Come and see us at...

During October and November we're at three of the UK's best food & drink shows.


BBC Good Food Show, Glasgow 21st - 23rd October


MasterChef Live, London Olympia 11th - 13th November


BBC Good Food Show Winter, Birmingham 23rd - 27th November

We'd be delighted to see you at any of the shows.

Just click on each heading to take you to the events website.

We look forward to seeing you.
 

Colin & Liz

Special Offers - Autumn

Whisky Gift Set, Whisky Glass & Whisky Cake

Following huge success at food and drink shows when we exhibited throughout Sepember, we have decided to now promote our show offer online by combining our best-selling 'Whisky Regions of Scotland' whisky gift set, with a Glencairn crystal whisky glass (in gift box) and an Ashers whisky cake in attractive gift tin.

 

Priced at £29.95 throughout October the offer is exceptional value.

Click  here for more details.

Branded / Unbranded Whisky Gift Sets

For Businesses & Clubs

Whether rewarding key staff or clients, or to celebrate special company or club events, we now offer a branded or unbranded whisky gift sets from £10 to £100.

Our branded option of 3 and 5-bottle gift sets also allows VAT to be reclaimed, saving 20% over traditional wine & spirit gifts.

This service provides our hand-made whisky gift sets with the finest single malt, grain and blended whiskies that:

• Will not be found online or on the High Street;
• May be branded or personalised with no minimum order;
• Costs from less than a good bottle of wine;
• Are beautifully presented in a hand-made presentation box;
• Are educational – perfect when unsure of the recipient’s taste preferences;
• Save 20% VAT (branded) compared with other gifts;

A fulfillment service is also available, shipping direct to your clients.

Request our business price list by clicking here or speak with Colin on 01743 247220.

New Products - October

New Whisky Arrivals

Some of our oldest and rarest single malt and single grain whiskies arrived recently; for an exceptional and unique experience the oldest and rarest whiskies are presented in this limited edition Old & Rare gift set.

New releases for October, which are available in our range of gift sets or for subscribers:

Dumbarton Single Grain 1964 Aged 46 Years
Glenallachie Aged 38 Years
Glenlivet Aged 34 Years
Port Ellen 27 Years
Rosebank Aged 21 Years
Braeval Aged 20 Years
Macduff Aged 21 Years
Bladnoch Aged 18 Years
Caol Ila Aged 14 Years

Whisky Fruit Cakes

  A range of single malt whisky fruit cakes in three different styles – Highland, Island and Speyside – from Scottish bakers since 1877, Ashers, are now available from the Whisky Tasting Company.

As previous winner of Scottish Gift of the Year, and finalists in British Baker of the Year, Ashers whisky cakes are of the highest quality and a perfect compliment to our range of premium, old and rare whisky gift sets.

Each of the three cake varieties is presented in its own distinctive gift tin and will be available individually for £4.95 as well as in a set of three for £13.95 comprising one each of the Highland, Island & Speyside whisky cakes.

We also have a special offer which combines our own luxury whisky gift sets with Ashers whisky cakes providing a gift solution for family and friends who appreciate the finest of Scotland’s, produce.

October Competition - BBC Good Food Show (Scotland)

Competition - enter online

BBC Good Food Show (Scotland)

In partnership with the BBC Good Food Show Scotland, which takes place at the SECC in Glasgow from 21st – 23rd October, we are offering the chance to win a Whisky Tasting Company luxury whisky gift set like this, with a set of Glencairn crystal whisky glasses and a set of Ashers whisky fruit cakes.

You can enter the competition online, which is available through the BBC Good Food Show website by clicking here.

The winner will be published in the next newsletter, along with details of two more competitions that we plan to run at BBC Good Food Show Winter and Masterchef Live – although it is not necessary to attend the events to win.

Be Quick!  Please note the closing date for the competition is midnight on 20th October.

Good luck!

