Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival 2009

Thursday 30th April 2009: 3.00pm

Awaken your senses and join us for a full flavoured whisky & cheese pairing – guaranteed to revel your taste buds.

At Gordon & MacPhail, we always strive to source the most distinctive and flavoursome foods to offer or customers.

Whether a connoisseur or novice, we invite you to join us and explore the many options available.

See the workings of Speyside’s smallest and most exclusive working distillery through the eyes of its Manager, Keith Cruickshank. Keith will personally guide you round the distillery, where just two experienced distillers create Benromach using the finest Scottish barley and the purest spring water from the nearby Romach Hills.

During the tour, bring the story to life with an opportunity to taste new make spirit right through the distillation process, and then indulge in a tasting of various expressions from the range of Benromach Speyside Single Malt Scotch whiskies.

To commemorate your visit, you will be given the opportunity to exclusively hand fill your own unique bottle of Benromach Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky.

Launched in the 1960s, the initial concept for the Connoisseurs Choice brand involved bottling whiskies from distilleries that previously may not have been available as single malt. The current portfolio has a selection of single malt whiskies from more than fifty different distilleries.

Associate Director Stephen Rankin, a member of the fourth generation to manage Gordon & MacPhail, will tutor this malt whisky master-class, showcasing a selection of six bottlings available in the Connoisseurs Choice Range.

This is a real treat! If you are looking for an afternoon of enticement and indulgence then Gordon & MacPhail’s unique Chocolate and Whisky pairing will be sure to satisfy even the most discerning connoisseur. Elaine Cruickshank, a familiar face in the whisky room at the Gordon & MacPhail Retail Shop will serve you with a range of different chocolates, superbly matched with a range of five single malts to complement and enhance the flavours of both.

Just two experienced distillers create Benromach using the finest Scottish barley and the purest spring water from the nearby Romach Hills. Golden in colour, with a unique warm mellow character – the secret of Benromach is too good to be kept.

Come and enjoy this fantastic Benromach and Chocolate whisky pairing, in good company of David Urquhart, Joint Managing Director of Gordon & MacPhail, owners and proprietors of Benromach Distillery.

The 1930s. The Empire State Building was constructed. Airmail service across the Atlantic began and the very first Volkswagen Beetle was built. Amidst this, nestled away in the heart of Speyside, Mortlach Distillery was producing whisky.

Grasp this rare opportunity to discover for yourself, decades of distilling history from Mortlach Distillery.

Going back in time, Gordon & MacPhail’s Joint Managing Director, Michael Urquhart, who joined the family business in 1981, and Neil Urquhart, a member of the fourth generation to manage Gordon & MacPhail, will guide you through the decades of vintages from the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s.

All good things must come to an end, and what better way to complete the journey than with a tasting of a wartime distillation from the 1930s. This is an opportunity not to be missed!

See the workings of Speyside’s smallest and most exclusive working distillery through the eyes of its Manager, Keith Cruickshank. Keith will personally guide you round the distillery, where just two experienced distillers create Benromach using the finest Scottish barley and the purest spring water from the nearby Romach Hills. Golden in colour, with a unique warm mellow character – the secret of Benromach is too good to be kept.

Discover the secret for yourself and join Keith for an exclusive vertical tasting of the Benromach range, including the extremely rare Benromach 55yo, priced at £3,000 a bottle! The treasured cargo is packaged in a burnished hand-made copper tube, representative of the stills used to produce the spirit over half a century ago! A tasting not to be missed!

Come and enjoy a dram from some of Scotland’s silent distilleries. An exceptional opportunity to sample a selection of six increasingly rare whiskies from closed distilleries.

The 1930s. The Empire State Building was constructed. Airmail service across the Atlantic began and the very first Volkswagen Beetle was built. Amidst this, nestled away in the heart of Speyside, Mortlach Distillery was producing whisky.

Grasp this rare opportunity to discover for yourself, decades of distilling history from Mortlach Distillery.

