All Hail The Grain

Duncan Taylor virtual tasting

Sunday, May 24, Facebook, 7pm

WE’VE all heard it – that classic warning to avoid scams and cons. “If it looks and sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” And in most cases, that’s great advice.

So if I said to you that one of the greatest whisky bottlers in the world (no, that really is no exaggeration) is letting you buy five samples of its whisky – some of which is worth upwards of £150 a bottle – for an online tasting for 20 quid no questions asked, how would you respond?

Too good to be true?

Well, amazingly, in this case, no, this is not a scam. It's just a chance to try some exceptional drams in great company.  

Grain whiskies are made slightly differently from malts and, though they aren’t as widely known, they are every bit as good as their famous cousins. In fact, tasting really good grain whisky is an unforgettable experience – and it’s often a great-value way to get your hands on something seriously rare.

And if you want to find the very best, Huntly-based Duncan Taylor is an ideal place to start.

So what’s on offer at the tasting, to be held on Sunday, May 24? It’s quite a line-up:

• Invergordon 2007, cask number #5221819, year bottled 2019, total bottles produced 71

• Girvan 2007, cask number #2111579, year bottled 2016, total bottles produced 78

• North British 22-year-old

• Strathclyde 23-year-old, cask number #2790, total bottles produced 282

• Dumbarton 31-year-old, cask number #10025027, total bottles produced 200

Anyone can join in the fun – all you have to do is log on to Duncan Taylor’s Facebook page at 7pm next Sunday. There you'll meet up with Brand Ambassador Fergus Simpson and other Duncan Taylor fans as they talk through the range, and no doubt gossip about whisky in general.

Make sure you have a dram with you when you join the tasting, but if you want to make the experience truly memorable, the official tasting kits for the event – comprising a 30ml sample of each of the five whiskies – are still available for £20 each, plus P&P, from The Spirits Embassy.

So remember, sometimes it pays not to follow the accepted advice. Too good to be true? In this case maybe the saying should be “So good it’s untrue.”

• To buy a tasting kit, go to thespiritsembassy.com and search for “All Hail The Grain”.

• To join the event go to the Duncan Taylor Whisky Facebook page

• duncantaylor.com