Dewar's Tasting Event

I've been meaning to write about Dewar's tasting event that I went two weekends ago but got tied up with work and then the mine rescue came about. I guess, better late than never...Last Oct 7, I had a chance to join other whiskey lovers to be part of the Dewar's tasting event held at Chelsea's Milk Studios. It sure was a truly good experience learning the history of Dewar's and even had a pleasure of making my own blend of scotch whiskey.

The night started with cocktail hour where guest were treated to various hors d'oeuvres such as Mozarella and Tomatoes, Chicken Sliders, Beef Sliders and so much more. And you got to wash the finger food down with your choice of either Dewar's on the Rocks, Dewar's Smash and Dewar's and Ginger.

Dewar's Smash

Dewar's on the Rocks is basically Dewar's 12 Blended Scotch Whisky on the rocks; Dewar's Smash is a mix of fresh mint, simple syrup, seltzer and lemon with Dewar's White Label; and Dewar's & Ginger is a mix of Dewar's White Label with Gingel Ale. I decided to give Dewar's Smash a try and it was pretty good. Very smooth and tasty - almost similar to a mojito.

Then our emcee, who is one of Dewar's ambassadors for which I cannot remember his name, announce that it was time for the tasting event. He asked everyone to line up near the curtain and the Dewar's ladies led us in to our table. The tasting room had tables that fit 8 guest and setup in a semi-circle with screens at the back of the room showing Dewar's history and another screen up front. Once seated, each guest have have 5 glasses filled with drips of Scotch and water, and 5 test tubes containing different flavored White Label whiskey (Honey, Fruity - Citrus, Floral, Vanilla and Smokey - Peat). I even had a chance to smell the peat when our ambassador lighted and allow us to smell the smokey flavor.

The Dewar's Drink Ambassador started off by telling a brief history of Dewar's. He even taught us two Gaelic words, one of which is "Slaandjivaa" which is Scottish Gaelic for cheers. After few more Dewar's facts, we started the tasting. We had a chance to try Dewar's White Label again after which our ambassador asked us to nose each whiskey flavor and then asked us to blend our own scotch whiskey. I used smokey as my base flavor and mixed in some honey and floral. I would say my whiskey came out nicely.

Next up, the ambassador allows us to taste one of the rarest Dewar's whisky - the unaged blend and of course, the Dewar's 12 that is unavailable for sale and is the drink of England's Royal Family. This 12 year old Scotch comes out of the still and then poured back into the still for continued aging. Of course, we also had a chance to taste the finished version of Dewar's 12 which is pretty different from the unfinished one. The night then ended with how you really should have your scotch - a glass of Dewar's White Label with a singular ice cube.

After the event, Dewar's gifted each guest a gift bag with a set of Dewar's etched glasses.  Looks like all I need now is to get a bottle of Dewar's

Dewar's Fact: Dewar's master blender is a female. Yes, you see it right, Stephanie Macleod is the first woman and the seventh master blender in Dewar's 160 year history. The reason, females have a better sense of smell.


Dewar's website