This month, we're offering a range of single-cask whiskies.

Come and enjoy this range of cask-strength beauties and taste for yourself just how intricate a whisky can be without any blending or marrying of different woods.

We'll be announcing the cask list in due course, but booking has now opened - sign up now

The tasting is next Weds (the 21st of March) in the usual place at the usual time - 7:30pm at The Lord Nelson pub on Trafalgar Street, Brighton. Our apologies for the rather short notice.

We'll be holding a raffle - so bring a little extra cash for a chance to win 2 tickets to the Whisky Lounge Fest! in Brighton on the 31st March.

Do you believe you could tell the difference between a single malt and a blend?
"Elementary!", you say.
But what if the tasting was blind?

You are cordially invited to our first tasting of 2012, at 7:30pm on Wednesday 8th February at the Lord Nelson public house.

Six outstanding whiskies have been carefully selected, including two award-winning blends and an award-winning 18yr old single malt.
Together, they will test your powers of perception.

Bring your deductive powers, but leave any preconceptions at the door.
Enjoy a fine selection of whisky from around the world, whilst trying to unlock our little mystery.

Reserve your place now
Cost: £15 on the night.

No violins, no opium, no pipes. Bring your doctor.

The Solution

1. Sainsbury's Dun Leire Single Malt 8 Year Old Irish Whiskey, Taste the Difference / 40%
2. Springbank 18yo / Black Box / 46%
3. Suntory Hibiki 17yo Whisky / 43%
4. JW Gold Label 18yo / 40%
5. Ballantine's Finest / 40%
6. Bruichladdich 18yo / 2nd Edition / 46%

Well here it was, the big event of the year! For 2011 we decided to go all-out-no-half-measures tastorama with our biggest event to date (no less than 45 Malt'n Coppists) all in one room.... anything could happen. The venue as it happens was the very lovely Hotel du Vin in Brighton who put on some fine food and superb surroundings to frame what was to be an evening of rainbow colours and fabulous taste extremities.

In conjunction with The Scotch Malt Whisky Society we laid on 5 of their finest drams hand picked by yours truly to demonstrate the huge variety in the form we know as whisky. The entire point of the event was to display what whisky can taste like in the form of odd-ball single casks as opposed to the blended profiles present on the supermarket shelves. A different side to what we all too often take for granted. With so many bottlings kicking around it's great to share a few true one-off drams from single casks at cask strength. This is what whisky is about for me, a unique experience shared amongst many. All of the malts rocked the house but I am pleased to say it was the single grain from Invergordon that really blew some fuses. Huzzah for the grains!

Each member had their very own set of colour cards presented in front of them in true rainbow stylee. Heads scratched, questions were asked and experiments ensued to ascertain the use of these objects. In an attempt to simplify whisky flavour a few experiments and projects have been deployed on the general public which I feel have helped but are missing the point. It's the process that is confusing. How many people are familiar with separating aromas and isolating a particular sense. This is where the colours come in. Rather than talking about specific aromas or flavours I talk about memories. Aromas and memories are processed in the same part of the brain which is why images spring to mind when we re-encounter a scent. The cards are there to put those memories into a visual format, to help folks to express them in the simplest way. At the end of the day it's fun. No-one comes for a lecture, you come to be entertained which is what I think a lot of people loose track of. And we had a lot of fun, the pictures say it all.

Thank you to everyone who came along and made it a truly memorable evening. Congratulations to all those who won some of the particularly fabulous prizes this year. And thank you for all of your support of Malt'n Copper and the future of whisky. Wishing you a very spirited and colourful 2012, see you at a tasting soon.

Kami Newton

(download)

Click here to download:

the-colourful-conclusion-to-2011-ndGEHohkJIkrqxyIrulq.zip (97.22 MB)

Well here it was, the big event of the year! For 2011 we decided to go all-out-no-half-measures tastorama with our biggest event to date (no less than 45 Malt'n Coppists) all in one room.... anything could happen. The venue as it happens was the very lovely Hotel du Vin in Brighton who put on some fine food and superb surroundings to frame what was to be an evening of rainbow colours and fabulous taste extremities.

In conjunction with The Scotch Malt Whisky Society we laid on 5 of their finest drams hand picked by yours truly to demonstrate the huge variety in the form we know as whisky. The entire point of the event was to display what whisky can taste like in the form of odd-ball single casks as opposed to the blended profiles present on the supermarket shelves. A different side to what we all too often take for granted. With so many bottlings kicking around it's great to share a few true one-off drams from single casks at cask strength. This is what whisky is about for me, a unique experience shared amongst many. All of the malts rocked the house but I am pleased to say it was the single grain from Invergordon that really blew some fuses. Huzzah for the grains!

Each member had their very own set of colour cards presented in front of them in true rainbow stylee. Heads scratched, questions were asked and experiments ensued to ascertain the use of these objects. In an attempt to simplify whisky flavour a few experiments and projects have been deployed on the general public which I feel have helped but are missing the point. It's the process that is confusing. How many people are familiar with separating aromas and isolating a particular sense. This is where the colours come in. Rather than talking about specific aromas or flavours I talk about memories. Aromas and memories are processed in the same part of the brain which is why images spring to mind when we re-encounter a scent. The cards are there to put those memories into a visual format, to help folks to express them in the simplest way. At the end of the day it's fun. No-one comes for a lecture, you come to be entertained which is what I think a lot of people loose track of. And we had a lot of fun, the pictures say it all.

Thank you to everyone who came along and made it a truly memorable evening. Congratulations to all those who won some of the particularly fabulous prizes this year. And thank you for all of your support of Malt'n Copper and the future of whisky. Wishing you a very spirited and colourful 2012, see you at a tasting soon.

