Win Tickets To Whisky Live London 2015

Hootendrammy! It’s very nearly that time of the year again, when Whisky Live rolls into London.  After selling out in 2014, the world’s premier whisky tasting event returns to the stunning surroundings of the Honourable Artillery Company in the heart of the City on the 20th and 21st of March.

In addition to the multitude of exhibiting whisky brands from all over the world, there will also be a whole host of other whisky based dramanagins including masterclasses, food pairings, cocktails and live entertainment.

This year we’re thrilled to be teaming up again with Whisky Live London to give away two pairs of tickets to this year’s dramstravaganza. To be in with a chance of winning, all you need to do is Click Here and email us your contact details along with the following phrase that dramming pays:

"Whisk me away to Whisky Live London to discover and enjoy a dramspanking wealth of whisky wares”

*Remember to mark the subject line of your email with either: Whisky Live Friday or Whisky Live Saturday depending on which day you would like to attend.

If you’re just too eager to secure your tickets before they sell out, and why wouldn’t you, we’d like to offer all our readers a 10% ticket discount to this year’s event. Click Here to buy your tickets remembering to add discount code: WW10 when checking out.

We'll be there on the Friday evening, and it'd be great to share a dram or two on what promises to be a great weekend of whisky in London!

 

For full details and updates visit: whiskylive.com

Competition closes at 6pm GMT on Monday March 16th 2015. You have to be aged 18 years or over to enter. No cash alternative available. Competition winners will have to provide own transport/accommodation.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

We’re now taking some time out to enjoy Christmas and New Year, but before we do we’d like to say thanks and raise a glass of something suitably festive to all those who have followed and supported us over the last year.

We’ll be back in 2015, with a feisty flurry of new whisky reviews, more Whisky Insiders interviews, even more Tweet Tastings and a whole load of passion fuelled dramspankery. We’ll also have a few exciting announcements, so keep your eyes peeled!

So in the meantime we’d like to wish each and every one of you a Merry Dramlaxing Christmas and Happy Dramspanking New Year!

12 Drams of Christmas 2014

For the last four years we’ve brought you our ’12 Drams of Christmas’ as chosen by you! So we thought it would only be rude not to do the same again this year, and use it as a great excuse to start getting into the festive spirit.

Since November 24th you’ve been nominating your top three favourite festive drams in abundance, and after trawling through all the entries and tallying up all the nominations here are our '12 Drams of Christmas' in ranking order as chosen by you!

Just in case you're thinking of picking up any of the aforementioned drops of dramspanking festive drammage as a gift or indeed for yourself, we've done the hard work and have also included the most current and competitive retail details. Hootendrammy!

A huge thanks to all those who took part and entered, the response was absolutely phenomenal. In return for your nominations we added the names of everyone who entered into our virtual Santa hat for a chance to win a bottle of Glenlivet 18 Year Old.

We’re delighted to announce that Peter Lane from Exeter had his name drawn from the hat and is our winner, congratulations! Your bottle will be winging its way to you this week.

Whisky Insiders Interview - Mark Reynier

Company:
Renegade Spirits

Job:
CEO

Website:
Coming Soon




What has been your biggest career highlight to date?
Resurrecting Bruichladdich; and now Waterford in Southern Ireland, albeit on a somewhat different scale, budget - and time. It's very, very exciting to have such a modern distillery with an exceptional opportunity to try different things with very fancy kit.

Can you remember your first dram, and indeed what it was?
Bruichladdich some-thing-or-other from the sixties with Jack Milroy in Soho Street. The first dram I am aware of was nosing a glass of my father's Laphroaig on Kintyre in the seventies when I was about twelve.

What does whisky mean to you?
A living. A chance to be a producer rather than a mere re-seller; to put in to practice ideas and concepts that challenge common held perceptions.

Where would you like to see yourself in five years time?
I don't know about five years time, but I have distilled on one remote west coast island; now on another, further west; ultimately I would like to be even further west still, for a twilight hat trick.

What was your last dram?
Bruichladdich Islay Barley. I love its purity, honesty and integrity. It genuinely thrills me.

