One of Scotland's famous festivals is the Spirit of Speyside Whiskey Festival. Each country has its own national product, its own national pride. The Scots are proud of their whiskey.
With the onset of spring in Scotland, the time begins for festivals and holidays dedicated to whiskey. The Spirit of Speyside Whiskey Festival, which lasts 6 days, starts first. He is followed by Feis Ile — a festival of Malt and Music. And so on until September, when the last — Autumn Speyside Whiskey Festival begins.
Speyside — is the place where distillery density is highest in the world. There are more than 100 factories that produce the famous drink. There are the most famous distilleries — Glenfiddich, Glen Grant, Strathisla…
Once a year, ordinary people can visit the factories of the most prestigious whiskey producers. In normal times, factories do not allow outsiders into their workshops. The main and most attractive part of the festival is the tasting of numerous varieties and varieties of the aromatic drink, including under the guidance of experts. As part of the festival, you can try the rarest and most aged whiskey varieties.
During the festival there are meetings with collectors who can share their experience, dance programs with a national bias. There are historical excursions that talk about technological processes, the evolution of bottle and label design. Visits are organized to museum garages of factories, where all samples of original trucks that delivered the desired product to consumers are collected. Those participants in whom whiskey begins to awaken the seething blood of their ancestors — are invited to take part in Scottish sports: throwing a log or hammer.
Once a year, ordinary people can visit the factories of the most prestigious whiskey producers (Photo: Jaime Pharr, licensed by Shutterstock.com)
The festival program honours the local elixir of life, fun competitions, receptions and dinners in distilleries, Scottish parties with music and dancing, special menus in restaurants, various competitions and competitions, a kilt fashion show (Scottish skirts), a visit to the Whiskey Museum and a competition for the fastest construction of a barrel, exhibitions and evenings of Scottish folk music.
There are many varieties of whiskey in the world: they drink American bourbon, Irish pure pot still, but it is generally accepted that real whiskey — Scotch malt whiskey.
The history of the drink can be traced back to the 12th century. The authorship of all the whiskies of the world is attributed to St. Patrick, an Irish monk of Scottish origin. An entry has been found in Scottish Treasury scrolls dating back to 1494: «Giving eight bolts of malt to brother John Carr to make aquavit» — would be enough malt to make about 1,500 bottles of modern whiskey! This date is considered to be almost the official date of birth of Scotch whiskey, because the Latin «aqua vitae» — « of life» — was written in Celtic as uisge beatha (in Ireland – uisce beatha). It was clearly lazy to pronounce a two-syllable word. Gradually, all that remained of the two words was uisge, which transformed into uiskie, and then — into whisky.
There are many varieties of whiskey in the world, but the real one is Scotch (Photo: Maksym Gorpenyuk, licensed from Shutterstock.com)
The quality of whiskey consists of dozens of factors. Malt is dried in smoke, for this purpose peat coal is burned. The place where peat is mined is of great importance. Aberdeen coal gives a completely different taste than Skye coal.
The malt is mixed with water to obtain wort. The wort is fermented, the mash is distilled, and an alcohol solution is obtained. The solution is aged in oak barrels. The quality of whiskey depends on the type of oak and its area of growth. The most exquisite varieties are poured into sherry barrels brought from the Iberian Peninsula.
The UK Government has taken care to define the drink. In 1988, the Scotch Whisky Act was passed. Scotch whiskey accounts for about a quarter of Foggy Albion's exports.
Although everyone is free to drink their favorite whiskey as they please, in order to properly evaluate the drink and enhance the tasting experience, it is necessary to follow certain rules when choosing a glass and tasting whiskey.