GreatDrams and Wemyss Malts host 10th Anniversary whisky tasting

let’s begin

WOW. What a night. Thursday last week Wemyss Malts & GreatDrams came together to celebrate the Wemyss 10th Anniversary the only way we know how... by hosting a Whisky Tasting on December 10th in a pretty random space called the Anomalous Rooms, near Angel, London with 25 keen whisky enthusiasts.

Award-winning independent bottler, Wemyss Malts, dug into their archives, looked in long forgotten cupboards and treated attendees to some special blended malt and single cask bottlings indeed – three of which were from the last ever bottles of those particular whiskies.

The evening itself was hosted by myself, Greg Dillon (@GreatDrams) of GreatDrams, and for this whisky tasting we kept things more relaxed, enjoying fantastic whiskies, pulling them apart as we went but not labouring over each and every tasting note.

Instead, in my best Parkinson impression, I interviewed William Wemyss, founder of the business to hear in his own words about the unique Wemyss Malts story from the first bottle, to the opening of the family’s own distillery.

I’ve been a fan of Wemyss for a long while; for me this brand is a shortcut for consumer understanding in the aisle or online through flavour-led naming and an impressive approach to limited edition releases too so to be a part of this celebration was an honour.

We covered topics such as the biggest challenges he faced along the way, his proudest moments, how he sees the market developing over the next few years with a cask shortage predicted, what’s next for the brand and of course how excited he was for the opening of the Kingsbarns Distillery.

The audience had lots of questions too, from the composition of the liquids, the malt content and the casks that got away to the naming of the different products Wemyss release.

William and I traded stories from different distilleries, how whisky is a fraternity of people trying to make the best products at an operational level (competition only starting when PowerPoint gets involved) and we all sampled the incredible drams below.

Thank you very much to William, Emma and the team at Wemyss for the last ten years and here’s a big GreatDrams cheers to the next ten and beyond.

Greg

DRAMS ENJOYED

Lord Elcho
Smooth Gentleman – 8YO Speyside (I still hope this was named after William)
The Lemon Tree – single cask 11yo Tamdhu 70cl @ 46%
Red Berry Cream –single cask 21yo Ben Nevis 70cl @46%
Honey Spice – single cask 20yo Bunnahabhain 70cl @46% – first fill sherry butt (my favourite of the night)
Kingsbarns New Make Spirit
Kiln Embers – 10th Anniversary Limited Edition release

Tags: EventsGreatDramsWemyssWhisky Tasting

Greg

My name is Greg, and I’m a brand strategy consultant, writer, speaker, host and judge specialising in premium spirits. My mission is to experience, share and inspire with everything great about whisky, whiskey, gin, beer and fine dining through my writing, my brand building and my whisky tastings.