The first meeting of 2020 was held at the William Walker pub, named for the man who spent five years (!) in a diving suit, in 20 meters of total watery darkness, placing sacks of cement to shore up the foundation for the Winchester Cathedral. I wasn’t sure what to expect, other than I knew that that night I would be operating in the darkness of my paltry whisky knowledge. I knew a few of the attendees, but like most of us, there were more people I didn’t know. But it was great to quickly make some new acquaintances and rapidly establish that we were all mostly non-experts but keen to learn more. Once we were seated, Dave said a few words of introduction and set the tone – it was clearly going to be an informal evening, with the emphasis on enjoying ourselves, learning a bit about whisky, tasting in general, and Bimber in particular (more of which later)….in other words not an academic evening discussing the intricacies of the chemistry of distillation, but rather a relaxed night of enjoying some good whisky.
Dave handed over to Bimber, who were represented by Matt McKay, their head of marketing and comms and Luke Juranek. Matt gave a quick overview of Bimber Distillery’s history and goals, then got down to why we were all there: tasking whisky! First up was a sample of their “new make spirit.” On first glance, a fairly non-descript, clear liquid, and definitely didn’t look like any whisky I’d ever tried. As it turned out, unless you’d been on a distillery tour, it wasn’t like any whisky anyone would have ever tried as this was the 63% proof liquid straight out of the still before it went on to any further stages. As we were trying this, Matt explained that we ‘should’ be able to trace flavour notes from the new make through the other samples we were going on to taste later on. What a tremendous surprise this was! While quite strong, it had a complexity and delicacy that was noted and enjoyed by all.
As Matt continued to explain the background of Bimber, their supply chain, and some of the distinguishing parts of their whisky-making process we tried further samples distinguished by different ages and barrels: a virgin oak casked; ex-bourbon; recharred cask release; and First Release ex Pedro Ximenez cask. Each one had its own subtleties, nuances and textures, as one would expect from the different cask processes. I cant personally claim to have been able to trace specific flavour notes as we went on, but with the guidance provided by Matt, and the explanations as we went, I could genuinely discern some of the differences between the samples. For a novice, the most helpful was the friendly and open Q&A as we went through each tasting. It was a great way to build up more knowledge on Bimber specifically and whisky tasting more generally. Should you want to check out their goods, go to: https://www.bimberdistillery.co.uk/home
Long and short of it all, it was a fascinating and hugely enjoyable night, and seemed to be universally well received by audience and hosts alike – roll on the next event!
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