Celebrating Scotland's Year of Food and Drink, The Famous Grouse Experience based at Scotland's oldest working whisky distillery, Glenturret, has announced the launch of a new range of visitor experiences designed to bring the process of whisky distilling to life.
As a departure from the more traditional distillery tour the new range of experiences, of which there are five, allow the visitor to build their knowledge of whisky over a period of time through tasting or blending, or launch right in to the full stillman experience. The range of new experiences enables visitors to engage with whisky in new and innovative ways, giving them the opportunity to create their own unique blend, taste their way through the full range of Famous and Finest whiskies and even to filling up the casks, ready for maturation. The move comes in response to a growing interest in Scotland's traditional drink, which has led to visitors looking for a more unique experience and an understanding of the distilling process.
Stuart Cassells, general manager at The Famous Grouse Experience at Glenturret Distillery, said: "More than ever, people are keen to understand where their food and drink comes from, and how it is made. We know that many of our visitors are truly passionate about whisky, and keen to learn more about the process and, with our expertise, we have developed a range of tours that will suit all tastes and budgets." Glenturret is possibly the only distillery in Scotland able to offer that truly authentic, traditional whisky making experience.
Blended Irish whiskey, Tullamore DEW, has joined forces with The Busking Project, an organisation that supports buskers around the world, to launch the Busking Unbarred campaign in the UK. The campaign will help drive awareness of Tullamore DEW, which opened its new distillery in September last year, and help grow appreciation for busking artists who are brave enough to bare their souls on the streets.
The Busking Unbarred campaign will run in the on-trade in up to 400 bars across the UK, with consumers offered the opportunity to download a free track by one of ten handpicked buskers with every Tullamore DEW purchase. The buskers, who have been carefully chosen by Tullamore DEW and The Busking Project, are drawn from across the UK and Ireland. The campaign will also include a series of guerilla-style experiential events across bars in London, Leeds and Edinburgh. Customers who purchase any Tullamore DEW served in one of the participating bars will receive a scratchcard. The scratchcard will reveal a unique code, which the consumer will enter online at www.tullamoredew.com/busking to redeem their free track and help support buskers.
It was with considerable sadness that we heard of the death of industry legend Turnbull Hutton who died on Sunday 5 April.
He came from one of the last generation to start their whisky career on the shop floor, in his case when he joined DCL in 1965 as a bond clerk in South Queensferry. By the 1980s, he had become head of inventory and supply for the firm - the man responsible for the stocks and blending for the biggest producer in Scotch, then, in the days of UDV, becoming operations director for distillation and spirit supply.
When Diageo was formed he was appointed as one of the company's three Scotland-based managing directors. He was, in his own words, 'the man in the middle' between sales and production - in many ways the most powerful man in Scotch, dealing not just with Diageo's requirements, but liaising with the entire whisky industry.
That is only part of the story. His initiatives and strategies throughout the 1980s are widely agreed to have succesfully steered Scotch through the worst of the whisky loch back into an era
of profitability.
He was not a man to mince his words - a different word was always used to describe his position 'in the middle' - and though he could seem blunt and irascible, anyone who worked for him or got to know him knew that beneath that gruff exterior was man who cared deeply and passionately about Scotch whisky and who, when among friends, was a hilarious raconteur.
He had little time for the affectations of marketeers (most were dismissed as 'numpties') but even after his retirement in 2001 many of them would quietly seek out his opinion. An era draws to an end with his passing.
Our condolences go out to his wife and family.
As a departure from the more traditional distillery tour the new range of experiences, of which there are five, allow the visitor to build their knowledge of whisky over a period of time through tasting or blending, or launch right in to the full stillman experience. The range of new experiences enables visitors to engage with whisky in new and innovative ways, giving them the opportunity to create their own unique blend, taste their way through the full range of Famous and Finest whiskies and even to filling up the casks, ready for maturation. The move comes in response to a growing interest in Scotland's traditional drink, which has led to visitors looking for a more unique experience and an understanding of the distilling process.
Stuart Cassells, general manager at The Famous Grouse Experience at Glenturret Distillery, said: "More than ever, people are keen to understand where their food and drink comes from, and how it is made. We know that many of our visitors are truly passionate about whisky, and keen to learn more about the process and, with our expertise, we have developed a range of tours that will suit all tastes and budgets." Glenturret is possibly the only distillery in Scotland able to offer that truly authentic, traditional whisky making experience.
Busking Unbarred at Tullamore DEW
Blended Irish whiskey, Tullamore DEW, has joined forces with The Busking Project, an organisation that supports buskers around the world, to launch the Busking Unbarred campaign in the UK. The campaign will help drive awareness of Tullamore DEW, which opened its new distillery in September last year, and help grow appreciation for busking artists who are brave enough to bare their souls on the streets.
The Busking Unbarred campaign will run in the on-trade in up to 400 bars across the UK, with consumers offered the opportunity to download a free track by one of ten handpicked buskers with every Tullamore DEW purchase. The buskers, who have been carefully chosen by Tullamore DEW and The Busking Project, are drawn from across the UK and Ireland. The campaign will also include a series of guerilla-style experiential events across bars in London, Leeds and Edinburgh. Customers who purchase any Tullamore DEW served in one of the participating bars will receive a scratchcard. The scratchcard will reveal a unique code, which the consumer will enter online at www.tullamoredew.com/busking to redeem their free track and help support buskers.
A whisky legend: the end of an era
It was with considerable sadness that we heard of the death of industry legend Turnbull Hutton who died on Sunday 5 April.
He came from one of the last generation to start their whisky career on the shop floor, in his case when he joined DCL in 1965 as a bond clerk in South Queensferry. By the 1980s, he had become head of inventory and supply for the firm - the man responsible for the stocks and blending for the biggest producer in Scotch, then, in the days of UDV, becoming operations director for distillation and spirit supply.
When Diageo was formed he was appointed as one of the company's three Scotland-based managing directors. He was, in his own words, 'the man in the middle' between sales and production - in many ways the most powerful man in Scotch, dealing not just with Diageo's requirements, but liaising with the entire whisky industry.
That is only part of the story. His initiatives and strategies throughout the 1980s are widely agreed to have succesfully steered Scotch through the worst of the whisky loch back into an era
of profitability.
He was not a man to mince his words - a different word was always used to describe his position 'in the middle' - and though he could seem blunt and irascible, anyone who worked for him or got to know him knew that beneath that gruff exterior was man who cared deeply and passionately about Scotch whisky and who, when among friends, was a hilarious raconteur.
He had little time for the affectations of marketeers (most were dismissed as 'numpties') but even after his retirement in 2001 many of them would quietly seek out his opinion. An era draws to an end with his passing.
Our condolences go out to his wife and family.
