Glen Scotia has revealed the schedule for this year’s virtual Glen Scotia malts festival, which starts on 7 June. For the second year running, the festival will be run entirely digitally, with whisky fans from all around the world able to access a range of different events and information.
Master Distiller Iain McAlister will be joined by a host of famous faces from the world of whisky to help bring the festival to life on screen.
To mark the whisky festival, Glen Scotia is releasing a limited number of Dunnage Tasting Boxes that come complete with access to a private dunnage tasting video, hosted by McAlister. The dunnage tasting is always a keenly anticipated event in the Campbeltown Malts Festival calendar and this year explores the influence of casks on the final liquid, with a particular focus on Bourbon, refill American Oak and European Oak finishes.
Only 600 Dunnage Tasting Boxes will be released in the UK for the festival, each containing five 25ml samples – four of which are cask strength. A further 2,500 tasting boxes will be distributed to markets around the world.
This year’s programme includes an interactive virtual tour of the distillery and several virtual tasting sessions. These include tastings of the Campbeltown Malts Festival Edition for 2021, which this year takes the form of a 10-year-old limited edition single malt with a Bordeaux red wine cask finish, hosted by whisky historian Charlie MacLean.
A live tasting of Glen Scotia’s core range will be hosted by whisky experts Neil Ridley and Joel Harrison. A 50ml gift pack containing each of the three expressions is available to buy online for those wanting to join in with the tasting. Ridley and Hall will also be exploring historic tales from the whiskiest place in the world, and the brand will reveal a digital photography exhibition celebrating the distillery’s rich heritage.
Following in the footsteps of last year’s limited edition, this year’s expression has experienced high demand since its release earlier in the year. However, 200 bottles have been reserved for the festival launch and will be available to buy from 7 June for anyone still hoping to get their hands on a bottle.
Campbeltown was known as the whisky capital of the world during the Victorian era and was home to over 30 working distilleries. The annual Campbeltown Malts Festival is a celebration of Scotland’s fifth and smallest malt-producing region and its whisky-making heritage. While the festival might be taking the form it has in previous years, the Glen Scotia Virtual Festival is a great way to enjoy a touch of the festival spirit and explore everything that Campbeltown and Glen Scotia distillery has to offer.
Iain McAlister, Distillery Manager at Glen Scotia, said: “We were blown away by the response we had to last year’s virtual festival, which saw us host 10,000 visitors from across the world – five times more than we would usually expect to see in Campbeltown ordinarily!
“This year, we have developed our virtual lineup even further with some well-known friends of the distillery joining us to host some of the sessions and really special interactive experiences for our guests to explore that will make them feel that they are right here with us.
“We’re really looking forward to it, and we hope that fans of our whisky, both old and new, will come and celebrate with us.”
Find out more about the Glen Scotia Whisky Festival right here. The Glen Scotia Dunnage Tasting Box is available for £50 from Glen Scotia and The Whisky Shop.
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