Kami Newton

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Roll up, roll up, for the Malt'n'Copper festive extravaganza!

We strive to make our final tasting of each year a little special. This year's tops the lot!

We've chosen Hotel du Vin as the venue, which allows us to include a delicious meal as part of the evening's package, and to accommodate more of you for the tasting.

We're proud to announce that your host for the evening will be Malt'n'Copper founder Kami Newton, who will be travelling down from Edinburgh especially for the event.

The tasting will focus on the Scottish Malt Whisky Society's unique single cask bottlings. Kami will guide us through the whiskies and show us why single cask bottlings are so exciting – how they can reveal what whisky can taste like, rather than what the distilleries think their whiskies should taste like. We will be looking at aroma and flavour from a completely different angle.

Being part of the SMWS is an aspiration for whisky lovers around the world. Once you've tried a few of their amazing bottles your perspective on whisky may never be the same. As a member of the Society's tasting panel, Kami will offer an insider view of how SMWS works, some history about the Society – and even a special deal on its membership!

The tasting will be comprised of five stunning, single cask, cask strength, one-off SMWS bottlings:

• Longmorn 8 year old Bourbon barrel
• Springbank 11 year old wine cask
• Port Charlotte 9 year old Bourbon hogshead
• Invergordon 18 year old new toasted oak
• Glencadam 13 year old Sherry puncheon

Join us on Wednesday 14th December from 7:30pm until 11pm at:

• Hush Heath, Hotel du Vin, Ship Street, Brighton.

The hotel is easy to find whether travelling by bike, foot, bus, or sleigh (note: reindeer parking is strictly limited).

We are able to offer both the meal and the tasting for just £25 per person.

So bring your empty bellies, your open minds (and a little extra cash for the *raffle*!), and celebrate with us.

This tasting is now fully subscribed - we look forward to seeing you all for a great night...

An ex-bourbon barrel costs about $100. A barrel of Spanish oak costs over 600 Euros.

Highland Park use exclusively ex-Oloroso sherry barrels, but using two varieties of oak. They spend more than £2m a year on wood – more than the rest of the industry combined.

You’ll get the chance to try the new make spirit, see how it’s transformed by the different oaks, and the effect of increasing the proportion of first-fill casks – but also how refill casks preserve the distillery character of the finished whisky .

You can also look for the heather-based Orkney peat (no trees) which has been specified by mainland distilleries for its famously aromatic qualities.

Combining the wood and the heather, HP is renowned for its honeyed quality, being able to dry your mouth and moisten it at the same time(!), and of course that complex balanced smokey finish. At the end of the session, we’ll suggest alternatives to HP you might like to try.

The whiskies:

• New make spirit – nutty, sweet and fragrant
• 12 year old (American White oak, Quercus Alba)
• 15 year old (Spanish Red oak, Quercus Robur)
• 18 year old (…awarded ‘Best Spirit in the World’ by Paul Pacult)
• SMWS Single cask (wait and see!)
• 24 year old Gordon & MacPhail single cask (refill bourbon)

Cost: £15.  At the Lord Nelson, 7.30, Wednesday 16 November 2011

This tasting has now sold out.
Details of our December tasting coming soon.

• Laphroaig 12 Bourbon Hogshead refill
• Bowmore 20 Bourbon Barrel refill

Our next tasting should be a treat for all whisky lovers, newbies and old hands alike.

It will be at The Lord Nelson on Trafalgar Street in Brighton at 7:30pm on Weds 14th September.

Hope to see you there!
The Malt'n'Copper team

Whisky.... we all love it, we all love to love it, but do we really love it. If I've lost you already it's fine, but let me explain myself. What we expect and appreciate from a wee dram is based on a whole load of influences before it's been anywhere near even our nose. You've read about it, you've heard the pitch, you've seen the price – it's going to be a great experience. This is how the luxury goods market operates. It's not just tasting it, or feeling it, or driving it. It's not just chardonnay... as one retailer puts it. It's something more, it's the heritage, the craftmanship, the exclusivity and the price tag. We love it and we love to buy into it.

We love to feel special, and why not. Is this seducing us away from what whisky is about.... the product in the glass. It is so difficult to appreciate purely the whisky on aroma and flavour alone. We are constantly bombarded by the marketing departments hype over the latest release of the next best thing. New packaging, new design and new vintage – or no-age-statement as is the new classic. Strip that all away and you are left with just a whisky. Pure, simple and divine. Yet it is impossible not to be influenced by the marketing gurus.

Lets break it down. Before choosing a whisky we have an idea of what we have liked in the past. The adverts, packaging and delivery of the product have all influenced our decision however. The snug magnetic closure on the box, the weighty stopper, the classy label and even the price. It all has it's place in affecting our experience. Then there's the colour, the branded glassware and the abv. Unless you taste it absolutely blind, to a greater or lesser degree all of these influences will have their affect. It's a fact of life and a fact of marketing.

Like any business it's a competitive arena. The gurus do what they have to do to keep the business operational. Without it a lot of distilleries would not be in production today. We should not get blinded by the price tag, or packaging or 308 ppm though. Love whisky for what it is.... a drink and a sensory experience. It's about how it makes us relate to what's in the glass, bringing back memories and sharing thought. The packaging has it's part to play. Drinking Highland Park 25 year old from a milk carton would not be quite the same, but lets not get carried away. The whisky industry is ever reaching new heights in price, exclusivity and packaging and I sometimes wonder how the price reflects what is actually in the glass. Perhaps we are spoiled by the plethora of great whisky that is available. It seems that there is a constant search for something new, better and more exclusive. It is not necessarily the case that new is better, exclusive is better or older is better. Is this a reflection of the world in which we live? Whisky... we all love it, we all love to love it, but love it for what it is and not what we're told it is.