• Let's get the world involved™

    • Events: 177
    • Whisky Drinkers: 18,592

      • World Whisky Day Photo Competition [WINNER ANNOUNCED]

      By blairbowman | Published May 7, 2012

      The World Whisky Day Photo Competition attracted a fantastic number of entries from all over the world.

      People really seemed to get into the spirit (pun intended) of World Whisky Day 2012.
      Thank you to everyone who entered the competition and who voted/liked their favourite photos.

      But I am afraid there can only be one winner and the winning photo has been chosen by Mr Richard Paterson, Master Blender at Whyte & Mackay.

      The Winner of the World Whisky Day 2012 Photo Competition is:

      Klemen Saje from Slovenia

      This is what Richard Paterson said about the photo – “[...] drinking Scotch whisky outside with fresh air blowing in your face, overlooking a beautiful loch or river and more importantly sharing a generous golden dram with good friends. That is what Scotch Whisky is all about!”

      Congratulations Klemen Saje for a fantastic photo of your World Whisky Day celebrations! The photo amassed a whopping 230 likes/votes in the first round of the competition too! A bottle of Whyte and Mackay 30 year old whisky – The Best Blended Whisky in the World – is on its way to you! Well Done!

      World Whisky Day 2012 Photo Competition Winner

      Lake Koseze - Ljubljana, Slovenia

       

      Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

      Islay: My Single Malt Whisky Heaven

      By worldwhiskyday | Published May 5, 2012

      Islay Distilleries:

      Islay is an island of the west coast of Scotland. It is home to eight whisky distilleries. I had never been to Islay before but I was very excited about visiting because I have been a big fan of Islay Whisky for a long time. Whisky from Islay is unique as it is normally very heavily peated (smokey) – I love peaty whisky!

      I filled up my hip flash with Laphroaig Quarter Cask Whisky and we set off from Aberdeen at about 8.30am.

       

      First stop of the day was at Fettercairn Distillery to break up the long journey to Kennacraig for the ferry to Islay. We had a great tour at Fettercairn Distillery, it was a great way to start the trip. It is a Highland whisky distillery set in beautiful surroundings and is one of the oldest licensed distilleries in Scotland. Also, at Fettercairn Distillery they have a very interesting Water Cooled Spirit Still Neck – which I had never seen before.

       

      We then drove diagonally across Scotland to get the Kennacraig Ferry to Islay. It was quite a choppy ferry crossing to Islay but a few Islay Ales helped the journey.

       

      It was really windy as we arrived at Port Askaig but we up on the top deck of the CalMac ferry we got some lovely view of the paps of Jura.

       

       

      The Paps of Jura. (Paps is an old scots word for breasts!)

       

      Bruichladdich Distillery

      Source: Uploaded by user via World on Pinterest

      Interestingly, at Bruichaddich Distillery they have an open mash tun.

       

      With Jim McEwan, Master Distiller, having some Bruichladdich cask samples!

       

      Caol Ila Distillery

      At Caol Ila, we weren’t allowed to take any photos inside.
      It was very industrial and VERY large. Also, they said that almost ALL of their whisky is matured on the mainland – bizarre!
      We got to try the Distillery Only bottling – it was very peppery but very enjoyable!

       

      Bunnahabhain Distillery

      We had a very fast and efficient tour of Bunnahabhain Distillery.

       

      Kilchoman Distillery

      We had a great tour at Kilchoman Distillery. It was really the complete opposite of Caol Ila.

      Standing on the malt at Kilchoman Distillery

      Cask No#1 at Kilchoman Distillery

       

      Laphroaig Distillery

      We started at Laphroaig on our second day on Islay.
      We had a very informative tour at Laphroaig Distillery and I got to collect my ‘rent’ for my square foot!

       

      Maltings at Laphroaig

       

      The Still room at Laphroaig

       

      The Quarter Casks maturing nicely! I love Laphroaig Quarter Cask – it is one of my favourite whiskies!

      The warehouse sign at Laphroaig

       

      Lagavulin Distillery

      We had a very relaxed and informal tour at Lagavulin. The Distiller’s Edition Lagavulin is delicious!

       

      The very large stills at Lagavulin Distillery

       

      Bowmore Distillery

      Bowmore Distillery had the most ‘corporate’ feel but had a lovely visitors centre and a very funny and interesting short film about the whisky and the people that make it.

       

      The maltings at Bowmore Distillery.

       

      The recently cleaned stills at Bowmore Distillery.

