A Very Special Whisky Tasting at Loch Lomond

March 5, 2024March 5, 2024daviddistilled Leave a comment

Whisky Tasting for the Scottish Football Association

I was absolutely delighted to by the Scottish Football Association to host a whisky tasting at a dinner at Boturich Castle on the banks of Loch Lomond in Scotland last week. Our guests had been attending the 138th International Football Association Board Conference at Cameron House on the other side of Loch Lomond as well as taking the time to attend a local football match, St. Mirren vs Aberdeen.

Delegates at the dinner at Boturich Castle where we hosted the whisky tasting were from all over the world. There representatives from the Scottish FA, English FA, Irish FA, Welsh FA, and along with Premier League referees. The event was attended by many famous faces from the football world. It was a pleasure to meet them and to host a whisky tasting for them.

Whisky Tasting Loch Lomond

During this very special event our guests were served a wonderful meal specially prepared in the Pavilion at Boturich Castle. The Pavilion is a recent addition to Boturich Castle and is perfect for wedding gatherings and corporate events. It is beautifully furnished and big enough for very large gatherings. Boturich Castle is superbly situated just outside Balloch on the A82. It is 45 minutes by car to Glasgow city centre and 30 minutes to Glasgow Airport.

At the tasting my guests enjoyed:

Talisker 10 year old single malt whisky 45.8%abv – served with haggis
Bunnahabhain 12 year old Islay single malt whisky 46.3%abv – served with chocolate pave
Caol Ila 13yo Islay single malt whisky bottled by Gordon and Macphail 43%abv
Glenfarclas 10 year old single malt whisky bottled for Master of Malt 55%abv

Loch Lomond Venues

We have worked at multiple venues on Loch Lomond. There are many choices that make the perfect venue for all sorts of events. Here are a selection of venues and links to their websites:

Contact us about a Whisky Tasting at Loch Lomond

We would love to host a whisky tasting for you. I was Distillery Manager at Caol Ila Distillery on the Hebridean island of Islay so my tastings are as authentic as can be. Each of our bespoke tastings are designed to fit perfectly with your event whatever that may be. We are totally independent so we can serve and talk about any whiskies that either we or you like from around Scotland, and there are many fantastic drams to choose from.

If you are interested in us hosting a whisky tasting for your special event, whether it be at Loch Lomond or anywhere else in Scotland please complete the form below or contact me (David) on 07875 405 980. We look forward to hearing from you!

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Distilled Events & Friends in the USA

February 8, 2024February 8, 2024daviddistilled Leave a comment

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.

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Single Malt Whisky Tasting Experience in Sheffield

August 7, 2018August 16, 2018daviddistilled Leave a comment

Join us at our favourite venue in Sheffield, Picture House Social for our Single Malt Whisky Tasting Experience. This exclusive whisky tasting in Sheffield will be hosted by myself, David Wood.

Whisky Tasting in Sheffield

The whisky tasting will take place at 6pm on Saturday 8th September at Picture House Social, Abbeydale Road, Sheffield. Picture House Social is a great venue with an awesome cocktail bar. There is also a pizza bar serving delicious pizzas and there is are table tennis tables so you can ping pong the night away after the whisky tasting!

During the tasting I will present six quality single malt whiskies from around Scotland. I’ll talk all about the history of Scotch and how it is made.

Here are the topics we will cover during the tasting:

The history of Scotch whisky
Nosing, tasting and comparing different spirits
The importance of glassware
Water, ice, coca cola and other controversial subjects!
Categories of whisky including the definition of single malt whisky
The whisky producing regions of Scotland
Barley malting process and peat
Mashing and fermentation
Distilling and the importance of copper and spirit cut
Maturation and wood policy
Ages statements vs no age statements
Scotch whisky brands
The Scotch whisky boom and new distilleries
Whisky and food matching

Whisky Tasting in Sheffield Tickets

Tickets for this exclusive whisky tasting are available here:

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

Private Whisky Tastings in Nottingham

August 1, 2018July 23, 2023daviddistilled Leave a comment

We host whisky tastings in Nottingham and all over the UK. Whether you would like a whisky tasting at your celebration for you and your guests or in conjunction with your corporate event, each of our tastings are bespoke to our clients requirements. Our whisky tastings and gin tastings are perfect for stag parties and hen dos, we’d love to host one for you.

Nottingham Private Whisky Tastings

Nobody in Nottingham can offer such authentic whisky tastings as we do. We’ve worked in the whisky industry for many years. David was Distillery Manager at one of the largest malt whisky distilleries in Scotland, the mighty Caol Ila Distillery on the windswept and beautiful Isle of Islay. He’s lucky enough to have been given the responsibility of choosing whisky for limited edition bottlings and before moving to Islay regularly bottled his own single casks.

Our competitors hosting whisky tastings in Nottingham are brand ambassadors or sales representatives and whilst their events are engaging, they cannot offer the authenticity that we do, given our experience at the coal face of whisky production.

