When veteran Japanese whisky maker Ichiro Akuto closed the doors of his family’s Hanyu distillery in 2000, it could well have been the end of his whisky journey. However, he had other plans – starting from hand-selling single cask whiskies to bartenders and stores across Japan, he eventually realised he needed to make his own whisky again, and the resultant distillery, Chichibu, started production in 2008.

Since then, he has not only received a string of awards for his whisky, but has also led the new wave of Japanese distillers.

In this tasting we’ll get a chance to see where the distillery has come from, where it is at the moment and where it’s going, including the multi-award winning Chichibu The First Ten, a selection of cask samples, and some very exciting new releases, all presented by brand ambassador Yumi Yoshikawa.

A must for fans of Japanese whisky.

An archive is much more than records or stack of bottles, and both Diageo and Dewar’s have a full time team to keep a track of what they’re doing in the present, and continue to fill in the gaps from the past.

In this class, we’ll be joined by two of the industry’s best known archivists:

• Jo McKerchar is a senior archivist for Diageo, helping to build and maintain the company’s archive which has grown significantly since its founding more than 30 years ago to now cover 5,000 square meters. She specialises in both malts and gin.

• Jacqui Seargeant is Global Heritage Manager for Dewar’s, a role that she has developed since starting at the company in 1999 on a one year contract to build an archive. She now manages the company’s collection of historical materials, two museums and digital archives.

This class promises to give insights into the history of two of Scotland’s oldest whisky companies as well as how they research and maintain the knowledge of their past and present, hosted by two of the most knowledgeable archivists in the industry.

Why are sherried whiskies so loved? Who invented cask finishing? Was Macallan always so sought after? What do floor maltings do? How has Laphroaig changed over the years? Is 1960s Bowmore really that good? All these questions, and many more, will be answered by our experts in this class through its impressive line up.

This is one for the Old & Rare fans – we don’t expect tickets for this one to hang around for long.

For this year’s speed-dating-style masterclass, each table of guests will be visited by one of our makers for a chat and a whisky tasting, before we call time, ready for a new producer to pop by to present their whisky.

This year’s guest line up includes:

Shona Macleod – Shona is the head blender for Harris Distillery, which launched its inaugural whiskies in September 2023. An original member of the distillery team The Tarbert Ten, she has since taken over as the lead blender for its whisky.

Fawn Weaver – the founder of both Uncle Nearest as a whisky brand and a distillery, Fawn is a writer and entrepreneur who has taken the drinks world by storm. She serves as Uncle Nearest’s chief historian and has helped bring the story of distiller Nearest Green to the world.

Alex Chasko – Teeling whiskey’s veteran distiller Alex Chasko started out as a craft brewer back in his native USA. However, he joined the Teeling family as a distiller at Cooley distillery and went with them to found their eponymous home in Dublin, where he continues to experiment and push the boundaries of Irish whiskey.

Stuart Morrison – a stalwart member of the Diageo blending team, Stuart has been involved across the company’s wide portfolio, creating many of the whiskies that we know and love, including the Special Releases 2023. He will be joining us to pull apart the DNA of Islay favourite Lagavulin.

Yoshitsugu Komasa – master distiller of Kanosuke distillery in Japan, Komasa-san comes from a family with more than a century of distilling history. He founded the family’s whisky distillery in honour of his whisky-loving grandfather – Kanosuke Komasa – and is now crafting some of Japan’s most sought-after whiskies.

Each of our panellists will be bringing something special to the tasting that you won’t find anywhere else.

This is the perfect chance to speak to the people behind some of the world’s most exciting whisky companies, as well as taste some truly special whiskies.

Joining us for this feat of sensory challenge are four of the world’s top palates:

Dave Broom – drinks writer extraordinaire and host of Whisky Show, Dave has tried more whiskies than most people in the world, and can tell a story about all ofthem.

Serge Valentin – one of the few people who’ve probably tried more whiskies than Dave: the writer of WhiskyFun.com’s 20,112 tasting notes (at time of writing).

Sukhinder Singh – co-founder of The Whisky Exchange, whisky collector and serial sharer of drams. Sukhinder’s nose and palate are up there with the best in the business.

Dawn Davies – Master of Wine and analytical machine. Give Dawn a whisky and she can break it down into its component parts and tell you what it is.

Come along and see if you’ve got what it takes to Name That Dram.

New for 2024, we will be awarding one extra special bottling with our New Wave Whisky of the Year award. This new category is focused on showcasing the whiskies that people may not know, from countries less known for making whisky and distilleries in well-known countries going against the grain.

To give an award we need a judging panel, and that’s where you come in – every attendee of this tasting will be asked to vote for their favourite whiskies and will be part of the team that helps us choose the winner from a shortlist of six. Oh, it’ll all be tasted blind, of course.

