The last Whisky Squad session met with such a cavalcade of enthusiasm that we’ve decided to put a second one on in October – to allow people who didn’t get a chance to get a spot in, as well as to give some new people who’ve never been an opportunity to check out the fun of Whisky Squad.

To that end, Whisky Squad #22 will take place on

Tuesday October 18th

at our usual time & place of 7:30pm, upstairs at The Gunmakers pub in Clerkenwell. (note: not a Thursday!)

The whisky theme for this month is:

“Now there’s something you don’t see every day!”

Whisky Squad member, budding whisky guru & qualified Scotsman Jonny McMillan will be leading this session – Jonny’s enthusiasm, knowledge & experience have found him leading tasting groups for WM Cadenhead: an independent bottler & spirit merchant with a history stretching back to the early 1840s, and whose bottlings are highly regarded and sought after by collectors and enthusiasts alike.

Click here to go to the booking form.

The cost is £15 per head, payable in advance (once you fill in the booking form, we’ll be in touch).

Note: Preference will be given to people who don’t already have a seat in Whisky Squad #21.  By all means, still put your name down if you’re interested, and I’ll try to get as many in as I can.

As with all Whisky Squad sessions – all are welcome, and it makes no difference if you’re new to tasting whisky, have a collection at home, or have been a master distiller for 40 years.

Spaces are strictly limited, so I’m afraid it’s first come, first serve.

A good friend of ours is Eddie, who runs the thoroughly informative and splendidly priced Whisky Lounge.  He has a series of festivals taking place across the country, and whilst he’s not coming to London on his festival circuit this year, if you can get to any of the others they are highly recommended.  The dates are as follows:

• Liverpool – Sept 10th
• York – Sept 17th
• Stratford upon Avon – Oct 1st
• Manchester – Oct 15th (11am and 4pm)

Ticket price is £20 and includes a dram glass, programme, bottle of water, and all tastings by the brands represented (varies from show to show, but all are excellent).

For more info on The Whisky Lounge’s other tastings and events, watch their Events Page.

In our continuing efforts to take in the broad vista of sensory sensations that the whisky world provides us with, it’s always fun to be guided along by people who live, sleep, and breathe whisky.  This month, Whisky Squad are lucky to have as our esteemed guest presenter the Global Brand Ambassador for William Grant & Sons Ltd and blogger/enthusiast extraordinaire – Mr Ludo Ducrocq!  It’s entirely possible he doesn’t *breathe* whisky – that would make him some sort of barrel-dwelling fish.  And he’s not.  He’s a nice bloke.

After meeting Ludo in June at a tasting, he was very excited to come & show the Squad some of what makes up the Grants portfolio – and the evening promises to be quite special.

Grants Whisky have been distilling since 1887, and today the company produces its famous blends for all segments of the whisky marketplace (right through to the luxurious Grant’s 25yo Blend), as well as single malts we’re more familiar with such as Glenfiddich and The Balvenie.

Ludo is a whisky enthusiast first & foremost, and has assured me that this tasting will be worthy of the Whisky Squad moniker.  Sounds good, doesn’t it?

The date for the this session is:

Thursday September 1st

19:30

Albannach Bar, Trafalgar Square

Each space at the table is £15 – to book use this:

The Whisky Squad #20 Booking Form

Whisky Squad is London’s friendliest, most casual, and professionally executed* whisky tasting night, and whisky enthusiasts (or people who are thinking of becoming whisky enthusiasts) of all levels are welcome to join us.

* this point may not be 100% accurate

On September 24^TH & 25^TH, Islington’s Relentless Garage comes alive with not only the sounds of a couple of cranking band lineups, but also a selection of great whisky from Ardbeg, Ancnoc, and Whyte & Mackay.  Because after all, you don’t need to be surrounded by leatherbound books and rich mahogany to enjoy a good whisky.  It’s the first ever Pure Festival – put together as a stroke of genius from the chaps at Connosr.com and Brand New Music.

Leading the whisky expertise side of things is legendary whisky author Dom Roskrow, who also loves his music, and if you can’t make it there’s bound to be a decent article about it afterwards, I’d guess.

Tickets are £28.50, and you can find out more over at the Pure Festival website or follow them on Twitter or Facebook.

So we’ve whipped around the whisky world in the last couple of months – first the two Japanese sessions in June, then the American session in July.  Time to return to the heartlands of Scotland.  And the theme for August is…

Grain and Grape*

But what does that MEAN?  Well, there’s only 3 ways to find out.  And 2 of those ways involve getting a report from someone who was there.  Frankly, the first way – that of getting a ticket – sounds like the most fun to us.

To make your reservation, please use the Whisky Squad #19 booking form

Book fast, these tickets won’t stick around long!

The date for this session is Thursday August 4th, and will take place in the upstairs room at The Gunmakers.  £15 per head, payable in advance.

As always, the sessions are for people of all levels of whisky experience and interest, and you’re equally welcome whether you’ve been once, never, or somehow made it to the last 15 consecutive sessions.

