Given how much we love whisky, it was an absolute pleasure to be asked to host a private whisky tasting over the weekend.
This was our first ever private tasting, and guests were keen to taste a range of whiskies from all around the world. After a bit of thought, we settled on the following:
Penderyn Legend (a Welsh single malt)
Sazerac Rye (an American rye whiskey)
Three Ships 10 (a South African single malt)
Nikka from the Barrel (a Japanese blended whisky)
Glandalough Pot Still (a pot still whiskey from Ireland)
and Laphroaig Quarter Cask (a Scottish single malt from Islay)
We decided the above selection offered not only a nice sample of whiskies produced in countries other than Scotland and Ireland (although we included one from each of these countries too, as we think it's always nice to be able to compare and contrast with these whisky producing giants), but also a good selection of different styles of whisky, from blends to single malts, as well as Ireland's iconic pot still style of whisky, to whisky made from different types of grains. As most of our guests were near the beginnings of their respective whisky journeys, our talk aimed to give an overview of how to understand what you normally see on whisky labels. The labels you see are full of information about the whisky inside the bottle, but if you're not familiar with a number of terms, this information can feel overwhelming. There are also some fairly common misconceptions about what certain terms, like "single malt", actually mean, or what an age statement (or lack thereof) really signifies. With reference to all the whiskies we tasted, our aim was to provide everyone with a general overview that would help them successfully decipher the label on a bottle of whisky, and so help them make more informed decisions about their whisky purchases in the future.
We really enjoyed the opportunity to share our love of whisky with fellow whisky enthusiasts, and we found that we also really love the idea of private tastings!
While we enjoy hosting our ordinary themed tastings every one or two months, private tastings are such awesome events because they are completely customisable to a person's particular requirements and tastes - we can organise a tasting that is explicitly aimed at the merely whisky curious or the whisky novice, or we can also organise a tasting that is explicitly aimed at those who are more advanced in their whisky journeys and perhaps looking to explore just one particular style of whisky or one particular aspect of whisky making. We're not sure what the future holds, but we'd love to have the opportunity to host more private whisky tastings, and we think that bespoke whisky tastings in general can be a wonderful addition to a bachelor/ette party, a special birthday celebration, or a sophisticated end of year corporate function. With this in mind, we'd recommend that you definitely keep an eye out for private whisky tasting options near you!
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