168 Whisky Club

Yesterday was our biggest and best event yet, with 70 attendees hosted at Barclays' campus in Glasgow. 💪 Looking back, we've come a long way! We were established a decade ago with a dozen regular attendees around Wbg's boardroom table... Now, with a membership of almost 250 professionals, we are a hub for professional networking and business referrals. ✅ We accommodate 35 attendees at our monthly tasting sessions in Wbg's Loch Lomond Suite. 🙌 If you're unfamiliar, Wbg is a specialist full-service accountancy firm helping clients across the UK achieve their ambitions. Thanks to the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, Larder Magazine and Scottish Business News for sharing our latest news. 🔗 See more: https://lnkd.in/eXxxicHF Sláinte

Last night's tasting session was the place to be! 🤩 In conjunction with N4 Partners, our extravaganza was held in Barclays' beautiful campus in Glasgow. Thank you to Liam McGonigle for organising the venue. 🙌 It was an evening of good views, good company and even better drams. 🥃 Thanks to our host, Dougal Barr of Douglas Laing & Co., for a superb evening. 👏 A big thank you to our members and guests for making such an evening possible. 🤝 There are too many of you to tag, so we've randomly selected a handful: Harry Staples, Stephen Park Brown, David Ferguson, Murdoch MacLennan, Garry Clarke, Tracey Campbell-Hynd, David Houston, Brendan Semple, Andrew McGowan. It was a special evening for Wbg, with our corporate finance team Melanie Clark, Tom Faichnie and Robyn Purcell making the journey from Aberdeen for the tasting. 😊 168 Whisky Club is the ultimate professional networking group in Glasgow. ✅ Sláinte

We tried something new at yesterday's tasting session - other than the drams! We had a sponsor of the first dram, Donna K. of DMK Finance, who set a great tone for the evening. 😆 Thanks to Iain Croucher of North Star Spirits for a cracking night! 🙌 Special shout out to Paul Hodgkiss for our custom made flights. Absolute class. ❤️ As always, our hosts received custom artwork from our resident artiste, Craig Allison. Sláinte

It's a 168 w̶h̶i̶s̶k̶y̶ rum night. 🤩 We're excited to welcome Kenny Macdonald from Dràm Mòr Group Ltd. this evening! Kenny shares our passion for whisky (and rum), so he'll feel right at home. 😊 We look forward to an unforgettable tasting session. Sláinte

We had our first 168 tasting since our firm's rebrand to Wbg | Formerly Wylie & Bisset, and what a stellar evening it was! 🌟 Our hosts, Ryan William McCafferty and Ola Lopatowska from Tri Carragh Scotch Whisky, were out of this world! It was another full house and we also welcomed 8 first-timers to 168. Ryan, who has a fascinating background in astrophysics, took us on an intergalactic journey of their whisky flavours. Think of him as the Brian Cox of whisky! He explained the complexities of the universe and whisky with equal charm and clarity. Ola's expertise and enthusiasm were evident as she worked the room. The whiskies? One word - ethereal. 😍 Ethereal 𝘢𝘥𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 extremely delicate and light in a way that seems not to be of this world. From sweet to smoky, there was something for every palate. The lineup of drams was: 🥃 Lowland Dalrymple 10yo | 1st fill Oloroso Hogshead | 59.3% 🥃 Secret Speyside 14yo | 2nd fill Sherry Hogshead | 55.6% 🥃 Tamnavulin 12yo | 1st fill PX Hogshead | 56.8% 🥃 Glen Elgin 12yo | 1st Fill Tawny Port Barrique | 55.5% 🥃 Macduff 13yo | 1st Fill Rubino Marsala Barrique | 61.8% 🥃 Ardmore 17yo | Refill Bourbon Hogshead | 55.3% For those new to the Tri Carragh name, it represents the three pillars of whisky: water, barley, and yeast. Ryan and Ola's understanding of these elements proves that great whisky is all about getting the fundamentals right. 👏 A special shoutout to Craig Allison, who produced another masterful piece of artwork as a thank you to Tri Carragh. 🖼️ His work perfectly captured the spirit of the evening and continues to elevate 168 Whisky Club. Thanks to everyone who attended and made the night an astronomical success. 168 is truly a unique business networking forum! 🚀 For the first time in a while, David Ferguson of Ferguson Whisky Ltd had the opportunity to sit and enjoy the drams! If you're interested in hosting or attending as a guest, please DM Scott Grant for more information. Sláinte

Looking for accommodation for Fèis Ìle? 🚨 One of our good friends has rented a house on Islay for the whisky festival but sadly can no longer make it. It’s a cracking house, situated perfectly in Port Charlotte. Check it out here: www.angrianan-islay.co.uk. The house is booked from Saturday 25th May until Saturday 1st June. If you're interested in the accommodation, please DM Scott Grant. Reasonable offers will be considered. Our friend also has a ferry booking which could potentially have a name change. There'll be a number of familiar 168 faces around the whole week - and the festival is an absolute must for all whisky fans! Sláinte #feisile #islay #whisky

