After having been introduced into the world of Jim Beam and being directed into drinking some rare old XXL niceties on the Saturday afternoon, the Saturday evening was open for us to step into the church and browse the tables, shake some hands, hug some friends and share a dram with people we just met…

In part one of our visit to Whisky Live Holland in the Hague, we already told about Hans Offringa’s masterclass about American Whisky – especially the Jim Beam expressions. Like other masterclasses during the festival, it lasted 45 minutes, so there was little time for chitchat and making elaborate tasting notes. Time was deliberately kept…

Half-way in this year’s whisky-season, the time has come for the largest festival in the Netherlands; Whisky Live Holland in the Hague. The biggest festival automatically means the largest number of people, and sadly – the most expensive one. Both the number of people and the prices for the entrance and extras during the time…

The day before we had to go home again had arrived, and was once more planned with great events. When the breakfast was devoured again, it was time to get everybody in the van on time to drive from Dufftown to Tomintoul following the B9008 and the B9136. Not having visited, we trusted the GPS…

So, after spending the morning at the Glenfiddich distillery, the group had to get back into the car to drive the half mile or so to the Balvenie distillery. We took the car, because we were out of time (big lunch) and crossing the terrain without high-visibility vests and a tour-guide, is simply not allowed….

Thursday-morning, the weather was a bit grey and misty when we woke up. After a sturdy breakfast, we drove the small one and a half mile from the cottage to Balvenie Castle. It turned out the van had wipers, and we actually needed to turn them them on to keep our eyes on the road. Sadly,…

Because of yesterday’s late arrival, we had not seen the crisp and beautiful surroundings of the Parkmore cottages earlier. With the sun shining and the surrounding hills covered in cold, misty clouds, this promised to be a beautiful day. Again. Some of the early risers had already been running or strolling around in the vicinity,…

Over a year ago, we got the idea to organise a trip to Scotland with a group of our whisky friends and have some whisky-related fun. It would be our first experience as “travel-agents” and after many preparations and planning, the day had finally come that everybody gathered at our place for a pre-travel tasting….

Having a chat with Richard (Photo Whisky-Photographers) Some years ago, we first learned about the existence of this whisky & rum festival in the harbours of Ijmuiden, organised by Richard and Esther Blesgraaf, who run the Zeewijck wine and whisky shop in the city. Last year we were too late to book a hotel room…

The Potstill Festival is a whisky and spirit festival organised by importer and distributor van Wees in Amersfoort, where we already have been to for some years, and has grown into a tradition with a growing group of friends. Besides whisky, they have a wide selection of cognac, eua-de-vie, armagnac, grappa, rum and other distilled products available, most…

With whisky-festival season in full-throttle again, we found ourselves at our first festival since Speyside, in Vlissingen – way south in the Netherlands, in the province of Zeeland (where new-Zealand gets it’s name from), in a small theatre on the coast of the North-Sea. Organisation was in the capable hands of Ronald Zwartepoorte, Keeper of…

In our stories about the travels we make, we do not only visit Scotland, but also explore outside that beautiful country. A Friday morning in September we decided to take a road trip after work and go to the Dutch island called Texel for the weekend and just relax and have the wind in our hair and…