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.