially those that have an interesting story to tell.

I hosted two sessions at Storied, for around 40 guests in each. The tasting took place with myself and the guests lined up with glasses of whisky ready to taste on a table that ran all around the balcony on the upper floor. Each tasting session lasted around an hour with an hour in between to set up the second event.

The room in Storied was beautifully lit and made for a relaxing ambience for our whisky tasting guests. Being relaxed, our guests asked lots of great and interesting questions which always helps to make a tasting go really well.

The Whisky Set List at Storied Company

Here are the whiskies that our guests enjoyed at the Scotch whisky tasting at Storied Company:

Elements of Islay LN2 Small Batch Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky. 59.5% from Bruichladdich Distillery, Isle of Islay. Bottled by Elixir Distillers. This was a single Amercan oak barrel which yielded just 216 bottles.
Elements of Islay BN10 Small Batch Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky. 54.3%abv. Bunnahabhain Distillery, Isle of Islay. Bottled by Elixir Distillers. This was a marriage of 3 American oak hogsheads which yielded a total of 732 bottles.
Caol Ila 10 year old Islay Single Cask Single Malt Scotch Whisky. 56.4%abv bottled by Inglered. This was a single American oak hogshead which yielded 295 bottles.
Caol Ila 9 year old Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky bottled by Five Lions. This was an single American oak cask.
Laphroaig 9 year old Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky. 61.4%abv. Bottled by Single Malts of Scotland (Elixir Distillers). This was a single American oak hogshead.
Port Askaig 18 year old Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky. 50.8%abv. Bottled by Elixir Distillers. This was a single bourbon barrel filled in 2000 and limited to 250 bottles.

It was a privilege to present such a wonderful flight of rare expressions and all of the guests loved the whiskies and the event itself. It isn’t often I get the chance to talk about whiskies of such limited supply. All of the whiskies were from either single casks or a very small marriage of casks. Everyone went home very happy indeed.

One guest waited until the end of the second session, and after almost all of the other guests had left the room he came to speak to me. He proudly showed me a photo he had on his phone of his bottle of 30 year old Caol Ila single malt whisky which was released in 2015. At the time it was the oldest Caol Ila ever to be bottled by the distillers and I’m very proud to have my name on it.

“I’ve travelled from Alabama to meet you tonight David” the man said to me and I thanked him for coming after he told me about how much he had enjoyed the tasting. My geography of the USA isn’t very good so I checked with google maps how far the drive was that the gentleman and his partner had made, a journey of 700 miles each way!

I’d like to thank Denis and Simon for having me host the tastings at Storied Company and I very much look forward to coming back in the future.

Whisky Tasting for the Muncie Scotch Whisky Society

After the tasting we headed off towards the town of Muncie, Indiana. Bob was keen to give me a proper US diner experience so we had a late night, and well deserved feast it one of his favourite restaurants, Portillo’s, and very good it was too. The perfect way to end the evening!

The following day we would host a whisky tasting for members of the Muncie Scotch Whisky Society. I’ve posted a couple of photos below but more about this in a future blog post.

Contact me!

I host bourbon tastings as well as Scotch whisky events. If you are interested in a whisky (or whiskey!) tasting experience wherever you are, please call me on 07875 405 980 alternatively, please complete the contact form below and I will be back to you as soon as possible.

Go back

Your message has been sent

I was delighted to be invited to co host a very special single malt whisky tasting at a large solicitors premises in London last week with the very talented patissier and chocolatier William Curley. It was a pleasure working with William in preparation for the event, especially the bit where I got to taste a lot of chocolate with a lot of great whisky!

Whisky and Chocolate Pairing

Finding perfect pairings of chocolate and whisky is great fun. At most of the whisky tastings that I host there is always a bar or two of dark chocolate being passed around, it is perfect with dark, sherry matured drams. Rather than a contrast, when pairing chocolate and whiskies it is more often similar flavours that complement one another that you are looking for. People are often surprised when I talk about pairing whisky with food, it isn’t just great with chocolate, there are drams our there that are great with cheese, great with puds and you only need to try Talisker with haggis or Caol Ila with shellfish to really to start to appreciate the versatility of Scotland’s gift to the world.

