Been a very busy few whisky days as followers on Twitter and Facebook will be able to attest to, but it’s nice to be able to take the time to put some thoughts down for the blog as well.
Last Thursday, saw a fantastic meal and event take place at Hopetoun House where the International Wine & Spirit Competition was paying tribute to those involved in the whisky trade for more than 40 years. And amongst those to be recognised for his good, honest graft was our very own cooper Donnie Grant.
I was lucky in that my table didn’t just have interesting food and drink, it also had the best company, including Donnie, Raymond Davidson from Glen Cairn Crystal, Robert McLean from Carntyne Transport, Craig McGill the web chap, Gordon Dundas from Whisky Magazine, Gavin Smith the whisky writer who co-wrote a book with someone – and Steve Notman from Whisky Live with beauty, grace and elegance added by Pauline and Margaret from Whyte and Mackay.
Here’s some pictures grabbed on the night of Donnie with his award. Can you guess which one was taken by the professional and which ones were taken by the amateur with a camera phone?
It was a fantastic meal with some interesting choices of whisky to accompany, which some liked but others weren’t too keen on – like a 15 year old whisky watered down to 15% ABV to be more like wine and a whisky chilled to minus 18 degrees.
The main reason for the event was for the International Wine & Spirit Competition celebrating its 40th anniversary couple and it did this with a unique 40th anniversary blend. This has had been specially blended together by the Master Blenders from the Scotch Whisky Industry. In line with the 40 anniversary years, an 18 years old blend was prepared using whiskies from 18 years up to 40 years old. The final blend contained 40 different component parts from the 4 distilling areas of Scotland. The blend was then transferred into a special a 40 stave barrel and left to marry for 40 days.
It tasted fantastic and was undoubtedly the highlight of the night in terms of the whiskies – as one person at my table put it “now I find a whisky I can fully appreciate and it’s a 40 year old!”
But it was a great evening, followed by some leisurely drinks and good company. Good times.
One of the highlights was at the end of the evening when a magnificent pipe band came out to entertain everyone as part of beating the retreat – here’s some video and a picture.
Of course, that wasn’t the end of my food travels…
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Tags: Whisky Shops
