Spirits company responds to the cost-of-living crisis by releasing their first ‘host-your-own’ Whisky Club tasting sets.

With the current economic climate making it increasingly difficult for people to afford a night out with friends, Azu Spirits is set on helping people get together by releasing their ‘host-your-own’ Whisky Club blind tasting series. It offers an ‘at-home’ version of the Whisky Club tasting events being hosted by Ellie Gibson at the Cridford Inn. 

The ‘host-your-own’ Whisky Club is a five-month series of blind tastings which ultimately explores 30 different single malts. With a new theme every month, each blind tasting includes 6x100ml sharing bottles, a guide to tasting, information exploring the month’s theme, and a wax-stamped envelope for the final ‘reveal’. Designed for an entertaining evening with friends, each month’s collection (with plenty for 4-6 people) is released in parallel with the Cridford Inn’s tasting events and is sold online at https://www.azuspirits.co.uk/whiskyclubathome for £96.

The Whisky Club series is based around exploring the roots of flavour, and themes include the Regions of Scotland, Peat, Distillation and Maturation, ending with a Burns Night Special finale. In the spirit of blind tasting, Azu has included a ‘blind tasting challenge’ in every box to reflect each month’s theme. For example, in the first tasting set (already available), the challenge is whether, given the information provided, you can identify which whisky comes from each of Scotland’s six classic whisky regions. In the October, ‘Peat in Scotch whisky’ collection, you explore the impact of peat by trying to identify which peated and unpeated expressions come from the same distillery. 

A blend of indulgence, entertainment and education, each hosted Whisky Club event at the Cridford Inn makes for a memorable night out (https://www.thecridfordinn.co.uk/cridford-inn-events/) but, for those who can’t make it, the ‘host-your-own’ Whisky Club offers a great at-home alternative.  And from January 2023 you will be able to ‘Build your Own’ tasting collection by choosing from the full range of single malt whiskies covered over the course of the winter.  A great opportunity to explore how you might want to expand your whisky collection.

As well as their winter Whisky Club series, Azu is releasing a smaller introduction to their blind tasting collections with 6 x 30ml bottles. Great for one or two people, this adds to their wide selection of classic sharing boxes. Designed as the perfect gift for a whisky or gin lover, or as a taster before buying one of the larger classic blind tasting boxes to share with friends, Azu’s mini tasting sets will be available in November ready for the perfect Christmas whisky gift.