Christmas is just around the corner! Our town centre festive lights are going up and it will only be a week or so before they are switched on! We are hosting more and more tasting dinners where we are working with chefs to pair whiskies and gins with food. If you are planning a celebration, a Christmas party or a dinner for your business or corporate event, we’ll host a special tasting for you and your guests, expertly pairing drinks with each course of your meal.
Whisky with Food
Whisky is great with food. Pairing whiskies with food can often change people’s mind on Scotch, it can help them enjoy those peaty or smokey drams that they thought they didn’t like. It is hard to not love haggis when paired with lightly peated whiskies such as Talisker Single Malt Whisky from the Isle of Skye or to dislike Lagavulin Islay single malt whisky when you pair the pedro ximenez Distiller’s Edition (kept in the freezer along with the glasses for a minimum of 24 hours, served in the frozen glasses after having observed it pour like treacle) with red hot sticky toffee pudding. All this is making my mouth water at the thought. Staying with Lagavulin, try it with roquefort cheese, a match made in heaven.
Pics above courtesy of Make It Matte Black.
Pic courtesy of One Little Daisy.
Whisky and Seafood
Islay whiskies, particularly peaty and smokey whiskies from the whisky capital of the world, go perfectly with seafood, particularly shellfish. The fishing industry on Islay is largely focussed on shellfish so for it to be great with Islay whisky makes it another perfect pairing.
Whisky Tasting Dinner
I hosted a whisky tasting dinner in Nottingham last week at Alea Casino. The dinner took place in the private dining room in the Marco Pierre White Steak House restaurant. The food and service was fantastic and our guests had a wonderful evening. Everyone enjoyed the whisky pairings as well as the food, here is what we enjoyed:
Scottish smoked salmon with caper berry salad and black rye bread with Lagavulin 16 year old Islay Single Malt Whisky
Roast sirloin of beef with yorkshire pudding and jus served with seasonal vegetables and potatoes with Tamnavulin Double Cask Speyside Single Malt Whisky
Sticky Toffee Pudding with frozen Singleton of Dufftown 12 year old Speyside Single Malt Whisky served in frozen glasses
During the evening we also enjoyed three other drams. There were independent bottlings of Caol Ila, Bruichladdich and Glenlossie on show too, all of which were very much enjoyed by our guests.
If you are interested in us hosting a whisky dinner for you and your guests, whether at a private party or at a corporate event, please call David on 07875 405 980 or send a message via our contact page.
Scheduled Whisky Tasting Dinners
We have a number of scheduled whisky tasting dinners taking place at various venues in the weeks leading up to Christmas 2018. We will be hosting whisky tasting dinners in Nottingham, Stoke on Trent, Stafford, Sheffield, Buxton and in the Peak District. Here are some of the events we have planned so far, please click the link for more information or if you would like to enquire about tickets.
Single Malt Whisky and Food Pairing – 6th December, South 16, Buxton.
Whiskies of the World and Nibbles Tasting – 8th December, Picture House Social, Sheffield.
Whisky Tasting Dinner – 11th December, The Moat House, Acton Trussell, Stafford.
The Moat House is selling vouchers for each of their whisky tasting dinners, we think this makes the perfect Christmas gift for the whisky lover in your life. Click here to enquire about whisky tasting dinner vouchers.
We also have whisky dinners taking place at The Moat House at Acton Trussell in January and February. We are hosting lots of private dinner events before Christmas, and many around Burn’s Night in January.
Gin Tastings With Food
We regularly host gin tastings with G&Ts paired with tapas or canapes. We recently hosted a gin and tapas evening at South 16 in Buxton which was a great success. if you would like us to host a gin tasting for you, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!
Rare Single Malt Whisky Masterclass – Sheffield – 13.10.17 – Picture House Social
Gin Tasting Experience – Leek – 31.10.17 – Spout Brew House
Gin & Tapas Tasting Experience – Buxton – 01/11/17 – South 16
Whisky Tasting Dinner – Nottingham – 03/11/17 – Alea Casino
Gin & Canapes Tasting Experience – Nottingham – 09/11/17 – Alea Casino
Single Malt Whisky Tasting Masterclass – Brighton – 11/11/17 – The Southern Belle
Bespoke Single Malt Whisky Tastings 