May 2008 - The Burns' Night Supper
It has become a famous tradition for us here at S.H.Jones Leamington Spa to start the year off with our biggest and noisiest of all whisky tasting events, The Burns' Night supper, held annually at the Angel Hotel on Regent Street. We celebrated the life of the Scottish Bard the day before his birthday this year on Thursday the 24th of January; Thursdays being our regular evening for tastings.
On show we had eight different expressions from distilleries all over Scotland, bottled by Speyside Distillers. Unusually however, the unanimous favourite on the night wasn't in fact a Malt Whisky but a forty three year old single grain whisky from a distillery just outside Inverness, which during its production day was called "The North of Scotland". Sadly the distillery is no longer in existence and indeed the bottles we enjoyed on the night will no doubt soon be collector's pieces. Whilst this dram garnered high praise on the evening it was given stern competition by the other whiskies in a fine selection described by one of our stalwarts as 'The best flight of whiskies I've ever had in one tasting'. Personally I am still torn between the 30y/o Glenlivet and the 23y/o Caol Ila we had the pleasure of tasting, although being a peat freak myself, I think I've got to err on the side of the Hebradean beauty that was the perfect marriage between cask and Islay smokiness.
Moreover the evening provided the usual Burns night fun and games with an impressive turnout of sixty two all enjoying the piper who played brilliantly throughout the night, initially outside the dining hall to greet our guests and then to give the Haggis the entrance it deserved. After the traditional Scottish fare's ceremonial parade around the dining room we were treated to the famous Burns address by an appropriately attired Scotsman and once the wee beastie had been appropriately dealt with, everybody sat back down to enjoy a good plateful, accompanied by the traditional 'tatties and neeps'!
Throughout the evening we enjoyed the tasting guidance and anecdotes of David Mann, representative from Speyside Distillers. David has obviously had a very colourful career, over twenty five years in the drinks industry as a man and boy and obviously a very experienced after dinner speaker. As the tasting drew to a close just after ten thirty, the piper gave us a final reprise of Marie's Wedding to bid us farewell, leaving some to mingle in the hotel bar afterwards to discuss the quality of the drams and generally catch up with one another.
We would like to extend our thanks to the Angel Hotel for looking after us so superbly on the evening, David from Speyside distillers for providing us with both his time and some excellent malts, an not least everyone who continues to attend these events and make them such a great success!! Haste ye back!
February promised the usual annual pilgrimage to London for 'Whisky Live' perhaps the major whisky event of the year and an opportunity for those in the drinks industry and keen consumers alike to experience and educate themselves in the world of whiskies. For my part I was looking forward to tasting a few new expressions and perhaps a couple of old or rare bottlings that you can usually seek out at events such as this! Highlights included the recently released Balblair 1975 vintage, some outstanding drams from Glenrothes, and the unusual but impressive 18 year old release from Yamazaki of Japan.
As well as these delights the event always provides an excellent opportunity to catch up with a few old friends, although conversations with some seem to suggest a growing feeling that the show is beginning to lose its way.
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