Tag: independent spirits festival

#72 Festivals!

Chatting the chat and dramming the dram

 

TL; DR: After a long pause we are back with some report of our recent whisky festivals between the end of 2025 and 2026: Dornoch, Funky Booze, Fife and Independent Spirits. All different from one another, but all great occasions to taste a few good drams with good people around! 

Well, that was a long break, wasn’t it? Our last post was over a month ago, but we hope that you had great drams to keep you company in our absence! This was the longest pause we took from the blog since we started blabbering about whisky and distillery tours back in August 2021. But it was for a good reason, as March was a very busy month for both of us, especially on the whisky side. We attended two whisky festivals, which we’ll talk about in this post, we visited two distilleries, and we did a very special thing that we’ll write about in a few weeks here on the blog: definitely a reason to stay tuned!

So, to get cracking with today’s topic: whisky festivals! As we wrote in other posts, we weren’t right into this from the beginning of our whisky journey. For people like us, who started really appreciating whisky during trips off to quiet and isolated places, the idea of getting into a noisy room full of jolly people was not so alluring. It didn’t take us long to change our minds: these events can be full of energy and enthusiasm, and on top of the great drams you have a chance to try, the banter with friends and acquaintances is the real deal! We still haven’t approached any of the big ones, like the Glasgow Whisky Festival or the Whisky Show in London, but we might go soon. The largest one we’ve been so far is probably the nearby Whisky Fringe (what a venue)!

A festival we finally made it to last year was the Dornoch Whisky Festival, back in October 2025. It got to the tenth edition and, at least since we learned about it in 2022, it has been held every year towards the end of October. In previous years it was a bit too close to the Dramathon, so never an option for us, but last year we decided to ditch running, and go to this festival instead. The festival is held in a marquee in the gardens of the Dornoch Castle Hotel.

  • Such a great dinner! (And no, we didn’t take pictures of the food.)

While the Grand Tasting is the main event (two sessions, both on the Saturday), the whole weekend is full of tastings and other events, at various locations in Dornoch. We arrived on the Friday evening, after a nice but overpriced tour at Glenglassaugh, and the first event we attended was the Ardnamurchan dinner at the Castle Hotel: 4 courses accompanied by drams, selected by Ardnamurchan/Adelphi’s Carl. The dinner was exquisite, and the choice of drams impeccable, including two soon-to-be-released expressions (the 10-year-old and the Heritage Barley). We stayed in the Dornoch Campsite that is barely 10 minutes from the main festival venue on foot. Thus, after a big breakfast, the next morning we went to the Castle Hotel for the Grand Tasting. The marquee was a bit open, but it wasn’t unbearably cold, and definitely not too crowded, which gave us time for better chit-chats with the exhibitors. Most of them were small independent companies, although we were surprised to find Clynelish too. The lovely ladies at their stand told us they try to go to as many local events as possible, which is remarkable considering the size of the company they work for. The 18-year-old Special Release was one of the best drams of the day, just a shame the too salty price tag (£180). Other stunners were an 11y Mannochmore from Lady of the Glen (single bourbon cask), and the White Peak (soon to be released) Wireworks Chevalier Barley. After the session, we took a break and went to Cocoa Mountain for a delicious chocolate. In the evening we attended a busy whisky bingo, which was a lot of fun!

  • Such a delicious dram.

A much younger festival is the Funky Booze, at its second edition only. It is organised by our friend Francesco (Spirit of the Glen), and we volunteered at both editions, in 2024 and this year (2026). It is held in the Assembly Roxy in Edinburgh’s Old Town, and the big difference to other festivals is a funk music band playing. It is a great addition to the atmosphere, and very welcomed by the punters (except a few “grumpies” who didn’t read the description and then complained because the music was “too loud” …pish!). It’s organised in two sessions with some masterclasses, and while smaller, a lot of great producers (not just whisky) and independent bottlers attend the festival. Nice and buzzing! Location and concept are great, this festival has great potential to attract a different than usual whisky crowd.

  • Oysters, music…
  • …and drams!

