George Grant – Glenfarclas

George S. Grant of the Glenfarclas Distillery in Scotland conducted a very informative and entertaining tasting at our Robbie Burns tasting event in January 2012. Many members recall this as one of the best SOWTS events.

After several other Scottish single malts were featured in the first half of the event, George presented a range of Glenfarclas fine single malts including the 8 year old, 15 year old, 17 year old and the Glenfarclas 105 Cask Strength. 

George shared a number amusing whisky-related stories through the tasting, and many members stayed on to hear more in the bar late into the evening. A very good Robbie Burns Night was had by all!

Ruaraidh MacIntyre – Glenmorangie and Ardbeg

At our November 2013 event, our special guest host was Ruaraidh MacIntyre, then the Charton Hobbs brand ambassador in Canada for Glenmorangie and Ardbeg single malt whiskies. 

As is traditional for our November event, we started with a few American Bourbon and Rye whiskeys to celebrate American Thanksgiving. 

Ruaraidh, a native son of Islay, then presented an interesting history of these two famous distilleries as we tasted their excellent whiskies. This proceeded with three commercial Glenmorangie single malts: the Artein 15 year old, Nectar D’or 12 year old and Quinta Ruban 12 year old. 

The highlight of this event was in being able to taste three Glenmorangie Cask Master samples being considered for a new product offering, with Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Manzanilla finishes. This was one of only six sets released in Canada, so we felt very privileged to have this experience – and in being asked to provide our feedback on the samples. 

The tasting event concluded in a very peaty fashion with the recent Ardbeg release of “Ardbog”. 

Macaloney’s Island Distillery

SOWTS has welcomed several representatives from Macaloney’s Island Distillery in Victoria on Vancouver Island BC to present at our tasting events. 

Back in 2014, Graeme Macaloney – the founder and owner of the distillery – visited to give an overview of his plans for opening a whisky distillery in Victoria. He also presented two Kavalan single malt whiskies from Taiwan, as these were produced using the same STR technique as he planned to implement at his new distillery. “STR” refers to the Shaved, Toasted and Re-charred barrels used to improve maturation – a method promoted by Dr. Jim Swan who had worked with both Kavalan and Macaloney. Graeme is an expert in fermentation, so we had quite the chemistry lesson – and learned a lot about the challenges setting up a new distillery! 

In September 2016, Victoria Caledonian Distillery (as it was then named) sent their brand ambassador Andrew Walls to present SOWTS members with information and spirits from their recently-opened new distillery. Andrew conducted a very informative and entertaining event, complete with whisky-related stories and a generous supply of whiskies – including a rare sampling of their 100% malted barley new-make spirit.

In May 2024, Richard Blanchard from Macaloney’s Island Distillery (as it had recently been rebranded) presented some more single malt whiskies from Victoria in another lively and entertaining event. Richard presented four Macaloney single malt whiskies, three of which were single cask whiskies.

Burns Night Celebrations

Our January tasting events are the highlight of the SOWTS calendar. In celebration of Robbie Burns Night, we enjoy some of the best Scottish single malt whiskies in our inventory. 

After the haggis is piped in and suitably addressed, an excellent meal is served – and a good time is had by all!

Whisky Blending Workshop

Our original Tasting Master Martin Lewis organized a very informative and engaging whisky blending workshop for our September 2013 event.

Martin presented a few blended Scottish whiskies at the start of the event, and gave an overview of the blending process. In this section we tasted the Old St.

Andrews Clubhouse, Dewar’s 12 year old Double Aged, Great King Street Artist’s Blend and Compass Box Hedonism blended whiskies.
We then set about doing our own blending, with each table forming a team in a contest to make the best blended whisky. The goal was to try and match the taste of one of the blended whiskies we had tasted previously.

Martin guided each team through the blending process. We used vodka as a neutral spirit base as a starting point. Several Scottish single malt whiskies (heels from previous events) were available as “components” which could be added in varying amounts in an attempt to produce the desired taste in the blend.

Needless to say, many tastes were required to sample the evolving mixture as different ingredients were added, and the teams produced a wide range of very interesting beverages. We don’t recall who won the contest, but we do remember learning a lot about the art and challenges of whisky blending – and having a good time in the process!