Whether it’s whisky from South America or East Asia, or single malt from the USA, everything in the tasting (and the competition) will be a little different and maybe unexpected, – but most importantly, delicious.

Join us to help make the first winner of New Wave Whisky of the Year a hard act to follow.

The Distillation of Whisky 1927-1931 is not just a book, but a whole project dedicated to understanding whisky making in the first part of the 20th century. The James Eadie team approached a group of distilleries well known for their love of experimentation, and asked them to use the information from the book to recreate a whisky of the era, replicating ingredients and techniques to create literally old-fashioned whisky. And the distilleries did not disappoint.

They're still maturing, but in this tasting we will be trying spirits from Ardnamurchan, Dornoch, Holyrood, Inchdairnie, Lochlea and an 'Unnamed Farm Distillery in the Heart of the Kingdom of Fife'.

Joining us to lead us through the project is Leon Kuebler from James Eadie, lead researcher for the book, and Dave Broom and Arthur Motley, hosts of the Liquid Antiquarian YouTube channel.

This is a true once-in-a-lifetime chance to explore whisky history with three of the leaders in the field – and to try some tasty spirits while you do.

Our panellists for this tasting come from three very different bottlers, with very different experiences of the whisky world:

Alex Bruce – managing director of Adelphi and Ardnamurchan distillery, and 4x great-grandson of blending pioneer Andrew Usher. Alex has been involved in the whisky world since leaving university and has been managing Adelphi since 2004, growing it into the well-known independent bottler it is today.

Angus MacRaild – whisky writer and consultant turned independent bottler. Angus has been obsessed with whisky since pretty much childhood and launched himself into the industry as soon as he could, writing and amassing knowledge on old and rare whisky bottlings. His opinions on whisky led to him founding Decadent Drinks – an indie bottler with which he shows people what he thinks whisky should taste like – and more recently Kythe Distillery.

Sam Simmons – brand ambassador turned indie bottler at That Boutique-y Whisky Company. The Whisky Exchange alumnus Sam got into whisky while studying for a PhD in English literature in Edinburgh. From there, as Dr Whisky, he wrote about whisky, became Balvenie’s global brand ambassador and then helped create That Boutique-y Whisky Company and numerous other indie labels for Atom Brands.

From the more traditional, to the disruptive to the far out, our panellists have each pushed the limits of the indie bottling scene. Join us to find out what they’ve got up their sleeves.

This year, The Glenlivet is celebrating two centuries of being a household name in single malt Scotch whisky, and you’re invited to join Peter Prentice and The Whisky Exchange for a masterclass charting the story and identity of the brand through some exquisite expressions.

Starting with the newly released 200th-anniversary bottling of the brand’s flagship 12 Year Old, the session will continue to older releases including the 18 Year Old, the 32 Year Old bottling from our recent exclusive Lost in Time series, as well as treats including a 35 Year Old distillery exclusive and a 38 Year Old single cask.

It’s an incredible line-up that makes this one not to be missed for any fan of The Glenlivet, hosted by a whisky expert who knows the distillery inside out.

With distilleries popping up from Cornwall to Northumberland and a Geographical Indication in the works, English distilleries are now very much part of the world's whisky fabric.

One thing many producers are exploring to stand out from the rest of the world is the country's farming heritage, diving into historical methods and grains that not only result in great whisky, but also change the way we look at its environment and the natural processes that shape its modern identity.

Join Billy Abbott as he traipses across the UK, looking at the natural ecosystems and the grains behind the whiskies, and tasting a few drams along the way. He'll be joined by:

• Chico Rosa – Distiller, Fielden
• David Thompson – MD, Spirit of Yorkshire
• Sam Garbutt – Distiller, East London Liquor Company
• Dan Szor – Founder, Cotswolds
• Max Vaughan – Co-founder, White Peak
• Chris Waters – Distiller, The English Distillery

It’s a great way to see how grain is changing the way we talk about and make whisky, with the people who know best.

Too long considered a curio in the world of American whiskey, single malt from the USA is now a burgeoning category in its own right. Incoming changes to regulation are set to bring it much more in line with single malt whisky from Scotland and around the world, and distilleries across the breadth of the country are making full use of the grain’s inimitable character.

This masterclass, hosted by Mark Gillespie, will bring together some brilliant new and classic examples from pioneering American distilleries, who are championing malted barley as the basis for their whiskeys' bold and complex flavours.

The session will look at the the grain’s distinctive character in a range of single malts, including recent releases from Westward, Copperworks, Cedar Ridge and Westland, as well as a modern classic from Balcones and a surprise dram only revealed on the day.

A must for American whiskey fans wanting to explore the country’s newest style.