Top Gin and Whisky Names Join Stirling SpiritFEST Line-Up
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS), Harris Gin, Arran Whisky and Douglas Laing are the latest names to join the line-up at this year’s Stirling SpiritFEST.
The SMWS will host the opening night whisky tasting at Stirling Distillery - located just below Stirling Castle – on Friday 28th October as well as attending the Whisky Festival on the 29th October. Douglas Laing, “a proudly independent, family owned Scotch Whisky business in its third generation” will host one of the whisky masterclasses during the festival. Coming all the way from the outer Hebrides, Isle of Harris Distillery will be at the Gin Festival on Saturday 5th November with their sugar kelp infused Harris gin.
Joining the line-up are many other fantastic spirit producers including:
Indi Brands
JG Thompson
Ardnamurichan
Downpour
Fassfern
Ginti
Clydeside
Deanston
Kinrara
Lin Gin
Lussa
Ogilvy
Pentlands Hill
Cockrail
Purist
JG Thompson
Pixel
Kilchoman
Lady of The Glen
Wolfburn
Tomintoul
Valentia
Wild Thyme Spirits
Glencadam
Nc'nean
Tullibardine
Stirling SpiritFEST is the annual celebration of Scottish spirits and beyond, running from the 28th October through to the 6th November and will include both gin and whisky festivals on back to back weekends. The festival will offer more opportunities for spirit workshops and masterclasses and will include a range of drinks-based events at venues across Stirling mid-week including a rum masterclass from Matugga Rum Distillery on 3rd November.
The Stirling Whisky festival was launched in 2012 and now in its 11th year, will be bigger than ever with some of the most prestigious names in the Scottish Whisky industry attending. Each distilleries from across Scotland and beyond share their latest and greatest spirits, offering masterclasses that delve into the making, cask aging and bottling of mouth-watering whisky. In 2014 the Stirling Gin Festival was launched - one of the first gin festivals in the UK – where we celebrate the best in Scottish craft gins and the unique stories that accompany them. The popular cocktail masterclasses will run through the day, giving any wannabe mixologists the opportunity to get their shakers out and mix things up on their day out.
There will be a competition for the best dressed stall at both gin and whisky festivals so keep your eyes peeled and vote for your favourite. Lindores Abbey distillery won best stall at the 2021 Stirling Whisky Festival with a beautiful rustic display of their whisky and botanicals.
Finlay Geekie, owner of Wild Thyme Spirits who brought Colonsay gin to last year’s gin festival said:
“We had an absolute blast at the event - great venue - well attended - the gin drinkers of Stirling were very generous in their praise for our products and purchased accordingly! We sold out of three of the gins we brought along despite thinking we’d over stocked! We would highly recommend this event to both gin consumers and gin producers alike!”.
Both events are being held at the beautiful Golden Lion hotel in Stirling City Centre with the rum masterclass and gin tasting and ghost walk held at Stirling Distillery. The Gin and Whisky festivals bring in around £400,000 to Stirling annually with this year expected to be even more as the SpiritFEST spans 10 days with events across that time. If you would like to be an exhibitor at these sell out events in 2022 visit: https://stirlingspiritfest.com/exhibitor-form/ If you’re a local business and would like to be included in the festival brochure, please email info@stirlingspiritfest.com. Full details of the event can be found at www.stirlingspiritfest.com.
Sláinte!