French Whisky, April 2025
Oh la la …
As a radical departure from our normal Sunday afternoon routine, in April 2025 we hosted an evening tasting event. Equally radically, we dedicated the evening to French whiskies.
This was a “bonus” event for SOWTS members only and was limited to just 30
tasters.
Following a suitably French-themed dinner of Beef Bourguignon, our Tasting
Coordinator Darin Paterson presented five whiskies purchased during a recent trip to France. Along with the whiskies, Darin provided a very interesting account of his visits to four whisky distilleries in the Grenoble region of the French Alps and to a sales agent in Paris.
Robbie Burns Night, January 2025
SOWTS members and guests sampled some excellent Scottish single malt whiskies at our Burns Night celebration in January 2025, kicking the whisky year off to a great start.
A total of eight whiskies were tasted, four of which were sourced from the recent BC Liquor Premium Spirit Release in November 2024. The four whiskies tasted before dinner took us on a tour of Campeltown, the Highlands and Speyside. Peat was more prevalent after dinner, with three Islay malts rounded off by a cask strength Highland Park. It really was a great line-up of whiskies.
As always, we followed Scottish tradition for Burns Night, with some stirring tunes on the bagpipes and a rousing address to the haggis. In addition to this fine delicacy, we also enjoyed Scotch eggs in what was a very impressive Burns supper.
The standout whiskies at the event were Glen Scotia Victoriana, Macallan Harmony Collection Vibrant Oak, Bruichladdich Octomore 14.3 and the Highland Park Cask Strength Release No 5.
