Tag Archives: Spirit of Speyside Whisky festival

What is the Best Single Malt to Have with Haggis?

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This is probably the other greatest question in life so to find out what is the best single malt to have with haggis we have been asking guests to our festivals to take part in a blind tasting to vote for their favourite.  We have had our guests try over 50 different single malts over the years we have been doing this experiment.  This is just haggis, neeps and tatties.  No additions or substitutions allowed.  This is pure science!

At this year's Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival the reigning champion from the previous festival, Glen Scotia 15 Years Old, in fact the winner from the past 3 festivals, was pitched against 3 whiskies we had not tried in the competition previously.  The full line up was:

  • Balvenie 12 Single Barrel
  • Glen Moray Classic Sherry
  • Glen Scotia 15 Years Old
  • Glenrothes Peated Cask

And oh dear, yet again Glen Scotia 15 Years Old romped home as the clear winner.  Is this the final answer?  We give a special mention to Glen Moray Classic Sherry which came in as clear second place.

Glen Scotia 15

Haggis, neeps and tatties

Haggis, neeps and tatties

What is the Best Single Malt to Have with a Bacon Roll?

This entry was posted in About Dufftown, Blog, Whisky Tastings and Events News and tagged , , , , on by .

This is probably one of the 2 greatest questions in life so to find out what is the best single malt to have with a bacon roll we have been asking guests to our festivals to take part in a blind tasting to vote for their favourite.  We have had our guests try over 50 different single malts over the years we have been doing this experiment.  No sauce this is pure science!

At this year's Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival there was no reigning champion from the previous festival to put in as Arran Lochranza which had won the last 3 competitions has been discontinued so we had a fresh start.  The 4 we picked were:

  • Glenturret Triple Wood
  • Glenallachie Distillery Edition
  • Glenrothes Vintage Reserve
  • Glen Moray 15 Years Old

This was a hard fought contest and we were very surprised to have a tie at the top with 2 clear winners.  All you need to know is when you next have a bacon roll then pour yourself a dram of Glen Moray 15 Years Old or Glenturret Triple Wood!

glen-moray-15-years-oldglenturret-triple-wood-edition-batch-2WSD Image Bacon 01

The experiment will continue in September.

 

The Whisky Shop Dufftown Autumn Festival - The Best Malt for Haggis

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At this year's Whisky Shop Dufftown Autumn Festival we have been continuing our search for the best single malt to go with Haggis.  Neepies and Tatties were also provided as these are expected but it is the Haggis we are focusing,

The champion from The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival 2014, Aberlour 15 Select Cask went up against three new challengers: Singelton Tailfire, Glendronach 18 Port and An Cnoc Flaughter.

For the first time ever we have had a dead heat, both Glendronach 18 Tawny Port and Aberlour 15 Select Cask where clear outright winners.  These 2 whiskies will go in to the next competition at The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival 2015.

Glendronach 18 Port

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aberlour 15 Select Cask Reserve

The Whisky Shop Dufftown Autumn Festival - The Best Malt with a Bacon Roll

This entry was posted in Blog, Whisky Tastings and Events News and tagged , , , , , , on by .

At this year's Whisky Shop Dufftown Autumn Festival we have been continuing our search for the best single malt to have with a bacon roll.  Guests to the festival could come along to a special food and whisky tasting and try 4 different single malts with a bacon roll.  No sauce!  This is science.  One of the 4 was the current champion from previous festivals (both The Whisky Shop Duffown Autumn Festival and The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival), Benriach 20.  This whisky was up against 3 new challengers: Singleton Sunray, Mortlach Rare Old and Glenfiddich Malt Masters Edition.

The new winner is Singleton of Dufftown Sunray and this will go through as the best Single Malt to have with a bacon roll to face new challengers at The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival 2015.

Singleton Sunray

 

The Whisky Shop Dufftown Food and Whisky Pairings

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Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival 2012 Blog 2

During the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival this year we ran a cafe & bar at the venue for our tastings.  Not only did this serve much needed sustenance to festival guests but also helped us continue our experiments with food and whisky pairings.  We looked at bacon rolls with 4 whiskies and Haggis with a different 4 whiskies.  Guests were treated to the way the whisky and food combinations change the flavours of both, emphasising some flavours in the food and the whisky and also creating new ones!


We were delighted by the number of people who chose to take part and the fabulously positive response to our whisky and food tastings. Some guests had not done this kind of thing before and where blown away by the whisky and food experience.

Bacon

Brave breakfast festival guests were asked to sample a bacon roll with 4 different whiskies and faced with the challenge of choosing their favourite.  The whiskies chosen by Mike Lord were all distillery bottlings: Cragganmore 12, Glen Elgin 12, Singleton of Dufftown 12 and Benromach 10.  The bacon was unsmoked and guests were asked not add sauce – this is serious stuff.  The clear winner was Cragganmore 12.  This was a treat for those that tried the tasting and a great way to start the festival day.

Bacon Roll and a Dram

Cragganmore 12 Years Old

Haggis

During the lunch time period we switched our attention to Haggis, Neeps and Tatties.  (For those of you wondering neeps are swedes and tatties are potatoes.)  The focus was on pairing the Haggis with Clynelish 14 (as suggested by the Classic Malts website), An Cnoc 12, Aberlour 16 and Benriach 10.  Whisky and Haggis is a particularly good combination with the spices in the Haggis working well with the whiskies.  Again there was a clear favourite – Aberlour 16.

Aberlour 16 Years Old

Haggis, neeps and tatties

It’s Down to You

With each whisky and food combination there was not one pairing that some people did not vote for as their favourite.  This shows again that there are no hard and fast rules with whisky and the only way to find your favourite is to try it for yourself.

Special Thanks

We would like to thank the Dufftown Lodge and their wives and friends for running the cafe and serving spectacular food during the festival.  Particular thanks go to Yvonne Smart whose help, cooking and good humour were the backbone of the cafe operation.

Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival 2012

The Autumn Speyside Festival

For anyone coming to the Autumn Speyside Festival and wishing to attend our events at The WSD Autumn Festival 2012 then it is more than likely than tickets for our events will only be available from our website.  There will be no change for the Spirit of Speyside Festival 2013.