Custom Whisky Experiences
Bespoke Islay Whisky Academy DIPLOMAS for your Whisky Club
The Islay Whisky Academy is now offering private IWA DIPLOMA or IWA CERTIFICATE Experiences created and held for your Whisky Society, Club or Group on the dates that suit you.
Available on request.
Choose EXPERIENCES that are focused on YOUR AREAS OF INTEREST.
Stills and Distilling, Liquid of Whisky, Culture, Language, History, Heritage, Yeast, Landscape, Warehousing, Maturation, Casks, Coopering, Traditional Stills, Barley, Marketing, Business…
Tell us the areas that interest you most, and we will create experiences tailored to your requirements.
Trips, Tours and Experiences focused on KNOWLEDGE LEVEL. 1,2,3 days, or however long you wish to stay in Islay.
Introductory, Intermediate, Expert level. We will construct experiential events to suit your specific knowledge requirements. We will focus on the way you like to learn – theoretically – hearing lectures about the subject, experiencing things, and talking to people. On site, in classrooms, in distilleries. Choose your preferred way of learning and experiencing Scotch whisky, Islay and production. IWA will create a spectacular experience to suit you perfectly.
5-STAR ISLAY WHISKY EXPERIENCE
Experience Islay, Whisky and Distilleries in luxury
Drink the best high-end Single Malt Scotch!
Stay in luxury accommodation, eat delicious Scottish foods, including fresh seafood, home baking. Savour high-calibre single malt whisky. Enjoy the best distillery experiences available!
Making the best use of your time, we will curate a five-star Islay Scotch whisky trip you will cherish for years to come. Visit Islay on dates that suit you. Give us an idea of your travel plans, and we can create a spectacular bespoke lived experience especially for you.
Available on request, subject to availability.
Contact IWA to discuss availability and pricing.
PEAT CUTTING Workshops & Experiences
From £75 PP – includes a dram or two to celebrate your hard work!
LOST DISTILLERY WALKS
Includes a dram or three… Walk to the location of Islay’s old distilleries. Perhaps we will find a traditional still hidden in the hills… £75 +PP
BEACH BONFIRES
Driftwood & Hipflasks!
From £85 PP – Single Malt Scotch whisky tastings on the beach with a fire. Includes 5 Single Malts. Can be paired with delicious seafood and traditional Scottish dishes if you wish.
SINGLE MALT WHISKY DINNER
We provide Bespoke Whisky Paired Dining Experiences – on board your launch, in your accommodation, on land. Anywhere of your choosing – from Islay to Beyond! Working with your chef, or your event organiser, or yourself, I can pair whisky to complement and contrast the flavours in your chosen menu. Pairing with the culinary journey that begins when we first look, and smell the delicious aromas of our food, I weave single malt Scotch whisky into the actual experience of dining. Each whisky is carefully selected for its mouthfeel, the journey of flavours to complement your meal, it’s elegance and personality, and many other finely tuned and observed aspects.
Aspects I consider when creating perfect whisky pairings
Taking into account the – Journey of the whisky – How flavours change and develop, the Mouthfeel of the whisky.
This is very important in whisky – as it is in food. Mouthfeel creates flavour in the way walls create rooms.
This can be taken into account with the psychology of visual approach to a plate of food – which do people eat first on the plate.
Awareness of the way flavours of the whisky develop and are experienced and correspond this to the way we experience what we are eating.
This can be done in a complementary way or a contrasting way.
We have rhythm and pattern in whiskies – we have similar in food.
We balance the whisky experience over the whole meal – not just each plate in isolation – although we do focus on this.
We can Scotch cater for all your events and requirements – Formal Dinners, Buffets, Lunches, Afternoon Soirées, Picnics, Wedding Breakfasts… any event where you would like to pair quality Scotch whisky in a quality way with food. Corporate events, personal business events, parties with your friends and family… any reason to choose Scotch Whisky is the best reason!
PRIVATE WHISKY TASTINGS
Let the Islay Whisky Academy come to you. Whether it be at your accommodation or another venue of your choosing. Organising a special Birthday, an Anniversary, a Girls or Boys weekend and looking for something different and fun to do… let us provide the whisky and the glasses and bring the best of island hospitality to you.
Gift Vouchers are available for all experiences. If you would like a different Whisky Tasting event from those detailed, please ask us and we will do our best to accommodate you.
Choose from…
The Peat Cutters Flight
Sip, savour and enjoy Peated whisky, Smoky whisky and whiskies which are both peaty and smoky. Learn how to tell the difference
5 Single malt Scotch whiskies
£65 PP +
Seachad an Eòrna Storytelling Whisky Tasting
Seachad an Eòrna / BEYOND THE BARLEY, Whisky Tasting involves storytelling of the journey of Bere Barley coming to Islay and Scotland after the end of the Ice Age, 10,000 years ago. Following a Map of Sound, our heroines undertake an amazing adventure, sharing barley and learning much. As they sail and walk from the Fertile Crescent to Islay, you will be enchanted by their endeavours. Listen to beautiful songs and traditional Pipe tunes. Savour 5 spectacular Islay single malts as the story unfolds. £75 PP +
Courting the Dram Whisky Tasting Workshop
Allows you to categorise flavours according to your own preferred way of structuring information. Includes 5 Islay single malts.
Dive headfirst into a sensory discovery of whisky aromas. Through a guided immersion into 5 unique whiskies, you are invited to explore the possibilities of sensation and deconstruct the dram.
You will be challenged to develop your nosing and tasting skills. We will explore items such as fresh cream, peat, wool, oranges, vanilla and use them as sensory frames of reference when encountering new whiskies and aromas throughout the workshop.
Learn to “sight read” a dram with just a sniff. Above all, fall in love with Scotch! £85 PP +
SPIRIT OF ISLAY WHISKY TASTING ~ includes an introduction to the Gaelic Language. Taste a dram from 5 of the various Islay Distilleries. Explore Gaelic place names of each distillery, and the Gaelic names of some whiskies. Become an expert in ordering a single malt in Gaelic!
Includes a Gaelic Language Flavour Wheel
£75 PP + Slàinté mhath!
Enchanted Scotland Whisky Tasting
Embark on a journey through the History and Heritage of whisky-making whilst savouring 5 Single Malt Scotch Whiskies. Enjoy learning their connection to various aspects of the History of Scotch whisky & the Country of Scotland. £75 PP +
ALCHEMY OF DISTILLING WORKSHOP & TASTING
£85 + per person
Take a deep dive into the overall structure of the production process. Explore whiskies in relation to aspects of production. Discussions around where aspects of the liquid could have been generated ~ in the mashtun, from yeast, in the stills, in maturation…
Includes 5 Islay single malts, also a sample of new make to taste.
To find out more, or to book any private experiences, contact the Islay Whisky Academy on info@islaywhiskyacademy.org or use the Contact Form provided.