Just before we officially launched ‘That Boutique-y Whisky Company’ in the UK (and beyond), we packed up the Mini Malt Mobile (aka Ben's car, complete with boxes upon boxes of Scotch whisky, suitcases, and a ukulele), piled in, and took to the motorways and Channel to get to Maltstock, a yearly whisky festival in the Netherlands.

Pitched as "the relaxed whisky weekend" it is—indeed—"relaxing". Akin to a summer camp for whisky enthusiasts, the weekend is packed with music, bonfires, whisky masterclasses, whisky-themed games, a whisky quiz, and a veritable overdose (if that can be said) of food and friends. This was our third year in attendance, and believe me, it lives up to the hype. By the end, we were all a bit like newborn fawns: blinking in the sun and staggering gingerly about the place. We've got a flock of photos below to give you, dear reader, a taste of some of the activities to be had. A picture is worth a thousand words, they say…

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In one word? Awesome.

You want more than that you say?

It’s kind of hard to know where to begin. The events of the weekend before last have all converged into a bit of a blur. Not so much because of the alcohol, but rather the simply dizzying array of tastings, masterclasses, quizzes, meals and world-class whiskies which were thrust upon us over the course of the weekend… yet with all the activity, we came away feeling really rather impressed at just how relaxed and informal the weekend managed to be. More...

For a long time now, we here at Master of Malt have been boring anyone who cares to listen senseless about the importance of good quality glassware (both for whisky and other drinks). We’re also (as you may have noticed) more than a little pernickety about detail, and like to do things ‘properly’.

It’s very heartening therefore, to find another company who are as obsessive about quality, and even more heartening to find out that they’re going to be running a tasting masterclass open to the general public (previously we’ve only encountered the team from Riedel at trade events).

For those of you who don’t know about Riedel, they are a company that make glassware (primarily wine glasses, but some for spirits and whisky too – more on that later in the year) to a standard that has to be seen to be believed. Riedel manufacture dozens and dozens of wine-glass varieties, all of which are tailored specifically to a particular region or grape varietal and painstakingly engineered to deliver the perfect size, shape and even angle of palette delivery for each individual style of wine. More...