Then it came the unmissable Fife Whisky Festival, held in Cupar and wonderfully organised by Justine (Kask Whisky) and Karen, usually in early March (but this year was on the 28th of February). It was our 5th edition in a row, you can tell we like it! This year we skipped the opening dinner on the Friday evening at Lindores Distillery and took the train to Cupar on the Saturday morning. As usual, it was great to see so many distilleries and indies from all over Scotland and beyond.

  • Fifth time as volunteers at the Fife Whisky Festival…veterans!

We were volunteering, but we had time for drams, mostly towards the end. The Tri Carragh Lochindaal 16 (from Bruichladdich distillery) was a great treat, and the first Aberargie release was also very interesting! This year the Sunday events were organised by the producers, so the choice was plentiful: tours at Inchdairnie and Aberargie, blending session at Kingsbarn, and warehouse tasting with Fib’s Whisky or Lady of the Glen. We did the latter, as last year we liked it a lot, and again it didn’t disappoint: the Aultmore finished in a rum cask and the Finglassie (peated Inchdairnie) in a refill Madeira cask were exceptional!

  • Firey but good.

The last one we attended was only a couple of weeks ago, again a new one at its second edition: the Independent Spirits Festival. Being held just round the corner from us, at the magnificent Leith Theatre, it’s a no-brainer for us. It is mainly organised by David Stirk, with Roy from the Aquavitae Youtube channel also heavily involved: because of this, a lot of our barfly pals attended, so it felt like a great party! Last year it was preceded by the screening of a 4-episode documentary about independent bottlers, filmed by Greg Swartz and the crew behind The Water of Life documentary. This year was the same, but the theme was from Field to Flavour, focusing on the farm distilleries that grow their own barley (or some of it), like Bruichladdich and Kilchoman on Islay, Arbikie in the East Highlands, Daftmill in Fife and Spirit of Yorkshire (guess where…). It was followed by a Q&A banter-y session with Francis from Daftmill and Joe from Spirit of Yorkshire (that we’d met there as well).

  • A favourite of the day.

After a pause that gave us enough time for a quick stop at Pala and Peter’s Food Hub to fill our stomachs, it was time to go back to the festival. Again, mostly small producers and independent bottlers, some of which we’d never heard of yet (despite our efforts to keep up to date with things!). We had a great time, but the best part was to hang out with our friends and acquaintances, both in front and behind the stands, so much so that we finally didn’t even make it to the Signatory nor the Gordon & MacPhail stands…hopefully next time.

  • Because in the end, this is what this is all about. 🙂

Two well established whisky festivals, Dornoch and Fife, and two newbies with a great potential. Overall, we think we probably hit our sweet spot with these four – not overwhelmingly big or crowded so that you can still chat to exhibitors without too much stress, and with relatively more focus on independent producers and bottlers, which gives the opportunity to taste unique, weird (in both good and bad ways), or hard to find drams. Basically, whisky enthusiasts’ heavens. Four festivals every year (plus sometimes the Whisky Fringe) feels like enough, but at some point we might branch out and explore other events – there are so many, we’re spoiled for choice! Where to go next?

Stay tuned for some distillery adventures! Until then, slàinte!

PS: from this post onward we’ll share them on Substack too! Our profile is very new, check it out at https://substack.com/@drammingaround

Whisky Festivals

https://dornochwhiskyfestival.com/

https://www.instagram.com/funkyboozespiritfest/

https://www.fifewhiskyfestival.com/

https://www.independentspirits.co.uk/

#57 Fife Whisky Festival and Independent Spirits Festival

A tale of two festivals

 

TL;DR: March has become the month of festivals for us. First, the Fife Whisky Festival, marking our fourth time as volunteers. A couple of weeks later, the first edition of the Independent Spirits Festival. Both of similar size, and both geared towards whisky geeks – two great opportunities to chat with whisky connoisseurs and enthusiasts and have some tasty drams. 

As we got deeper into 2025, the festivals’ season started. Last year it had kicked off very early, in January, thanks to Funky Booze, a very fun and lively festival in Edinburgh that this year was on a hiatus. Nonetheless, this year we didn’t have to wait much longer, as on the 1st of March, taking advantage of a pause in the Six Nations, we were headed to Cupar for the Fife Whisky Festival. This was the fourth time we attended as volunteers, but for the first time we skipped the opening dinner on the Friday, at Lindores Abbey distillery. Feedback from our pals was very good though, and it made us almost regret not going: among the drams that were served, there was a Gianluigi’s favourite, Laphroaig, and a 25y cask sample, wow!

