The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS), a Scottish independent bottler and members club, is gearing up to release a new documentary film exploring the influence of sherry casks on whisky.
Scotch and Sherry: A Flavour Odyssey is a 40-minute film set to be released on YouTube tomorrow (Friday 26th April). The film follows SMWS Head of Whisky Creation, Euan Campbell on his journey across Spain. Campbell visited cooperages and bodegas across Spain’s sherry-making regions to gain firsthand insight into the process of sherry-making and how this subsequently influences the maturation of scotch whiskies in sherry casks.
Speaking about his experience in making Scotch and Sherry: A Flavour Odyssey, Euan Campbell said: “From the forests and sawmills to the cooperages and bodegas, our film gives viewers a deep insight into the level of attention, craftsmanship and care that goes into each step of the process to create sherry casks and the flavour that goes on to have a massive influence on Scotch whisky.
“Many of our members love sherry cask-matured whiskies and over the coming weeks and months, we’re going to be screening the film, staging special events and celebrating the links between Scotch and sherry.”
Prior to the film’s release, SMWS is hosting an online ‘Dram-along’ event. The event will feature behind-the-scenes footage from the filming of the documentary, as well as discussions, live music, and a quiz.
SMWS Scotch & Sherry Events
Every Saturday in the month of May, the film will be shown at The Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s Bath Street venue in Glasgow. On the 16th and the 23rd, special screenings will be held at Queen Street, Edinburgh. In addition, the film will be shown at the Islay Festival on the 29th and the 30th of May at The Machrie Hotel.
Also, on May 6th, a special event named Sherry Confidential, hosted by sherry expert Diego Borras, will take place at The Vaults in Leith, the spiritual home of SMWS. On May 15th, SMWS’s London venue will host a guided tasting of sherries and sherry cask-finished whiskies.
The Edinburgh and Glasgow venues will also host various events based around sherry and sherried whisky. Sherry and whisky cocktails, exclusive sherry cask drams, and tapas will be on offer.
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Some events are for members only. You can view the event schedule and book your tickets here.
The Sherry Tasting Pack
In addition to the release of the documentary film, The Scotch Malt Whisky Society is also releasing a sherry tasting pack. The pack will include three 50ml drams of sherry cask-matured whisky. The drams will be accompanied by a 76-page magazine named Scotch & Sherry, which will explain more about sherry and its influence on scotch whisky.
Scotch Malt Whiskey Society Sherried Whiskies
As SMWS celebrates reaching over 41,000 members worldwide, several hand-selected sherry cask-matured whiskies have been selected for release. One such bottle is Cinnamon chilli chocolate cupcakes, a French single malt matured in a 1st fill ex-Oloroso butt for 7 years. Another is Heaven in a leather hammock, a 34 year old single malt bottled from 1st fill ex-Pedro Ximenez. Both whiskies are available on the SMWS website.
View the 30-second trailer for Scotch and Sherry: A Flavour Odyssey below:
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