Exhibitors ...
Whisk(e)yBenriach
Bushmills
Celtic Whisky Shop
Connemara
Cooley
Duncan Taylor (Independent Bottler)
Glendronach
Greenore
Jameson
Kilbeggan
Powers
Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey
Springbank
Tullamore Dew
Wild Geese
William Grant and Sons
OtherBórd Bia
Four Seasons
Glencairn Crystal
Whisky Magazine
Over viewBenriach is one of the lesser known scotch distilleries but over the last few years has had a lot of renewed interest. They get some very favourable comments on their older aged expressions and newer heavier peated offerings on Scotch whisky forums. Benriach historically was lightly peated but now have also gone for heavier peated versions. They also offer good value for money in comparison to more main stream brands.
Cooley et al is mentioned as 4 different exhibitors so whether they have 4 stands or not is another thing. They have been listed as Cooley, Connemara, Kilbeggan and Greenore.
Duncan Taylor is an Independent Bottler and bottle a wide range of Scotch distilleries so depending on what they have at their stand it will be a good chance to try some different scotch distilleries, anything from Ardmore and Bladnoch to Laphroig or Scapa, personally I'd love it if they had a bottle of Glen Scotia to taste. They have ranges called Peerless, Rare Auld & Battle Hill one of which we had in one of our tastings last year. They also create Auld Reekie and The Big Smoke bottlings.
See Here for the range of casks they have to pick from.. What they will have on offer on the day though is another question.
Glendronach is historically associated with their heavily sherried whisky. The 12yo
Original is a good indication of thier style but as with most distilleries do=ue to the high costs of Sherry casks they too have begun to come out with a lot of lighter bourbon matured and sometimes finished in other casks.
Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey This is obviously going to be from IDL and hopefully we will know clearly what is in store in a fwe weeks. Exciting stuff .... a new SPS line possibly
IDL also are down for Jameson and Powers stands. So if IDL and Cooley all have seperate stands for their various brands it will make the show much more interesting.
Springbank a wonderful little distillery in Campletown on the Mull of Kintire. Quite a distintive malt 2 and a half times distilled with characteristics of salt and ginger. Possibly a love it or leave whisky for some but definitely worth a try, you won't know unless you try. They also have the Longrow brand which basically a more peated version of Springbank and Hazelburn which is a triple distilled version, what a difference that half extra distilation makes
. Next door to Springbank distillery is the Glengyle Distillery which they opened in 2005 and it produces Kilkerran which I can't really comment on as I've not tried it.
William Grant and Sons It is unclear whether there will be a seperate William Grant stand or if it will be just Tullamore but they also own Grants, Glenfiddich & Balvennie. grants is one of the big big world blends with Grants The Family Reserve being the 3rd biggest seller in the UK and they have total sales of their various blends world wide of 20million cases. Glenfiddich needs no introduction but is possibly the first mass marketed Single Malt in the world back in the 60's as previously single malts were more often than not local affairs. Lastly is The Balvennie a single Malt with is quite smooth and rounded and possibly a good introduction to Single Malts for the Irish Whiskey drinker. Grants is possibly the only family run whisky business at this scale.