Going back in time, Gordon & MacPhail’s Joint Managing Director, David Urquhart, and Stephen Rankin, a member of the fourth generation to manage Gordon & MacPhail, will guide you through the decades of vintages from the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. All good things must come to an end, and what better way to complete the journey than with a tasting of a wartime distillation from the 1930s. This is an opportunity not to be missed!

Gordon & MacPhail is proud to be considered the World’s Leading Malt Whisky Specialist, with extensive stocks of over 800 rare malt whiskies.

Join Ewen Mackintosh, Associate Director at Gordon & MacPhail as he looks back on 2008 showcasing the whiskies that achieved awards and tantalised the taste buds of whisky connoisseurs all over the world.

Associate Director, Derek Hancock will tutor this whisky and salmon pairing.

Derek will serve you with a range of salmon, superbly matched with a range of single malt scotch whiskies.

The mystery of Scotland brings many people from far and wide to Speyside, the heart of malt whisky country. And with over a dozen distilleries a stones throw away it is no small wonder Elgin is seen as the capital and center of malt whisky country.

It is from this central location that Gordon & MacPhail was established in 1895. A family business for over 114 years, the company is now a well respected part of the moray community.

Don’t miss this opportunity to join Gordon & MacPhail on a guided tour of Moray’s capital town of Elgin, which is steeped in history and tales of times gone by.

Then, take a well-earned break at the companies Retail Shop on South Street, Elgin, where you will have the opportunity to sample a selection of malts from the local distilleries.

"Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!" The famous words of Robert Burns from the poem ‘Address to a Haggis’, traditionally served with bashed neeps and champit tatties. 2009 marks Burns’ 250th Birthday, and while seen as the culinary centrepiece of Burns Night, what better way to savour this fine delicacy than with an exquisite whisky & haggis pairing. Working in conjunction with a local butcher, we will bring to you a range of different haggis’, superbly matched with a range of single malt whiskies. Savour the true taste of Scotland!

See the workings of Speyside’s smallest and most exclusive working distillery through the eyes of its Manager, Keith Cruickshank. Keith will personally guide you round the distillery, where just two experienced distillers create Benromach using the finest Scottish barley and the purest spring water from the nearby Romach Hills.

During the tour, bring the story to life with an opportunity to taste new make spirit right through the distillation process, and then indulge in a tasting of various expressions from the range of Benromach Speyside Single Malt Scotch whiskies.

To commemorate your visit, you will be given the opportunity to exclusively hand fill your own unique bottle of Benromach Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky.

Gordon & MacPhail is proud to be considered the World’s Leading Malt Whisky Specialist, with extensive stocks of over 800 rare malt whiskies.

Join Ewen Mackintosh, Associate Director at Gordon & MacPhail as he looks back on 2008 showcasing the whiskies that achieved awards and tantalised the taste buds of whisky connoisseurs all over the world.

The 1930s. The Empire State Building was constructed. Airmail service across the Atlantic began and the very first Volkswagen Beetle was built. Amidst this, nestled away in the heart of Speyside, Mortlach Distillery was producing whisky.

Grasp this rare opportunity to discover for yourself, decades of distilling history from Mortlach Distillery.

Going back in time, Gordon & MacPhail’s Joint Managing Director, Michael Urquhart, who joined the family business in 1981, and Neil Uruqhart, a member of the fourth generation to manage Gordon & MacPhail, will guide you through the decades of vintages from the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. All good things must come to an end, and what better way to complete the journey than with a tasting of a wartime distillation from the 1930s. This is an opportunity not to be missed!

This is the third year that the Benromach Regatta has taken place. As an increasingly successful event, it has become known as the first Open Regatta for the sailing season. It is organised and run by the Royal Findhorn Yacht Club and sponsored by Benromach Malt Whisky. Run over a B shaped course in the Moray Firth off Findhorn, it is an event that attracts both dinghies and keelboats from Sailing Clubs all over the Firth.

Contact: Iona Cornish
ionacornish@talktalk.net