When we host a whisky tasting for your guests in Nottingham, we’ll be bringing Scotland to you.

Corporate Whisky Tastings in Nottingham

We specialise in hosting whisky tastings for any occasion whether it be a private party, a business reception or a corporate event. We can host a whisky tasting for your employees or clients in Nottingham or anywhere else in the UK. We also host private gin tastings in Nottingham.

Our whisky tastings in Nottingham are bespoke to every clients needs. Sometimes we host whisky dinners for clients in Nottingham, we work closely with the chef to ensure that each course is perfectly paired with each whisky. If you would like further information about our private tastings or if you would like to check availability, please complete the form below and we will reply to you very quickly.

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Whisky Tastings In Sheffield

March 4, 2018July 23, 2023daviddistilled Leave a comment

Private Whisky Tasting in Sheffield

We host private whisky tastings in Sheffield and anywhere in the UK. Whether you are looking for a whisky tasting at home, at your office, in your holiday rental for a special occasion for maybe for a birthday or a stag party, contact us today to discuss a bespoke whisky tasting event. We worked for many years at the coal face of whisky production on the Isle of Islay in Scotland so our tastings are authentic as well as fun!

Whisky Tasting Venue in Sheffield

As well as private whisky tastings in Sheffield, we regularly hosted ticketed events at awesome venues like Picture House Social on Abbeydale Road. If you are looking for a venue where your tasting in Sheffield can be hosted, Picture House Social has a huge cocktail bar, pizza bar and even ping pong and so makes the perfect venue for your get together. This venue also has a private cinema where our tastings usually take place.

Whether you’d like a whisky tasting at your birthday celebration, at your corporate event or even for your stag do, call David on 07875 405 980 for more information or fill in the contact form below and we’ll get back to you very quickly.

Scroll down for more information on our Sheffield whisky tastings.

Contact Us About Whisky Tastings in Sheffield

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What Are Our Whisky Tastings Like

We host whisky tasting events and masterclasses all over the UK and can arrange a private tasting for any group size at your home, party venue or business address. Our whisky tastings take many formats from regional whisky tastings to rare whisky tastings and we also host whisky dinners.

Your hosts David and Leonie Wood have worked in the whisky industry for many years, recently working at Lagavulin, Caol Ila and Kilchoman distilleries on the Isle of Islay. More recently, David was distillery manager at Caol Ila Distillery. Our tastings are as authentic as can be. Whilst most whisky tastings are hosted by sales reps or brand ambassadors or even people who have never visited a malt whisky distillery, we have worked at the coal face of whisky production making us ideal and extremely knowledgeable hosts for your guests.

Our tastings are fun and informative, they are suitable for the newcomer to the wonderful world of single malt whisky and for the seasoned enthusiast.

Regional Whisky Tasting

Our regional whisky tastings are an imbibing journey around the whisky producing regions of Scotland. Guests enjoy a whisky from the regions of Highlands, Speyside, Lowlands, Islands, Campbeltown and Islay. During this tasting we demonstrate the diversity in whisky profiles produced by many distilleries in Scotland.

As part of the regional malt whisky tasting, guests will learn how single malt whisky makes the special journey from field to table. We often take guests on a virtual distillery tour so that we can offer an in-depth explanation about the whisky making process.

Islay Whisky Tasting

We have lived on Islay and still work on this beautiful island. There are no less than 8 iconic malt whisky distilleries in production on Islay at the moment with a 9th, Ardnahoe Distillery being built right now and rumours of more in planning process. Islay distilleries produce an incredible array of whisky profiles from rich and sweet drams to smokey, medicinal, phenolic, big peaty monsters. There is a dram for everyone on Islay, the whisky isn’t all about the peat. Given our experience at the coal face of whisky production on Islay, we offer a real insight in to what it is like to live and work on the island and an in-depth look at each distillery and the whiskies made there.

This tasting is a must for anyone who is thinking about visiting the magic Isle of Islay. Like all of our tastings it is fun and informative and suitable for the newcomer to single malt whisky and for the seasoned enthusiast.

Rare Whisky Tasting

Our rare whisky tastings showcase whiskies that are hard to find. They may be drams from distilleries that no longer exist, they might be extremely rare distillery only bottlings or limited editions. Often drams in our rare whisky tastings are from single cask bottlings most of which are bottled at natural cask strength.

Whisky Dinner

If you are planning a dinner for your guests we can match each course with the perfect dram. Usually we will talk about the history of Scotch whisky and how whisky is made before dinner and then will introduce each whisky before each course. We’ll explain why we have paired each whisky to each course before guests enjoy their dram with the food.

Contact Us About Your Whisky Tasting

If you are thinking about having a whisky tasting in Sheffield, at your party, business meeting or corporate event, please call David on 07875 405 980 and he will answer all your questions, recommend a package and discuss costs with you.

Get in touch with us today if you would like us to host a very special whisky tasting in Sheffield. Please click here to send an email and we will be back to you as soon as possible.

Slainte

David