Whisky Squad is London’s friendliest, most casual, and least patronising whisky tasting night, and whisky enthusiasts (or people who are thinking of becoming whisky enthusiasts) of all levels are welcome to join us.

* I know technically this photo features multiple grapes – please don’t let that dampen your enthusiasm or sense of wonder.

Our transatlantic cousins have a strong distilling history which shares much with the Scottish drink of which we are so beloved, so the time has come to turn our attention to what they do & how they do it.

In this session we’ll try a variety of styles of American whiskey – not exclusively what’s known as “bourbon” – and learn a little about the different ingredients, production methods, and resultant flavours, and as always we’ll emerge from the other side as ever-so-slightly more enlightened booze-o-philes.

To make your reservation, please use the Whisk(e)y Squad #18 booking form

Book fast, these tickets won’t stick around long!

The date for this session is Thursday July 7th, and will take place in the upstairs room at The Gunmakers.  £15 per head, payable in advance.

Whisky Squad is London’s friendliest, most casual, and least patronising whisky tasting night, and whisky enthusiasts (or people who are thinking of becoming whisky enthusiasts) of all levels are welcome to join us.

Though both Alan and Billy posted blog entries about our Whisky Squad #15 (Highlanders) session on the same day, Billy gets the “first blog post” prize* this month, because his contained tasting notes, although Alan‘s photos were lovely).

However, pressingly relevantly: a topic which we’ve been asked about nearly every month since establishing Whisky Squad is “When will we be doing a Japanese whisky tasting?”.  The answer, it turns out, is June.  And we’re doing 2 of them.  How about that?

Since 1924 Japan has commercially produced whisky, and in recent times the world whisky markets have shown increased interest in the nuanced and well-crafted spirits that come from the region.  Originally inspired by Scottish production techniques and recipes, Japan truly stands out as one of the great whisky makers, and there is a lot to learn.

Whisky Squad #16 - “Diversity and Innovation”

The Date: Thursday June 2nd, 2011 at 7:30pm
The Venue: Upstairs at The Gunmakers pub in Clerkenwell
£15 per person, payable in advance

Leading us through a selection of whiskies from Japan – worded mysteriously because I haven’t got the feintest idea what any of them are – will be our resident Whisky Guy, Mr Darren Rook.

To book a place at Whisky Squad #16, click here for the booking form.

Whisky Squad #17 – “For relaxing times, make it Suntory time”

The Date: Thursday June 23rd, 2011 at 7:30pm
The Venue: Upstairs at Albannach, Trafalgar Square
£15 per person, payable in advance

We are extremely lucky, for our 2nd Japanese whisky tasting session in June, for 2 reasons:

1. Our tasting for the evening will be led by Zoran Peric, brand ambassador for the Suntory group of whiskies, as well as being a legendary barman in this little shanty town called London.
2. It’s a Whisky Squad Away-game – instead of our regular little haunt, we’re delighted to have been invited to convene upstairs at Trafalgar Square’s whisky destination, Albannach.  A place with a fine range of food, and a not-at-all-inconsiderable selection of whisky.

To book a place at Whisky Squad #17, click here for the booking form.

As always, no prior experience is necessary for you to join us on our tastings, and newcomers are always welcomed!

Whisky Squad is London’s friendliest, most casual, and least patronising whisky tasting night, and whisky enthusiasts (or people who are thinking of becoming whisky enthusiasts) of all levels are welcome to join us.

If anyone’s going to be in Edinburgh in early August, the splendid chaps at Royal Mile Whiskies are once again running their vastly popular Whisky Fringe event (for the 10th year!) from August 5th-7th.  Tickets go on sale on Wednesday 18th of May at 10am, and I’m told they disappear almost as quickly as Whisky Squad tickets do.

To buy tickets, you must be a registered user on their website.

Or, if you’re not so keen on travelling to exotic far off locations…

Tickets for The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show (the best event that features the word “whisky” twice in the title that you’re ever likely to go to) are now on sale over at The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show website.  It runs from October 7th to 8th, and is just immense.  Well, it was last time.

The time has come to turn our attention to the whisky region described as “Highlands”.  Covering every mainland distillery north of Glasgow (outside of the Speyside cluster), surely the region’s too massive to have any unifying characteristic?

To lead us through some fine selections from the Highlands in the pursuit of an answer to this thorny question, we are once again privileged to have the expertise and calming demeanour of Mr Rob Whitehead.

To make your reservation, please use the Whisky Squad #15 booking form.

Act fast to avoid disappointment: these things normally move pretty quickly!

The date for this session is Thursday May 5th, and will take place in the upstairs room at The Gunmakers.  £15 per head, payable in advance.

Whisky Squad is London’s friendliest, most casual, and least patronising whisky tasting night, and whisky enthusiasts (or people who are thinking of becoming whisky enthusiasts) of all levels are welcome to join us.