National Piping Centre playing host to special whisky tasting experience open to all with the experts from The Scotch Malt Whisky Society

It normally reverberates to the sound of bagpipes, but on Saturday, 4 October, the clinking of glasses and choruses of Slàinte Mhath will fill the air as The National Piping Centre hosts a special whisky event.

A Celebration For The Senses is being staged by The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS), an unconventional whisky club known for its adventurous tasting experiences. With its events usually for members only, this is a rare chance for all whisky fans to try the Society’s pioneering ‘flavour-first’ approach to whisky.

Upping sticks from the Society’s members bar in Bath Street, the event will see 100 whisky enthusiasts take part in a unique flavour adventure for the senses in the atmospheric surroundings of the National Piping Centre’s auditorium.

The event will showcase the Society’s mission to encourage people to approach whisky through the lens of flavour rather than traditional and often daunting elements such as region or age.

On the menu will be a three-course dinner and a five-dram sensory journey that focuses on a different sense for each dram. A series of fun activities will help guests to explore each sense. For sight, guests will be encouraged to close their eyes. For smell, special spray bottles with the whiskies will allow guests to experience each dram in a new way. For touch, silk bags with items linked to the whisky tasting notes will be passed around. For sound, a bespoke soundscape will play throughout the tasting. And for taste, a special petit four will be served ahead of dessert.

In addition, music from local band The Easy Winners will accompany the event.

The Society’s brand ambassador and Tasting Panel Chair Olaf Meier and the Bath Street Members’ Room’s Rhys McLean will guide guests through the experience. Founded in Edinburgh in 1983, with its Bath Street venue open since 2020, the SMWS has always championed flavour over tradition, not revealing distillery names on bottles and instead creating evocative names like “Red wine and brine in the old coal mine” and “Lavender Honey and Chimney Lobsters” to guide whisky exploration through taste and aroma.

“It’s the flavours in whisky – not the age or region – that matters most,” explains Johnny Love, Venue Manage at the Bath Street member’s rooms. “This event is a real celebration of flavour and a fantastic way for people to learn about whisky in a completely different way – through their senses rather than preconceptions about age or distillery names.”

A Celebration For The Senses, Saturday, 4 October, 7.30pm, The National Piping Centre, Glasgow

Tickets £75 for members, £85 for non-members – more information, https://smws.com/the-national-piping-centre-glasgow-a-celebration-for-the-senses/