William Curley

William’s career began when he worked as an apprentice at Gleneagles Hotel which lead him to train with some of the country’s greatest chefs including Pierre Koffmann, Marco Pierre White, and Raymond Blanc. His ambitions lead him to become the youngest Chef Patissier in the history of The Savoy Hotel.

Since opening his business over thirteen years ago, William has achieved numerous accolades including four times winner of Britain’s Best Chocolatier by The Academy of Chocolate and a gold medal at The Culinary Olympics. In 2012 William became a member of Relais Dessert International the most prestigious association for Patissier – Chocolatiers. He also achieved the Master of Culinary Arts by the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts. This is the highest accolade awarded to chefs in the UK.

Our Whisky Pairings

During this very special corporate tasting, our 50 guests enjoyed 6 wonderful single malt whiskies perfectly paired with William’s exquisite chocolates. The whiskies had a wide range of flavour profiles beginning with a light style from the Lowlands of Scotland, we then brought the guests together at the close of the evening to taste a heavily peated, cask strength, single cask whisky from the Highlands.

Auchentoshan 12 Year Old Single Malt Whisky with Yuzu

A fragrant citrus infused dark chocolate ganache with flavours of lemon, grapefruit, blossom and vanilla.

Auchentoshan is a Lowland single malt whisky from Glasgow. This bottling, the 12 year old is matured in both American and European oak. There are aromas of toasted almonds and caramelised toffee and the whisky is smooth and delicate on the palate.

Deanston 12 Year Old Single Malt Whisky with Muscovado Caramel

A rich, dark vanilla infused caramel, encased in Toscano 70% dark chocolate. There are flavours of molasses, butter and vanilla.

Deanston is distilled on the banks of the River Teith near Stirling in the Highlands and is matured in American oak. The nose is reminiscent of days of haymaking with flavours that are creamy sweet with honeyed spiciness, vanilla and cloves.

Talisker 10 Year Old Single Malt Whisky with Tayberry Toscano

A tayberry pate de fruits, topped with a dark fruity ganache.

This is the classic island whisky from the Isle of Skye, matured in American oak. Peat smoke and sea saltiness accompanied by red fruit and an explosion of pepper in the mouth.

Bunnahabhain 12 Year Old Single Malt Whisky with Orange & Almond

A crispy base of roasted almond praline and feuillantine wafer, topped with vibrant orange infused ganache. Flavours of toasted almonds and orange zest.

Bunnahabhain (Foot of the river) is distilled in an extremely remote location on the beautiful Isle of Islay in the Hebrides. The whisky is rich and sweet with creamy vanilla and cinnamon with the faintest waft of peat smoke.

Caol Ila 12 Year Old Single Malt Whisky with Richmond Park Honey

A smooth pure dark ganache made with Richmond Park honey. Flavours of meadow flowers and earthy woodland notes.

American oak maturation and slow distillation gives this smoky, oily, maritime whisky from the Isle of Islay gooseberry, lime and smoky flavours alongside aromas of tar and wet fishing nets. A natural choice given I was once the Distillery Manager.

Fraoch Mòinteach Edition IV Highland Single Cask Single Malt Whisky with Beurre De Sel

A punchy salted caramel, pure dark chocolate ganache. Flavours of vanilla and butterscotch, seasoned with a burst of sea salt.

Fraoch Mòinteach Edition IV by The Moorland Distiller, Highland single cask single malt whisky is a limited release straight from a bourbon barrel and bottled at 59.8%. This whisky is all about rich caramel sweetness along with masses of peat smoke.

Contact Us

We host corporate whisky tastings in London and all over the United Kingdom. If you are interested in learning more about our whisky tastings, or if you are interested in having a whisky and chocolate pairing please call David on 07875 405 980 or complete the form below and we will reply very quickly.

Go back