ALL welcome to this meeting to elect the next committee (2026/2027).

Also, The Geldart has a superb whisky bar BUT we will be in the garden assuming the weather holds………..they do food as well.

We need students in particular to come and sign up so the society can continue. Please do talk to anyone on the current committee about what roles entail and what impact you can have on the events we host, the whiskies we choose etc!

Where: The Geldart, 1 Ainsworth Street, Cambridge CB1 2PF

When: Wednesday 17th June 2026, 6.30pm

For this edition of tastings, we go in depth on the basic, clear spirit a maker produces BEFORE it ever sees maturation in a barrel.

As with most liquids we imbibe, if you start with a poor quality liquid, the finished product will also be “compromised”. Some barrel ageing techniques can mask a poor quality spirit so we plan to let you try examples of good whiskies made good from the get go.

We will focus on the impact of the stills themselves and how/when the base spirit is condensed i.e length, shape & amount of active cooling. Making any whisky involves several major decisions in the production process, even for more mass-produced grain spirits that bulk out many of the commercial varieties.

If you’re a chemical engineer or metallurgist, this will appeal on a professional level too 😉

Date: Friday 12th June

Time: 7:30 – 10:30 pm

Venue: Studio Room (upstairs), NCI Centre, 1 Holland Street, Cambridge, CB4 3DL

Billy is a legend in the world of whisky BUT his Instagram is also laden with posts about food and a second just for the coffees he drinks 🤷🏽‍♂️

He started blogging in 2009 and 2 years later he left his computer programming job behind to start work full-time at The Whisky Exchange in addition to being an author, awards judge AND event host such as tonight!

Even we don’t know what he’s bringing BUT the theme we supplied………..focus on the cask, emphasis on The Whisky Exchange exclusives 😉

Billy’s immersive workshop for New Scientist Liv Billy inspects his OWN barrels of White Peak

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Date: Friday 29th May 2026
Time: 7.30pm – 10.30pm
Venue: Studio Room (upstairs), NCI Centre, 1 Holland Street, Cambridge, CB4 3DL.
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Important Information

Refund requests must be made more than 48 hours in advance of the tasting to be guaranteed. Any requests made with less notice will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Buying your ticket early helps us plan for the right numbers and reduces the chance of us having to cancel. If we have to cancel or reduce the scale of an event, due to ticket-sale forecasting, we may have to refund some or all tickets.

Like the Committee’s Choice event, here we get to showcase the drams we think are at the higher end of the whisky spectrum also making them considerably more expensive 🤑

Many of these have cult status with the fans perhaps being a bit obsessive. This kind of supply-&-demand economics also pushes prices up 🤪

Everyone will be given a dram of a “sacrificial” whisky to begin with so your palate is ready to taste the really good stuff!

1. 1996 Ben Nevis – enthusiasts rave about their fruitiness and complexity; these bottles never stay available for very long upon release. On the committee, you will find some of the cult members too…….they’ve had more than 25 different ones!!
2. 1991 Bushmills bottled by Milroy’s of Soho – one of their premium products lines. It can be argued they lack the same level of complexity and balance, these early 1990s Cooleys and Bushmills are some of the fruitiest whiskies ever produced.
3. Lagavulin 16 – bottled under the “white horse distillers” label, which means that it was bottled before 2001!! This means the sherry cask maturation would have been from before 1986, and so used an actual transport cask that contained a true, mature, high quality sherry!
4. Glendronach 1993 single casks – the epitome of the “modern sherry cask” category. Even they didn’t appreciate this being a “Master Vintage” until much later………..the importance of market feedback!
5. Kildalton (Ardbeg) 2003 by independent bottler Decadent Drinks – parcel of casks distilled in 2003 rumoured to be “reduced peat” 🤷🏽‍♂️ more like the highly prized 1970s profile.

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Date: Friday 15th May 2026
Time: 7.30pm – 10.30pm
Venue: Studio Room (upstairs), NCI Centre, 1 Holland Street, Cambridge, CB4 3DL.
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Important Information

Refund requests must be made more than 48 hours in advance of the tasting to be guaranteed. Any requests made with less notice will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Buying your ticket early helps us plan for the right numbers and reduces the chance of us having to cancel. If we have to cancel or reduce the scale of an event, due to ticket-sale forecasting, we may have to refund some or all tickets.

We want to show you what the impact of the grain(s) used themselves can have from the start which means we’ll avoid single malts (usually barley) & blends (which goes against the grain of the brief – pun intended 😜).

Instead, we want to champion grains other than barley and could include well known alternatives e.g. corn, wheat & rye known in bourbons to more unusual ones e.g. oats, millet & rice which are more niche.

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Date: Friday 1st May 2026
Time: 7.30pm – 10.30pm
Venue: Studio Room (upstairs), NCI Centre, 1 Holland Street, Cambridge, CB4 3DL.
(open Google maps in new tab)

Important Information

Refund requests must be made more than 48 hours in advance of the tasting to be guaranteed. Any requests made with less notice will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Buying your ticket early helps us plan for the right numbers and reduces the chance of us having to cancel. If we have to cancel or reduce the scale of an event, due to ticket-sale forecasting, we may have to refund some or all tickets.

