National Scotch Day

Credit: Ethan Prater

Credit: Ethan Prater

Did you know that there’s a National Scotch Day!?

Yes!

This year, it’s July 27th! As in this Sunday!

I have no idea why that day is National Scotch Day, nor do I know who chose it, but I will happily celebrate it! πŸ™‚

But honestly, who cares? It’s not like we need an excuse to enjoy Scotch in the first place.

That said, it did pique my interest and I wanted to know about the other celebrated Days that focused on the delectible spirit that is whisky (or whiskey). Here’s what I found:

Other Whisky Days

National Scotch Day isn’t the only named “day” to celebrate the spirit of Scotland, there are several others and most of them, like any of these Hallmark holidays, have commercial origins. But honestly, who cares… it’s fun.

International Whisky Day was recognized on March 27th, 2014. That particular date has a clear meaning – it’s the date of Michael Jackson’s birthday (the famed whisky writer) and was started in 2008 to celebrate his life and raise money to fight Parkinson’s Disease.

World Whisky Day happened to be May 17th, 2014. World Whisky Day started in 2012 and was started by Blair Bowman, a student at the University of Aberdeen, and it’s grown to be a pretty big event each year with a ton of sponsors. According to their estimates, over 20,000 people took part in WWD last year.

Whatever day it might be, it’s always a good day for whisky!

The one thing I do like about National Scotch Day is that there’s no central body that has “claimed” it. There are organizations behind the other ones and they hold a singular central event. With National Scotch Day, it feels more organic because there isn’t some fancy website and sponsors and all that jazz. It could be that I didn’t look hard enough or it’s because true aficionados are too busy celebrating a dram!

What do you plan to do on National Scotch Day?

15 thoughts on “National Scotch Day

  1. According to my local fishwrap, Sunday is also Hot Fudge Sundae Sunday. Now I like hot fudge sundaes, but I love scotch. Oh, the dilemmas…

  2. Thanks for pointing out national scotch day but in my world it seems to be celebrated at least 3 times a week but thanks for the (another) excuse!
    Bob

  3. In honor of this National day I shall pull out a dram of 18 year old MacAllen and a 16 year old Longmorn (a favorite of mine).

    Cheers!

  4. Private tasting for a small group of friends in Reno, Nevada, USA.

    The initial plan is: Three from Islay (Ardbeg Uigeadail; Laphroaig 18yr; Lagavulin 16yr) and one from Isle of Skye (Talisker Distillers Edition). Since National Scotch Day only comes around once each year, we’ll probably add to the list!

      • Jim,

        To my novice nose and palate, each of these whiskies was excellent! And while they had some similar characteristics, such as peat, smoke and sweetness (perhaps due to the relatively close proximity of their area of origin and to the sea?), each also was very unique. The flavor of the different casks was very apparent and each had its own distinct finish.

        The whiskies were sampled neat. We were surprised at the smoothness of all, even the Ardbeg which is 54.2% alcohol. Laphroaig has always been a favorite of mine and the difference, particularly smoothness, between the 10 year and 18 year is quite noticeable.

        While I have heard that adding water can help bring other flavors to the front, I haven’t yet had the desire or nerve to dilute my Scotch!

        National Scotch Day may only come once each year, but every day is Scotch Whisky Appreciation Day! So here’s to learning about, and sampling new whiskies, and to enjoying our favorites.

        • Yeah they’ll be relatively similar in terms of smoke and peat because those regions are marked by a historical production process that uses peat moss as a fuel source for roasting the grains before fermentation. If you threw in a Speyside or a Highland, it would be a totally different experience as I’m sure you know.

          Ardbeg Uigeadail won Jim Murray’s 2009 World Whisky of the Year award, for what that’s worth, and it’s on my list of things to try.

          I’ve done it a few times, just to see if it was really different, and a lot of the floral and fruit characteristics do come out better for me. It feels like I’m wiping away a bit of the alcohol haze, but it also tastes diluted, so I prefer to keep it at original strength now unless it’s new and I just want to change things up.

          Just last night I enjoyed a little Laphroaig Triple Wood – oh so delicious. All of the Laphroaigs with different finishes have been fantastic.

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