Enjoying: Springtime in the Netherlands!

Being Brand Ambassador includes lots of travelling to different countries to meet our distributors and their customers, helping them with having conversations about us and the way that we make our whisky. It’s a part of the role that I really love! 

At the end of March I was given the opportunity to travel to the Netherlands for 5 days. This included a whistle stop tour of Zwolle, where I attended and hosted a masterclass for world whisky alongside Milk and Honey, and Slyrs. The tasting was held in Patricks Whisky Bar, which has a huge selection of whisky, both drinkable and collected. This was a fantastic event, and it was amazing to meet some of our Dutch fans and friends, who were eager to learn a more about us. 

The tasters were customers of our Dutch distributor, Bresser and Timmer, so this was valuable to give them a better understanding of our whisky, and give them the tools to explain this to their customers. These tastings are always fun as they give you the opportunity to meet the people in person, that you see on social media and who follow you. The venue was great and Patrick was more than hospitable. We had a fantastic spread of food, and were very well looked after! It meant for lots of casual conversations about the whisky world in general, and where the category of world whisky was going in the future. 

The next day we were off to Groningen! A quick stop off at the Graanrepublik distillery for a tour and some lunch. These guys have a similar ethos to ourselves. They are distilling, and making everything from their land. From the distilled spirits, to the bread they use in their bistro. All ingredients are sourced from the area around the distillery, which used to be an old railway shed. They also host an international whisky school with guests travelling from all over the world, to really understand what whisky is and why it is made the way that it is. 

We were headed into the heart of Groningen to meet up with a couple of well established whisky retailers, to meet them in person and have mini tastings with them. These types of visits are also really fun and are great to really get an idea of how the whisky is being seen in other countries, not just in England. Being able to build these friendships and these relationships around Europe and the world is important and so much fun. We even managed to find time for a fresh Stroopwaffle, which was a perfect accompaniment to the whisky!

The evening called for more masterclass tastings for one of Bresser and Timmer’s clients, Thijs Dijkstra (Drambo) customers. This was a really relaxed tasting, and a lot of fun. There was even a couple who were from Yorkshire! (Seems we get everywhere.) We were trying three of our whiskies this time and the whole evening was great; ranging from absolute whisky beginners, to a very experienced whisky club. Then to top off the trip, we spent the weekend at the festival, organised and run by Dramtime.nl. 

The whole week was a great success, with lots of great whisky and lots of laughs. It was fantastic to meet new friends of Filey Bay whisky, and to catch up with old ones.