  • Ready? Ready!

Anyway, we arrived in Cupar on Saturday morning, after picking up our pal Francesco, a Leither like us. After checking in with the festival’s directors, Justine and Karen, we helped the exhibitors set up their stands in the upper and lower halls, and then went out to check tickets and distribute wristbands in advance, so that the attendees wouldn’t lose precious dramming time. Both sessions went well, we met a lot of friendly faces (as in previous years) and had the chance to sip some very tasty drams. This year, against all odds, we managed to use our sampling bottles and take them home for quiet sipping. We did the same with the leftover bottles (kindly donated by the exhibitors) – by taking just samples, we could try way more drams at home, much better than having a half bottle of something, which we really don’t need.

  • Busy dramming session in Cupar.

Different to the previous year, the following day there was no distillery trip, but a choice between two warehouse tastings by Fife-based independent bottlers: Lady of the Glen, in Dalgety Bay, and The Single Cask, in Glenrothes. Folks could go to both events if they wanted, as Justine and karen organised a bus to transport people between the two locations. We only did the Lady of the Glen tasting though, with no regrets – we had great time and tried some excellent drams with Paul and Gregor. It was a pity we couldn’t visit a distillery this year (after all, that’s our hobby!), but we love warehouse experiences too.

  • Keeping warm with Lady of the Glen drams.

A couple of weeks later it was time for another festival, a brand new one: the Independent Spirits Festival! It was organised by David Stirk, and conveniently for us, it was held at the Leith Theatre, at crawling distance from our flat. Having been heavily advertised on Roy Aqvavitae Youtube channel, there were many barflies (the channel followers and supporters) from all over Europe and beyond (we think we heard someone coming from New Zealand, impressive!).

  • Round two of the March festivals.

The event was split into two: first, at noon, there was the screening of Independent Spirits. This is a 4-part documentary series about independent whisky bottlers and their role in the industry. It is directed by Greg Swartz and Guy Satchwell, and produced by the same crew behind the great Water of Life documentary. The series is made of short bits of interviews, that together tell the story of how independent bottlers came to be, what’s their role in the whisky industry, currently and in the future. During the screening, we could enjoy a couple of drams, a sherried Tormore, offered by the Elixir Distillers folks, and a peated dram from Glasgow Distillery, matured in an oloroso cask. Both very delicious.

  • Hanging out with whisky enthusiasts…

Once the screening and Q&A session ended, we had about one hour to grab some food. We picked one of our favourite spots in the neighbourhood: Peter’s Food Hub, a multi-cuisine take out. The festival session started at 4pm, although people who had attended the screening could get in a whole 15 minutes before others (but no drams served). Now, as the name suggests, of course the festival was focused on independent bottlers, and there were many, many, many of them. Basically, most of the ones you can think of (with one exception, one of the oldest, owning a distillery near Pitlochry…iykyk). For whisky nerds like us, it was like being a kid in a candy shop – the range of drams was impressive, from a young blended scotch called Peatsmoke on Gorgie, by the Campbeltown-based Watt Whisky, to a 25y Bowmore from Tri Carragh. And so many others: Woodrow’s, Fragrant Drops (with a new line of small batches whisky called Elevenses), obviously the SMWS, Cadenheads, Elixir Distillers, Thompson Brothers, the small but great Whisky Concerto, Lady of the Glen…you name it! It was a great session, not too crowded and we had a lot of fun. We didn’t know at the time, but we know now, that there is going to be a second one in 2026, hurray!

  • …more whisky enthusiasts…
  • …and more!

Overall we loved both of those festivals, we feel that are the perfect size for us: not too big, not too overwhelming, but with all of the whisky we want to sip. But mostly, with the right people: in the crowd, behind the stands and among the staff. Getting to chat with friends and other whisky enthusiasts like us, exchanging drams’ suggestions and having a laugh is really what makes these occasions special. What to say more? Just that we are looking forward to next year editions!

Until next time, slainte!

Links

Fife Whisky Festival: https://www.fifewhiskyfestival.com/

Independent Spirits Festival: https://www.independentspirits.co.uk/