       

      Ardbeg Distillery

      We got a very friendly tour guide at Ardbeg and had an ‘express’ tour of the distillery which meant we had some extra time to try a cask sample at the end of our tour!

       

      The Stills at Ardbeg Distillery.

       

      The warehouse sign at Ardbeg Distillery.

      Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

      Problems with email?!

      By blairbowman | Published April 18, 2012

      After the website crashed and the server changed lots of people have said that emails have bounced back to them.

      If you are trying to get in touch with me please use the contact form (above right)

      So in the meantime don’t use info@worldwhiskyday.com use the contact form!

      Click here to get in touch.

       

      Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

      World Whisky Day in Whisky Magazine

      By blairbowman | Published April 13, 2012

      Wow, I can’t believe I missed this. World Whisky Day got a great mention in the latest edition of Whisky Magazine. Rob Allanson wrote about World Whisky Day in the Editor’s Welcome of Issue 101:

       

      This year will also see the launch of World Whisky Day. The idea was created by Aberdeen University student Blair Bowman in June 2011 and since then the event has received an overwhelming amount of interest online. The concept is to create a great tradition alongside Burns’ Night and St. Andrew’s Day, and reach a global market of whisky fans but also people new to whisky – a young and ‘cool’ market of technologically engaged consumers. It is time we pushed for a day to recognise the joys and myriad delights of whisky; yes I think so and I commend the campaign to you.

       

      World Whisky Day in Whisky Magazine

      Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

      Whisky on the (moon) rocks!

      By blairbowman | Published April 10, 2012

      Ardbeg whisky to be matured in Space!

      Well, you may have read in the news today that Ardbeg sent some new make spirit to the International Space station.

      I think this is a fantastic idea and I can’t wait to see what the zero-gravity does to the new make spirit.

      I guess no one really knows what will happen, that’s part of the excitement.

      I feel that a lot of the media missed out on a lot of potential jokes about space and whisky….

      [insert jokes about supernovas] (like Ardbeg Supernova, get it!?) 

      [insert jokes about 20 light years old whisky]

      [insert jokes about drinking whisky with moon rocks]

      ardbeg supernova

       

      See the BBC coverage of Ardbeg in space here.

       

       

      Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

      Star-Studded Scotch Whisky [VIDEO]

      By worldwhiskyday | Published April 7, 2012

      If you haven’t heard of  ScotchCinema.com it is basically a website that tracks all mentions of whisky in films. They have basically created an online database of almost every single mention of Scotch Whisky in films. For World Whisky Day they made this compilation video featuring some very famous actors/actresses drinking Scotch Whisky.

      Slainte Mhath!

      Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

      World Whisky Day 2012 [INFOGRAPHIC]

      By blairbowman | Published April 6, 2012

      Official World Whisky Day 2012 Infographic

       

      World Whisky Day was a great success with many people involved all over the world. This is a visualisation of the data that I have collected post World Whisky Day 2012. You may not be aware that #worldwhiskyday was a worldwide trending topic on twitter on March 27th (aka World Whisky Day 2012). Also, if you live outside the UK you might not be aware of the wide media coverage that World Whisky Day received from TV, radio and newspapers.

      Here is my first ever attempt at making an infographic.

      I hope you like it and I hope it helps you visualise what happened on World Whisky Day 2012.

      world whisky day infographic 2012

       

      Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

      What I did on World Whisky Day 2012!

      By blairbowman | Published March 29, 2012

      Tuesday March 27th was World Whisky Day

      People all over the world celebrated World Whisky Day

      Here is a little break down of what happened on World Whisky Day 2012 and what I was doing during the day!

       

      March 27th 2012: 12.30am GMT (approx)

      BBC News post an article about World Whisky Day on the North East, Orkney and Shetland section of the BBC News website.

      world whisky day bbc news scotland

      BBC Scotland News

       

      March 27th 2012: 5.30am GMT (approx)

      Photos from World Whisky Day events in Australia and New Zealand start to come in!

      World Whisky Day in New Zealand

      Whisky Galore Shop in Christchurch - New Zealand

       

      March 27th 2012: 10.10am GMT (approx)

      BBC News move story up to front page of UK News on BBC website

      March 27th 2012: 10.18am GMT (approx)

      BBC News move story up to HOME PAGE of BBC News!

      World Whisky Day on BBC homepage

      World Whisky Day on BBC homepage

       

      March 27th 2012: March 27th 2012 11.00am GMT (approx)

      I arrive at the Scotland Food & Drink Offices in Edinburgh and we set off for press event at Glasgow Airport. Richard Lochhead MSP Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment is announcing increase in Scottish exports. Whisky exports are up 23%!