Do you have a favourite whisky and food pairing combination?
No. I'm not a great believer in whisky and food combos; it smacks a bit of desperation to me. Wine is clearly so much better for that.

What’s your favourite time and place to enjoy a dram?
Outside, sharing with a mate. I spent a glorious afternoon on a beach with a neighbour and a youthful, vibrant bottling - Around the kitchen with a lighter, fresher dram as an aperitif - A bolder, heartier dram in a fishing hut, by a river or at a lunchtime picnic - Something deep and moody in my study late at night. Thinking about it, either on my own or with one other.

What do you think is going to be the next big thing on the whisky horizon?
Unfortunately, flavoured whisky.

What’s the one dram you couldn’t live without?
I could give you some facile marketing department answer - but I won't. There isn't one.

Many thanks to Mark Reynier. Who will be the next Whisky Insider? Click back soon to find out!

Royal Salute Tweet Tasting

Not only are we thrilled to launch our 60th Tweet Tasting, we’re absolutely delighted to announce that on the evening of December 15th, we’ll be sampling a bounty of blended bling from Royal Salute.

On the night a specially invited ensemble of whisky weavers will be sampling and savouring a quintessential quad of blended finery in the form of Royal Salute’s 21 Year Old, Diamond Tribute, 38 Year Old Stone of Destiny and 62 Gun Salute expressions.

We'd absolutely love for you to follow every pour and sip on the night, so join us with a dram in hand over on Twitter on Monday December 15th at 7:30pm GMT via #RoyalSaluteTT

Until then Happy Dramlaxing!

For more information on Ballantine's visit: royalsalute.com

Laphroaig Tweet Tasting

More Tweet Tastings you say? Well allow us to oblige, as we go full throttle with our social media based dramspankery on the run up to Christmas.

Following the huge success and response to our first Laphroaigian Tweet Tasting outing last year, we’re absolutely thrilled to announce that on the evening of December 17th we’ll be exploring and enjoying a cracking core range of corkers from the iconic Islay distillery, Laphroaig.

Full details to follow, but on the night we’ll be nosing and tasting their 10 Year Old, Select, Quarter Cask and Triple Wood expressions. If you would like to take part and sample a melange of malty, medicinal marvels, register your interest by emailing your name, postal address and Twitter handle via the contact tab, remembering to mark the subject line: #LaphroaigWhisky

The closing date to register is December 4th and if you are registering to take part please make sure that you will actually be free on the night!!!

This particular tasting is open to UK residents only.

Even if you're not one of the selected Tweet Tasters, it'd be great to have you following all the night’s dramfotainment, so we look forward to seeing you over on Twitter on December 17th at 7pm GMT via hashtag #LaphroaigWhisky

Until then Happy Dramlaxing!

For more information on Laphroaig visit: laphroaig.com

The Whisky Wire's 12 Drams of Christmas 2014

 

For the last four years we’ve brought you our ’12 Drams of Christmas’ as chosen by you! So we thought it would only be rude not to do the same again this year, and use it as a great excuse to start getting into the festive spirit.

Between now and Thursday the 11th of December we’d love to hear your nominations for your favourite festive drams. Then on Monday the 16th of December we’ll publish the list of the top 12 drops of festive dramspankage in ranking order, as chosen by you! Along with accompanying retail details so they can be enjoyed by all over the festive period and indeed beyond.

To take part click here and email us your top three favourite festive whiskies, that we’ll then use to help compile our ’12 Drams of Christmas 2014’. Please remember to mark the subject line of your email ’12 Drams of Crimbo’.

Everyone who enters will automatically have their name added into our virtual Santa hat, for a chance to win a 70cl bottle of one of our favourite festive dramspankers; Glenlivet 18yr. The winner of which will be announced on December 16th. Hootendrammy!

Which drams will make the final 12?

You decide!

t&c’s You must be over 18 years of age enter in the UK and over the legal drinking age of your respective country if entering outside the UK. Competition closes on December 11th 2014 at 11:59pm GMT.

#12DramsOfChristmas