We had rather a splendid time at Whisky Squad #21, trying a selection of fine independent bottlings by Master of Malt. And for a more in-depth report of exactly what went on, Alan has knocked up a fine summary over at East London Drinker. Rather a good selection of photos too, come to think of it. Nice work.
Surely it’s not November already? Well, no, not quite – but we ARE telling you about the tasting sessions (yes, PLURAL!) that are coming up. And they look like a couple of absolute rippers.
Thursday November 3rd @ The Red Lion, Crown Passage, St James’s
One thing which we haven’t really done at Whisky Squad is let loose in the smoky peaty department. Sure, we’ve had the odd bottle in a lineup, but nothing to really satisfy the Peat Freaks. Even our Islay session back in 2010 had a non-peated and a lightly peated bottle. Well, session #23 is all set to make amends for that.
This session will take us around a nice selection of fire-shovel-lickin’ goodness, hopefully with a couple of nice surprises in amongst it all. Although it must be said – if your tastebuds aren’t aligned in this direction it may be a bit of a challenge. But giving things a go is the Whisky Squad way, so as always – all are welcome!
Whisky Squad #23 has been moved to a new venue – The Red Lion, in Crown Passage. But it’s still on Thursday November 3rd, and the will be led by everyone’s favourite Novocastrian, Darren “The Whisky Guy” Rook.
£15 per person, payable in advance (as usual).
And of course, being November, that can mean only one thing:
Tuesday November 22nd @ a secret central London venue
Based on the outstanding success of last year’s Movember fundraising effort (and a fine brace of ‘Squad moustaches, to be sure!), once again Whisky Squad is embracing the Whisky4Movember movement, and the second session for the month will feature this year’s special Movember bottling (thanks to the efforts of the folks at Master of Malt), as well as a selection of other excellent whiskies pertaining to the theme – with funds raised going towards the Movember charity.
The venue for this session will be announced once you’ve booked your spot, however it’s not far from our usual location so no special travel plans will be necessary. We’ve been extremely lucky to secure the use of this venue, so it’ll be a bit of a treat.
If you join the Whisky4Movember fundraising team and raise at least £50 your ticket for this tasting will be £10 – otherwise it’s the usual £15 per person.
Bookings for both of these excellent sessions will open at around 18:00 on Friday October 14th, and as always operate on a first in / first serve basis.
We’d ask that you select one of the sessions for the month, so that more people get a chance to get a spot. If you get a spot at one tasting and want to come to the other I can put you on the reserve list.
Because the end of the year gets a bit crazy, we’re getting in a little ahead of time – there will be 2 Whisky Squad events, which we’ll open for bookings on October 31st.
More information on these posted here soon…
If anyone’s at a loose end on Saturday September 24th, can get to Basingstoke, and has a passion for excellent whisky, then hasten ye away there – for the Berry Brothers & Rudd Bin End Shop is holding Whisky Saturday – with masterclasses hosted by our excellent chum, Mr Rob Whitehead.
And there’s some free masterclasses, too!
Get into it.
Berry Bros. & Rudd – Bin End Shop
Hamilton Close, Houndmills
Basingstoke RG21 6YB
Hampshire
Telephone 0800 280 2440
Of course, if you can’t make it out to Basingstoke….
Then you’re a bit spoiled for choice this weekend, because there’s also (as mentioned previous-wise) Pure Festival!
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
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:
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.
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.
One of the difficulties with Whisky Squad is that we can only fit a limited number of people into the tasting room. Luckily through the excellence of blogging, if you can’t actually make it you can sort of engage in a “squad by correspondence” type arrangement – and September’s session was comprehensively enscribed by Billy: read it over at Billy’s Booze Blog!
He’s done such a good job, this post will feature no mention of passports. Whatsoever.
About the only thing he neglected to narrate were the incredibly generous drams that Ludo poured us, which warrant a special mention.
It’s not particularly relevant to anything, but what’s the point of having a website if you can’t share?
Can anyone guess who was heading off to a whisky festival in Holland this morning, and got to St Pancras to find out they’d left their passport at home?
Yes, that’s right!
Billy did!
Silly Billy.
Long-time friends to Whisky Squad, Master of Malt is an innovative whisky retailer with a 25 year history, and as well as being one of the most useful online whisky-selling presences in the UK, they have also forged paths of their own by development of new products such as “Brown Drink”, barrel-aged bitters, and the Drinks By The Dram programme. For session #21, our own Swami of Scotch Mr Darren Rook (pictured) will be leading us through a selection of Master of Malt’s own choice independent bottlings.
Thursday October 6th, 19:30 at our regular location – Clerkenwell’s finest, “The Gunmakers”
To book your spot, use the form, thus:
The cost is £15 per head, payable in advance (once you fill in the booking form, we’ll be in touch)
Spaces are strictly limited, so I’m afraid it’s first come, first serve.
Whisky Squad is London’s friendliest, most casual, and aerodynamic whisky tasting night. It’s amazing. Slick as anything. Whisky enthusiasts (or people who are thinking of becoming whisky enthusiasts) of all levels are welcome to join us.
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:
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.
On the offchance you’re sitting around with nothing to keep you busy at the moment, then why not pop over and check out Darren, Billy and Jason’s shiny new video podcasty thing (we refuse to acknowledge the existence of the word that starts with “v” and rhymes with podcast): Village of the Drammed.
The pilot episode is viewable in a web player thingamy, or if you want to download it in it’s medium sized 500mb of HD mp4 glory, you can do that too.
We’d love to hear what you think.
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:
Each space at the table is £15 – to book use this:
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