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May 3, 2018

Spirit of Speyside The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival: there will be rivers of whisky.

The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival pops its cork today.

Running from today to Monday, the festival features 520 events across Speyside, home to half of all Scotland’s distilleries.

As we noted back at the beginning of March when tickets first went on sale, the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival is becoming more and more popular.

A whopping 116 events sold out within 24 hours of being released. In fact, almost 5,000 tickets valued at £154,000, were bought within 24 hours.

The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival: ceilidh on a train

There are still plenty of tickets available for nosings and tastings; a ceilidh on board a train; whisky caching, craft events, quizzes and valuations.

Look out for whisky tasting master classes; whisky and food pairings; traditional music, outdoors activities and heritage events. In a nutshell, the Festival offers something for die-hard whisky fans and those who have never tried it before.

Festival chairman James Campbell says, 'The level of interest has astounded us; we did wonder if we could match the success of last year’s sales, but here we are again having surpassed it.

'Whisky lovers from all around the world have shown a real thirst for the 2018 offering. And, in line with previous years the exclusive distillery tours have sold out first. Real whisky aficionados are always looking for very special experiences that are only available at the time of the Festival, so tours of distilleries not normally open to the public sold out very quickly.'

If you can't make The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival...

If you can't make it up to the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival over the next few days, dry your eyes. The Scotch Malt Whisky Society is making May a month to remember with the release of ten exclusive bottles.

The special bottlings are being released to celebrate both the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival and Feis Ile, The Islay Festival of Music and Malt which runs 25 May–2 June.

The Society will also be holding a series of events at both festivals. In addition there will be Speyside and Islay-themed tastings at its Members’ Rooms and partner bars throughout the UK.

Both regions have their superfans. This year, the Society is urging members to make their voices heard by joining the online debate between Speyside supporter the Craigellachie Crusader and peat freak the Islay Avenger.

Who needs Avengers Infinity when you can have the Islay Avenger?