Do you know how our 168 Whisky Club started? We've been around for years - but our elevation has been a more recent development. Thanks to André de Almeida from Inside the Cask Ltd for unearthing our history with Scott Grant and penning our journey beautifully. You can read André's piece here: https://lnkd.in/eQQqZ8NS It's been quite the experience - from the boardroom in Wylie & Bisset 10 years ago, to a whole floor in Barclays UK last month. Thank you to everyone who has been part of our story so far. We look forward to savouring more drams together. Sláinte

168 went on tour for our April tasting session! 🗺️ It was a one-off event with our friends at Barclays UK, in their fabulous new campus in Glasgow. 😍 The best part? We had double our usual capacity of guests! It's always great to see new faces in the crowd and it's even sweeter when it's their first time experiencing uisge beatha. 😋 Unfortunately, our hosts Kilchoman Distillery, were involved in a crash en route. First and foremost, thankfully, no one was hurt. The tasting was rescued by swift action from our Ringmaster Scott Grant and one of our extraordinary guests. The one and only, David Ferguson! So a BIG thank you to David of Ferguson Whisky Ltd for answering the bat signal. 👏 David stepped up to the plate and delivered some exquisite whisky and fantastic banter. Considering the session was done off the cuff, it was impressive to witness! Not all heroes wear capes. David, it's our privilege to have such a sporting member. 🤝 Thank you to everyone else who helped on the night, whether it was to pour or clear up. There's no 'i' in 'Team'! Of course, it wouldn't be a 168 tasting without a custom art piece from our resident artist Craig Allison. 🖼️ It was a great night had by all thanks to the Barclays team, our 168 team, and David. We love it when a plan comes together! 🥳 It's bye for now Barclays, but we’ll be back… and we have some exciting ideas in the pipeline. 👀 168 is taking a little break in May. We'll be returning home to 168 Bath Street in June. Sláinte

March's tasting session got away from us after the Easter weekend! 🙈 It was a real treat as our hosts, Lochlea Distillery, are one of 10 distilleries in Scotland that produce their own barley. 😍 Lochlea has a colourful history, having historically been a dairy farm and more recently, a pedigree beef cattle farm. A big thank you to Emma Kirk and John Campbell who brought wonderful drams, each with a unique flavour profile, including their limited-edition seasonal release! 🫶 The four drams of their seasonal release are an evolution of Lochlea's unique new make spirit as it matures. These are: 🌷 Sowing Edition marks Spring when the barley seed is sowed ☀️ Harvest Edition reflects Summer when the barley is harvested 🍂 Fallow Edition embodies Autumn when the ground recovers ❄️ Ploughing Edition denotes Winter when the soil is ploughed Emma and John were the perfect duo, with Emma providing the intriguing history of Lochlea and John offering a unique insight into the production of the whisky. 👏 And you know it's not a 168 until our in-house artist, Craig Allison, presents a unique piece of the distillery! As a treat, Craig has made another piece of art; a teaser of the atmospheric Lochlea illustration. 🤩 Make sure your volume is turned up for this one!! It was a brilliant evening to remember. We can't forget John's proverbs, which had us all crying with laughter! One of our favourites was “On yonder hill there stood a coo, its no there any more, it must have mooooved”. And on that note, our next 168 tasting session is moving (for one night) from Wylie & Bisset to the remarkable new Barclays premises in Glasgow! We can't share any other details as we've been sworn to secrecy. 🤐 All we can say is - if you've ever been a fan of an Islay malt, you will not be disappointed... It's going to be one of the best 168 yet! We'll part on a sentimental and profound proverb from our good friend John, "There are good ships and wood ships, ships that sail the sea, but the best ships are friendships, and may they always be". ❤️ Sláinte

You know what the last Thursday of the month means! 😍 It was another lively evening at 168 yesterday, with the return of David Ferguson of Ferguson Whisky Ltd - exactly 12 months after he presented his newly formed cask sale business. David treated us to some magnificent drams! 😋 We opened with a stunning 25yo Kentucky Bourbon and ended with The Whisky Shop exclusive bottling of a Glendronach 29yo. Sandwiched in between were the outstanding drams from Deanston, Balblair and Ailsa. 🫶 We even had a taste of a new expression courtesy of our good friends from Speyside Distillery. Just as we thought things couldn't have got any better, David treated us to a generous dram of a 12yo Speyside PX that he's just bottled! 🔥 We were also fortunate to sample a PX sherry that the FW bottle has matured in. And it wouldn't be a 168 night without the pièce de résistance from our resident artiste, Craig Allison. 🖼️ We had another full house of 35 - with 12 of our guests attending for the first time. A big thank you to our generous host and to our amazing guests for an incredible 168 night. We couldn't have done it without you! Sláinte