New Products

June and July saw the introduction of several new products, which include:

Three Bottle Gift Sets

Smaller than the original five-bottle sets, the new sets are designed as an more affordable way to receive some special malts.

The sets are presented as before, in our hand-finished gift boxes, complete with whisky tasting cards and a tasting mat featuring a Scottish landscape or distillery scene.

Follow this link to our Premium gift set, which provides three older and more unusual whiskies.

Premium Annual Gift Service

The perfect gift for a budding whisky connoisseur, this year-long gift provides a new whisky tasting set every quarter for the enthusiast to learn about, taste and enjoy five new single malts and premium blends each time – twenty during the year in total.

Older, premium-strength and limited edition whiskies are provided, complimenting our very popular annual gift service that has been available for the last year.

For more information on this new gift service please click here.

Corporate & Retail Packaging

To protect the hand-finished presentation box in a retail environment, we developed a sleeve for our gift sets, enabling retailers to customise their own whisky sets.

A gold label on the sleeve is branded with the retailer’s own name for the set, such as:

       Highlands & Islands

       Old & Rare

       Welsh & Scottish Malts

The same sleeve will be used for business gifts, allowing the gift to carry the company brand or special message.

A 20% saving may be made by businesses when gift sets carry the company name, as the business may reclaim VAT on the whole set.

New Whisky Arrivals

We’ve a number of new single cask releases during August; full details are available by clicking on each.

We’re including some of these malts in our range of whisky gift sets, whilst others will be available through the subscription and annual gift services.

New releases for August are:

Talisker 20 year old

Jura 11 year old

Tamdhu 11 year old

Glen Moray 11 year old

Dalmore 11 year old

Aberlour 12 year old

Ben Nevis 11 year old

Penderyn 41

We'll keep you updated with future new releases - including a range of older, premium strength and cask strength whiskies we're currently planning...

Competition Winners

Recent Competitions

We recently ran three competitions, each offering an Old & Rare Whisky Gift Set that included some hard-to-find malts from some of Scotland’s long lost distilleries plus some particularly old varieties.

BBC Good Food Show (Summer)

Mrs L Campbell from Orkney was the lucky (and particularly thrilled!) winner of a BBC Good Food Show competition we ran – so excited was Lindsay that we decided to further upgrade her set to include a special Highland Park limited release - she is an avid collector of local malts in Orkney.

The Good Food Show organisers are urging us to run competitions for their three other shows this year – Winter (the NEC), Scotland & Masterchef LIVE at Olympic.  We will update all our subscribers on how to enter when final arrangements are made.

Flavour Magazine

Mr A Whiskar of Dagenham was similarly thrilled to receive his Old & Rare set through a special Father’s Day competition we ran with Flavour magazine.  The oldest malt in this set was this 42 year old Glenfarclas.

Corks Out

A special 3-bottle set was given to our Cheshire-based retailer Corks Out, to offer as a prize to support their social media campaign to attract 1000 Facebook followers.  Corks Out reached 1000 ‘Likes’ on 22^nd July and duly rewarded one enthusiastic follower with this special edition.

Well done to Hayley at Corks Out on reaching this target!

 

Next Month's Competition
We'll be running competitions again soon, full details will be sent with the next newsletter.  Meanwhile, we're offering this.

I'd like to thank everyone who entered the competitions.  Although not everyone can win we will be running regular competitions and also offering genuine special offers for our newsletter subscribers.

Thanks again.

Liz Evans

Nosing & Tasting

With a flavour range much wider than red or white wine, Scotch whisky is the world’s most complex spirit. As a drink to be savoured, the aromas are equally as important as the flavours on the palate – which is why master blenders traditionally used ‘nosing’ glasses for their art.

It is important to have the right glass for whisky tasting. Wine, champagne, brandy and beers each have their own identifiable glass, yet whisky can be found served in a whole manner or tumblers and goblets – which can be a bit like pouring vintage champagne into a pint glass!

