Society creates Scotch ‘clans’ for Whisky Month

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) has created a range of ‘whisky clans’ as part of its Clans & Drams event to celebrate Homecoming Scotland 2014’s Whisky Month.

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society has launched a Clans & Drams event to celebrate Whisky Month

Twelve ‘whisky clans’ have been grouped together by the SMWS according to flavour profile, not region, as part of its Clans & Drams month-long event.

Ranging from ‘Spicy and Sweet’ to ‘Deep, Rich & Dried Fruits’, clans are composed by expressions from a number of Scotch whisky distilleries.

The event, running throughout May, will be held across the SMWS’s three venues in Edinburgh and London.

It launched with the unveiling of a wooden kilt made from pieces of a whisky barrel, representing the society’s 12 flavour clans.

SMWS’s venues will also be decorated with whisky clan badges and an array of props, while the society’s own whiskies, which are bottled from a number of distilleries in Scotland, will be paired to individual clans.

“Here at the Society, we believe it’s really important for our members not to have any preconceptions based on traditional whisky regions or distillery brands when choosing a whisky,” said Mark van der Vijver, UK sales manager for The Scotch Malt Whisky Society.

“We encourage everyone to focus on the flavours within each whisky so they don’t miss out on discovering something they may not usually try.

“Clans & Drams embodies this concept by taking a playful approach to traditional clans and creating our own flavour-based whisky clans.”

As well as opening its doors to non-members throughout May, the SMWS will also host a number of events at its Edinburgh venues.

These include: the Clan Whisky Feast at The Vaults, Clan Cocktails Night at 28 Queen Street, and Hauf ‘n’ Hauf beer & Whisky Tasting at both The Vaults and 28 Queen Street.

A full list of the experiences throughout Clans & Drams month can be found here.