Rye and bourbon whiskies are differentiated from scotch whisky by a few things, but a big one is the grains that are used in their production. Come and see what effect changing that basic ingredient has on a variety of samples from North America. We hope you’ll find some styles you love and learn some more about what makes these whiskies different beyond their recipes.
Although bourbon has to come from the USA, the same isn’t true for rye whisky. However, to give this tasting some focus we will be focusing on the North American continent. But keep your eyes peeled in our upcoming European tasting too.

Venue: Lee Hall, Wolfson College, CB3 9BB
Date: Friday 11/02/22 @ 8pm – 11pm

Important Information
Everyone should still be cautious about COVID-19. Please follow any guidelines in place at the venue at the time of the event.
Refund requests will be considered on a case by case basis and are not guaranteed.
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.

The first tasting of Lent will be dedicated to one single distillery: Mackmyra. Mackmyra is a Swedish distillery and was founded in a small village near the city Gaevle in 1998. They established themselves as innovative whisky distillers and continue to do so.  For instance, they collaborated with Microsoft to come up with the first AI-generated whisky recipe, and they also experiment with uncommon types of maturing such as using Swedish berry wine casks. This tasting will be hosted by two of Mackmyra’s brand ambassadors and we will taste six of their drams, allowing us to explore the wide range of the distillery. The event is sponsored by Mackmyra, which enables the society to reduce the ticket prices by £5 and furthermore, all profits of this tasting will be donated to a local charity.

Venue: Lee Hall, Wolfson College, CB3 9BB
Date: Friday 28/01/22 @ 8pm – 11pm

Important Information
Everyone should still be cautious about COVID-19. Please follow any guidelines in place at the venue at the time of the event. These are most likely going to include wearing a mask when moving around the venue and being sensible with sanitiser, but they are subject to change.
Buying your ticket early not only ensures you have one but also helps us plan for the right numbers and reduces the chance of us having to cancel. We are trying to sell at increased capacity for this event which means we’ll need to buy more whisky. If we feel the number of tickets sales isn’t sufficient to do that, we may have to refund some.

We started with an introduction to scotch, as it’s what most people think of when they talk about whisky. This tasting is going to feature whiskies from around the world though! There are many whisky producing countries that range from having massive industries like America, to smaller but still established producers like Japan, and countries where the practice is a bit more niche like Israel or Australia.

The aim will be to explore some of what’s on offer and hopefully see how some things change when you don’t have the Scotch Whisky Association breathing down your neck.

International Whisky 
Venue: Little Saint Mary’s, CB2 1QG
Date: 29/10/21 @ 8pm – 11pm

Important Information
Everyone should still be cautious about COVID-19. Please follow any guidelines in place at the venue at the time of the event. These are most likely going to include wearing a mask when moving around the venue and being sensible with sanitiser, but they are subject to change.
Buying your ticket early not only ensures you have one but also helps us plan for the right numbers and reduces the chance of us having to cancel. We are trying to sell at increased capacity for this event which means we’ll need to buy more whisky. If we feel the number of tickets sales isn’t sufficient to do that we may have to refund some.

In the event of a cancellation, refunds will be given.

Premium. Deluxe. Fancy. Prestigious. Luxury. Exclusive.
There will always be whisky that is deemed to be one of those words above. Maybe it’s a limited run, from a lost distillery, a big age statement, something experimental. And let’s face it, these things often come with a price tag that puts a lot of us off. For this tasting we’ll be paying a little more than normal for our tickets, but in return we’ll be able to sample 6 whiskies with an average price of around £120 a bottle, and we’ll top the samples up a little higher than normal.
Each bottle will be picked and presented by a committee member as something special or especially interesting to them. Virtually celebrate the end of a very strange academic with us in style!

Event date: Friday 18th June
Ticket sales closing: Friday 4th June

Price: £30 (Members £28)
Optional Zoom event & datasheet distributed after

Important Information:
You will be required to collect your sample kit from the Cambridge Wine Merchants on King’s Parade. We will use your email address, provided below, to let you know when they’re available for collection and provide you with the Zoom details.
Our virtual events can only go ahead if we know in good time how much whisky we need to buy, pour and pack ready for collection. Our aim is to sell enough tickets to cover two of each bottle. If we don’t sell enough tickets to cover our costs, some or all purchases may be refunded honouring a ‘first come’ tickets purchased system. Refunds will not otherwise be available after ticket sales close, or if you fail to collect your kit within a week of the sent notification.

I could have called this an Islay tasting, but I didn’t want to discourage anyone. Most people expect earth and smoke from Islay whisky, but as with most characterisations there are exceptions. We definitely will have some peated drams, but we’ll also try some unpeated offerings from the Queen of the Hebrides.

Event Date: Friday 7th May
Ticket sales close: Wednesday 28th April
Optional Zoom event & whisky datasheet distributed after

Important Information:
You will be required to collect your sample kit from the Cambridge Wine Merchants on King’s Parade. We will use your email address, provided below, to let you know when they’re available for collection, and to provide you with the Zoom details.
Our virtual events can only go ahead if we know in good time how much whisky we need to buy, pour and pack ready for collection. We may have to cancel this tasting if we don’t sell enough tickets to cover our costs. Full refunds will be given in that case. Refunds will not otherwise be available after ticket sales close, or if you fail to collect your kit within a week of the sent notification.