A whisky tasting glass should be tapered, like a tulip, to funnel the aromas and to provide an ease of drinking. A wide bowl will allow the fullest appreciation of the whisky’s colour, and the size and shape of the base should be comfortable to hold.

Nowadays the official whisky glass, found in every distillery in Scotland and Wales, is the Glencairn glass. Purposely designed to enhance the whisky drinking experience through nosing, the design won the Queens Award for Innovation.

Our steps to whisky tasting suggest using a Glencairn glass to get the fullest experience from your whisky.

1. PREPARE

Pour a measure of one or more whiskies. If you do pour more than one whisky it will help you compare the difference between the whiskies.

Hold it by the stem so as not to warm the glass. Have some un-chilled water to hand - preferably Scottish spring water (or Welsh, if you are tasting Penderyn). Also, have a pen handy to make notes.

2. THE COLOUR

Holding the glass up to the light, note the colour, depth and clarity. Colour doesn't necessarily reveal age; it indicates how the whisky was matured, there are a large range of colour differences between whiskies and these can vary from very pale gold colours in light whiskies matured solely in bourbon casks to a very dark - almost black/red colour of older whiskies (particularly single cask whiskies) which have matured for many years in sherry casks, although the degree of tint will also depend on whether the cask is on it’s first, second or third filling. 

3. THE LEGS

Legs will form on a glass when it is held at an angle and rotated to roll the whisky on the inside walls of the glass. After doing this, hold the glass upright and watch the liquid forming the 'legs' as it runs down the sides of the glass. The slower the legs the more viscous the liquid - and the older it is. By comparing varying ages of whisky you will see the difference.

4. NOSE THE WHISKY

Pass the glass smoothly under your nose, breathing in deeply through the nose as you do. What aromas do you smell?

Always concentrate when you sniff, focusing on the act of smelling could, for example, be the difference between identifying, or missing, the slight hint of aroma in a delicate single malt. You might like to close your eyes to help concentration, now pass the glass back under your nose and repeat the process. 

5. TASTE THE WHISKY

With your tongue in a small spoon shape, sip from the glass, letting the whisky sit on your tongue. Firstly, try and articulate the aromas and flavours you experience - remembering that they're complex and forever changing. Secondly, take note of the ‘mouth-feel’. The mouth-feel refers to both the texture and the intensity of the whisky in the mouth and depending on the whisky, can vary from a very light, dry, fresh sensation, through to creamy and warm to very heavy and rich.

Finally, as you swallow, take note of the ‘finish’ and the ‘after taste’, some lighter whiskies can finish quickly, whilst others seem to linger in your mouth and nostrils, until eventually fading.

6. ADD A LITTLE WATER

Only add a few drops, swirl the glass and you'll find that the mix has mellowed. Take a small mouthful along with some air, and take note of the subtle differences. If tasting a whisky with very high alcohol strength there can be an almost ‘burning’ sensation. It is usual with cask strength whiskies to dilute with up to one-third water.

It is advisable not to add ice during a tasting session as this can ‘dull’ the nose and taste sensation. 

Finally… there are no 'right' or 'wrong' articulations of the aromas and tastes you experience - learn, taste, enjoy!

Sláinte!

Liz Evans

1st Year Highlights

Having just completed our first year, this first newsletter provides a useful insight into The Whisky Tasting Company's background.

Combining two passions – Scotland & Whisky - our idea was for a new way to learn about, taste and enjoy a wide range of single malt and blended whiskies.  We wanted to allow people to taste lesser-known as well as familiar varieties, and to experience old & rare whiskies.

Single Malt is a luxury product, and as the whisky gift sets were for special occasions, it was essential to develop a high quality product.

Prior to Startup - Approaching Brand Owners

With special permissions from several whisky brand owners, we gained access to single malts from nearly every whisky distillery in Scotland & Wales.  We used these to create miniatures with an elegant and consistent look, using our own barley-coloured labels.

A wide range of miniatures meant we could offer a choice of gift sets, and enabled us to offer a subscription service so people could try new varieties each month or quarter throughout the year.