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Our President & Treasurer went on a trip to Japan itself and found a number of bottles ONLY available there BUT they were kind enough to bring some back 🥳

I’m sure Nicholas & Donald will delight in explaining the “direct fired” vs “double steam injected” 🤓

ALL are some combination of single malt, single cask e.g. the much sort-after mizunara wood, some whisky distilled in the 1980s, exclusive bottles to Japan, distillery exclusives etc.

Date: Friday 13th March 2026
Time: 7.30pm – 10.30pm
Venue: Main Hall (downstairs), NCI Centre, 1 Holland Street, Cambridge, CB4 3DL.
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Important Information
For this event, there will be a strict limit of upto 2 tickets per person i.e. you + 1 guest. We want to have as many different people come along – this is a rare treat, even for our whisky society!

To help manage demand fairly, we’ll be enforcing our members’ guest policy, with a maximum of one guest per member for this event. If you purchase more than the 2 allowed, the extra tickets will be refunded and a message sent to you directly explaining this.

Refund requests must be made more than 48 hours in advance of the tasting to be guaranteed. Any requests made with less notice will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Buying your ticket early helps us plan for the right numbers and reduces the chance of us having to cancel. If we have to cancel or reduce the scale of an event, due to ticket-sale forecasting, we may have to refund some or all tickets.

Here is your chance to actively participate in what you will be drinking 🗳️

5 Committee Members will present their choice of whisky – whatever they may be – whilst Our Dear Leader (President) 🤭 will present the MEMBERS’ PICK. The President is foregoing his choice so you, “The People” may engage in a bit of democracy in this university society 😇

A separate poll will be sent to the Members who signed up for the event ahead of time so we could garner the votes from a shortlist. Please ensure you have voted by the specified deadline…………unfortunately, we don’t have an endless shelf of whisky to pick from; we do have to procure them before the event!

Date: Friday 27th February 2026
Time: 7.30pm – 10.30pm
Venue: Main Hall (downstairs), NCI Centre, 1 Holland Street, Cambridge, CB4 3DL.
(open Google maps in new tab)

Important Information
Refund requests must be made more than 48 hours in advance of the tasting to be guaranteed. Any requests made with less notice will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Buying your ticket early helps us plan for the right numbers and reduces the chance of us having to cancel. If we have to cancel or reduce the scale of an event, due to ticket-sale forecasting, we may have to refund some or all tickets.

Showtime is a Friday 13th 🙅🏽🙈

More relevant, the following day is Valentine’s Day 🙄💐 So we’ve gone for a parody theme……….hopefully if you’re celebrating on the actual day, you enjoy it NOT hung over 😈

For this event , each person will have TWO Glencairn tasting glasses so each pairing will be side-by-side…………….the differences may be subtle but there will be contrast! It maybe age, peat type, cask type or even different still types; lots of options!

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Date: Friday 13th February 2026
Time: 7.30pm – 10.30pm
Venue: Main Hall (downstairs), NCI Centre, 1 Holland Street, Cambridge, CB4 3DL.
(open Google maps in new tab)

Important Information
Refund requests must be made more than 48 hours in advance of the tasting to be guaranteed. Any requests made with less notice will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Buying your ticket early helps us plan for the right numbers and reduces the chance of us having to cancel. If we have to cancel or reduce the scale of an event, due to ticket-sale forecasting, we may have to refund some or all tickets.

We’re proud to bring you a line-up from an highly regarded brand AND better, we have their Brand Ambassadors in to talk about it themselves………..you get respite from the Committee waffling on 😜

Duncan Taylor (Est 1938) are now based in Huntly on the edges of Speyside in quintessential Scottish landscape plus one of many ruined castles for company in a small town.

Duncan Taylor & Co were founded as a “cask broker” in Glasgow.

In 1960, New Yorker Abe Rosenberg, the J&B Scotch importer to the US took the reigns storing premium whisky casks so he could make blends………….still need the single malts to do it!

In 2002, Euan Shand took control a few years after Abe’s death including the prized single malt,single grain & aged blend collections with a more international business plan. He also revived the legendary “Black Bull” premium blends which died when Prohibition ruined their main export market.

The company moved to Aberdeenshire in 2014.

Chairman Euan Shand retired in 2024. Responsibility moved to Shaun Smith AND the company is now part of a Texan group, Whisky Holdings, LP.

The Committee looks forward to sharing the journey alongside all of you 😎🤓

Date: Friday 30th January 2026
Time: 7.30pm – 10.30pm
Venue: Main Hall (downstairs), NCI Centre, 1 Holland Street, Cambridge, CB4 3DL.
(open Google maps in new tab)

Important Information
Refund requests must be made more than 48 hours in advance of the tasting to be guaranteed. Any requests made with less notice will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Buying your ticket early helps us plan for the right numbers and reduces the chance of us having to cancel. If we have to cancel or reduce the scale of an event, due to ticket-sale forecasting, we may have to refund some or all tickets.