Now extended to three and a half days due to popular demand, the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival’s Whisky School offers a rare opportunity to explore and experience all aspects of making malt whisky.
Set in Speyside, the region of Scotland with the greatest concentration of distilleries, this unique combination of tutor-led insights and privileged access will help you to understand:
- The history and heritage behind today’s Scotch Whisky.
- The scientific and technical aspects involved in transforming grain, yeast and water into whisky during the processes of malting, mashing, brewing, distilling and maturation.
- The sensory aspects at personal and industry level.
The Whisky School is aimed particularly at whisky enthusiasts who wish to learn more about the technical aspects of the creation of malt whisky and would like to have the confidence to communicate this knowledge to others. All delegates also will depart with a Diploma of Attendance and new friendships!
The Whisky School is held immediately before the start of the main Festival to allow delegates to remain in Speyside and enjoy the many other complementary events on offer. Details of these may be found on the Festival Programme pages.
In 2022 the Whisky School was relaunched following the interruption of the pandemic under the leadership of Headmaster Alan Winchester.
Alan assembled a group of expert speakers who continue to deliver a fascinating programme of in-depth lectures, which are complimented by behind-the-scenes technical visits, in order that delegates can gain a real understanding and first-hand experience of malt whisky making in Speyside. The lectures will be presented in English by speakers of international standard, all from within the whisky distilling industry and mostly either Members or Fellows of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling.
The School is limited to a small and exclusive group and the programme is designed so that personal attention can be given. All the lecturers and site managers are happy to share their passion for malt whiskies with you and answer your questions.
Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival is indebted to the Whisky School Committee; all volunteers they develop and deliver the programme.
Places available each year are limited. For further information or to register your interest in this or future Schools please contact the Festival team here.
WHAT IS INCLUDED?
- Institute of Brewing and Distilling level support and network of contacts
- Classroom lectures each day
- Two half days of technical site visits with transport to and from all technical visits
- Tutored tastings
- Access to all the course content plus a Whisky School branded notebook and pen
- A celebration dinner (including transport)
- A networking dinner on Sunday evening and all lunches
- A Diploma of Attendance
- Photographs of the Whisky School
WHAT WHISKY SCHOOL GRADUATES HAVE SAID ....
It is important to the organisers delivering the Whisky School that the expectations of students are met and, better still, exceeded. To ensure this happens the delegates each year are asked for their anonymous feedback on all aspects of their experience. A key indicator of success is whether they would recommend the event to others, and, for the past three Whisky Schools run by this team, they have been unanimous in saying they would all do so!
Here are a few of the comments returned about the 2023 and 2024 Whisky Schools:
- It was like an adult summer camp for whisky enthusiasts.
- Great experience with completely rounded up syllabus for potential whisky distillers with great speakers from the industry and magnificent on-site visits.
- An event with industry experts that expands your knowledge of the whisky industry.
- Excellent
- A great overview of all the different parts of the process of whisky
- Invaluable
- Top course
- Highly recommended to my peers and friends
- Great courses, excellent and very knowledgeable presenters, nice way to meet other whisky enthusiasts.
- An immersive experience that provides students with a variety of experiences, information, and connection with the great whisky industry of Speyside
- A fantastic, fun deep dive in the world of whisky
- Great experience for me, theory, practice, excursion and networking
- Very well gained information.
- Amazing opportunity to get access to the industry experts.
- Informative, engaging, generous and fun.
- Definitely the best “school” I’ve ever attended.
- Fantastic - an expectation beating experience.
- The lectures were great, particularly on distillation/maturation.
“This is an excellent programme for anyone who is interested in learning more about the industry and how whisky is made. It is a good balance between classroom learning and technical visits …. The industry guest speakers are leaders in their field and the information is delivered in a way that is easy to understand without being too complicated. You also get to taste lots of great whiskies….. This school is great value for money, and I would wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone considering attending.”