The brand owners approved our presentation and the content used on the labels and whisky tasting cards.  We also had to satisfy each that the purity of their precious spirit would not be affected during the decanting process we used to create miniatures.

Colin receiving award in family 'Sinclair' tartan

‘Star Idea’ Award

Prior to launching the company, a late entry was made to ‘Star Idea’ – an innovation award at the UK’s biggest business event so far that year, in June 2010.  Winning the award in front of 900 business leaders, in the company of Lord Digby Jones, provided a great platform to launch the company. 

Launch

Exhibiting at a local food & drink festival in Ellesmere, Shropshire put our Whisky Gift Sets before the public for the first time. Feedback was excellent, and sales were brisk – aided by the show coinciding with Father’s Day.

The Website followed a month later, in July 2010.  The considerable content captured attention and much positive feedback, and the sale of gift sets online slowly began...

Exhibitions, Food & Drink Shows

Weekends and any chance of a rest soon disappeared with a hectic schedule of back-to-back shows into the winter, ranging from small local events to county shows and national events such as Masterchef Live and the BBC Good Food Show.

Scotland’s Trade Fair provided the opportunity to meet new retailers, ranging from delicatessens to mail-order gift companies, to some of Scotland’s most prestigious retailers.

Friendly Faces

At shows we began to recognise friendly, familiar faces that dropped by.  We also met people who were excited at having recently receiving one of our whisky sets as a gift!

It was great to meet local people who visited us at national shows, 200 miles from home, providing enthusiastic support. 

Scotland & England’s Finest

Just before our 1^st birthday, we were thrilled to receive our first order from the prestigious food and drink emporium Fortnum & Mason, as well as Mohammed Fayed’s ‘Harrods of the North’, The Falls of Shin.

We began to supply a small number of high quality stores, stretching from the Orkney Isles to the south of England, including national award-winning independent wine merchants.

We also began to supply specialist whisky shops in the heart of whisky country, in Speyside's Dufftown and on Islay.

Retailers created bespoke gifts sets, selecting their own whiskies for the sets.

The Times, The Guardian & Delicious Magazine

In the run-up to Christmas we were fortunate to attract attention from the press.  Being listed in The Times Christmas Gift Guide just two weeks after a feature in Delicious Magazine – in the editor’s ‘wish-list’ for gifts - created a huge surge of online orders, which we despatched with pride.

For Hogmanay – Scotland’s celebration of New Year - the Guardian gave an excellent mention of our whisky sets for sourcing hard-to-find malts.  This attracted interest from all over the world, with enquiries from Europe, America, Asia, Africa & Australia – though unfortunately we only had a UK delivery service!

Business Gifts

Through the profile we gained at the business awards, and joining the Chamber of Commerce, interest grew in businesses wanting to offer our sets as unique gifts.  We developed a bespoke service for business gifts and provided these to local companies.
Email us if you are interested in receiving our gift brochure for business.

Scores on the Doors

Working with food safety consultants STS Solutions we developed a policy which covered all aspect of hygiene including storage, decanting, labeling and traceability around our products.  After an inspection by Environmental Health we were thrilled to score a perfect 5/5 for food hygiene and safety.

Being a recognised national standard, this put us in a good position to attract business from national retailers.

New Products

With our original set being five whiskies (inspired by Scotland’s five whisky regions), a new three-whisky set was developed in the new year.

Designed as an affordable way to present older & rarer whiskies, the smaller set also provided a unique gift set below £20.  We launched the sets in time for Father's Day at the BBC Good Food Show Summer, with great success.

Despite a massive amount of hard work It’s been fun - an interesting and challenging first year for The Whisky Tasting Company.  We’re very pleased with the start to business, for which we are grateful to all our customers and suppliers who have supported us during our startup year.

I look forward to an interesting and enjoyable second year and hope to meet some of you at the various food and drink shows which we will be exhibiting at in the autumn and winter.

Colin Sinclair