The fourth Fife Whisky Festival proved a huge success with more people than ever enjoying the event.
Around 650 whisky enthusiasts attended the festival which organisers, Karen Somerville and Justine Hazlehurst, have announced will return for a fifth outing in 2023.
Fife Whisky Festival once again included a whisky-themed dinner at Lindores Abbey Distillery in Newburgh with broadcaster, journalist, musician and author, Vic Galloway, as this year’s guest of honour.
Co-founder Karen Somerville said: ‘This year’s Fife Whisky Festival showcased some fantastic events; the whole weekend went really smoothly and we’re delighted it was a huge success once again.
‘There were 75 people for the banquet dinner this time and Vic Galloway was an entertaining and captivating speaker.
‘Everyone enjoyed his after-dinner talk about his time growing up in Fife, his musical career and, of course, his love of whisky.
‘We’re now looking forward to returning to Fife for our fifth Festival in March next year.’
The Fife Whisky Festival included two tasting sessions at the Corn Exchange in Cupar with 325 attendees at each gathering. Whisky novices and connoisseurs alike enjoyed drams from more than 35 distilleries and independent bottlers including InchDairnie, Springbank, Tullibardine, Daftmill, Glen Scotia, and Eden Mill.
This year saw two Fife whiskies bottled for 2022’s festival bottlings: single cask releases from Lindores Abbey Distillery and, nearby, Daftmill Distillery. Thanks to Daftmill’s Francis Cuthbert and official festival retailer, Luvians, £5000 was also raised for Age Concern Cupar through the sale of the Daftmill festival release.
Two new ’hybrid’ events took place on the Sunday. There was the chance to attend two exclusive whisky tastings – hosted by Loch Lomond Distillery’s Gary Mills and Luvians’ Archie McDiarmid – either online or in-person at Hotel du Vin in St Andrews.
Fife Whisky Festival was launched in 2017 by Ms Hazlehurst, founder of Kask Whisky, and Mrs Somerville, managing director of Angels’ Share Glass, with the first event held in March 2018.
The festival, sponsored by Bruce Stevenson Insurance Brokers, legal firm MacRoberts LLP and global construction company ISG, aims to showcase the renaissance of whisky-making in Fife by bringing together the best whisky producers from the region and beyond.
Ms Hazlehurst said: ‘The Festival really has gone from strength to strength since we started out – getting bigger and better every year.
‘We’ve had some great feedback from exhibitors and festival-goers about how much they enjoyed the event and how well run it was.
‘And we’ve also heard from local business owners who were pleased with just how busy the town and surrounding area was over the weekend.
‘A lot of people came from outwith Fife and stayed over on the Friday and Saturday nights. After these last two years, this proved to be a particularly welcome boost to business for the local hotels, guesthouses and restaurants.’
Dates for next year have been confirmed as 3-5th March 2023 with plans to introduce more exclusive tastings and masterclasses, making the Fife Whisky Festival the destination event on the whisky calendar.
For more details about the festival, visit www.fifewhiskyfestival.com
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