      March 27th 2012: 11.30am GMT (approx)

      www.worldwhiskyday.com crashes because of too much traffic!
      I wasn’t sure if the site would crash but it did but I guess its a good thing.
      I wasn’t aware of the crash for about 30mins as I was en route to Glasgow with James Withers and Sophie Fraser from Scotland Food & Drink.
      Traffic to the site was phenomenal!

      25,000 visits, 24,000 unique visits and almost 43,000 page views.

      (An average of the hour before the crash and the hour after the crash was taken to give a fair approximation of lost traffic)

       

      March 27th 2012: March 27th 2012 11.50am GMT (approx)

      Arrive at Glasgow Airport and realise that #worldwhiskyday is trending globally on twitter!

      #worldwhiskyday trending on twitter!

      #worldwhiskyday trending on twitter!

      #worldwhiskyday trend on twitter

      #worldwhiskyday trend on twitter

       

      March 27th 2012: March 27th 2012 12.10pm GMT (approx)

      I go live on air with Radio Europa to talk about World Whisky Day and how to learn more about whisky!

       

      March 27th 2012: March 27th 2012 12.30pm GMT (approx)

      After security etc I go airside at Glasgow Airport for photo shoot with Richard Lochhead and other Scottish food producers.

       

      Scottish Exports increase

      With Richard Lochhead MSP and Scottish food producers at Glasgow Airport

      Celebrating World Whisky Day with Richard Lochhead MSP

      Celebrating World Whisky Day with Richard Lochhead MSP

      March 27th 2012: March 27th 2012 1.30pm GMT (approx)

      Drive back to Edinburgh. Somewhere between Edinburgh and Glasgow I finally manage to get hold of the tech dept who host worldwhiskyday.com – site is upgraded to independent server and is up again after a while.

      March 27th 2012: March 27th 2012 4.30pm GMT (approx)

      Leave Scotland Food & Drink Offices after chatting about Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight! Lot’s of exciting ideas!

      March 27th 2012: March 27th 2012 6.00pm GMT (approx)

      Watch STV News at home with my family.

      STV News feature on World Whisky Day

      STV News feature on World Whisky Day

      March 27th 2012: March 27th 2012 7.00pm GMT (approx)

      I popped  into a World Whisky Day  event hosted by the company that did World Whisky Day’s excellent branding!
      Thanks Andrew for all your support! Check out Wolffe Design for some fantastic branding!

      Wolffe Design World Whisky Day event with Paul Bock

      Wolffe Design World Whisky Day event with Paul Bock

       

      March 27th 2012: March 27th 2012 7.30pm GMT (approx)

      Drive back through to Glasgow to the STV News studios.

       

      March 27th 2012: March 27th 2012 8.40pm GMT (approx)

      Arrived at STV Studios. While waiting in the green room I did an interview for BourbonBlog.com

      March 27th 2012: March 27th 2012 9.15pm GMT (approx)

      Went on Scotland Tonight to discuss World Whisky Day and increase in Whisky exports with James Withers (Scotland Food & Drink) and Campbell Evans (Scotch Whisky Association)

      On set at STV Scotland Tonight

      On set at STV Scotland Tonight

       

      March 27th 2012: March 27th 2012 11.15pm GMT (approx)

      Get back to Edinburgh and head to Roseleaf bar in Leith with my girlfriend and meet my friends who are already there.

      March 27th 2012: March 27th 2012 11.30pm GMT (approx)

      Have my first and last whisky of the day.
      I go for a Dalmore 12 year old.

      My World Whisky Day dram: Dalmore 12 year old.

      My World Whisky Day dram: Dalmore 12 year old.

      Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

      Today is World Whisky Day

      By blairbowman | Published March 26, 2012

      Happy World Whisky Day

      What is World Whisky Day?

      Over 17,000 people all over the world are celebrating whisky at events all across the globe

      Anyone can be involved!

      Just grab some friends and a bottle of whisky. Share some stores and share some drams. Please enjoy whisky responsibly.

      Just take a photo of you celebrating and you could win whisky!

      Take a photo of your World Whisky Day celebration and you could win a bottle of Whyte & Mackay 30 year old whisky. Enter our competition here! How easy is that?!

      Are you taking part?

      You could win a bottle of World Whisky Day Whisky just by taking part!

      We are trying to collect information to see how many people take part in World Whisky Day! If you enter your details you could win a bottle of whisky!
      Simple fill in your details below:

      Watch the Instagram photos roll in!

      Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment