About

***NEWSFLASH*** with just 7 or less days to go the Masterclasses are available to pre-book and there's some serious fun and deliciousness to be had. The classes are ~45 mins and ones so far confirmed are two by Principal Sponsor Claxton's (line up details below), a laying down the gauntlet 'World's best masterclass by the World's bestindependent bottler!!! :) and as if that wasn't enough our friend Tina Siewert has come over from Germany with a wonderful Ultimate Charity Tasting. Details below and in the ticketing options. Also with very few tickets left for 2 of the 3 sessions (6 at time of writing for Sat session 1) grab yours asap.

Last year was perhaps the best yet so can we beat 2024? Want to taste some of the finest spirits in the World, take your senses on a wonderful journey as this is seriously great whisky and spot on people in a perfect brewery environment, you would be hard pushed to beat this festival anywhere in the World. It may not be the cheapest festival in the World but it is worth it.

Some of the finest Indie bottlers of spirits are coming to the festival all under one roof for 2 days and a ticket lets you try whatever you like from their table (and good craic perhaps even under the table drams :)) Here is the list of exhibitors:

Lady of the Glen/Hannah

Cadenhead's

Scotch Whisky Auctions

Dram Mor

DRINK Limited

Elixir Distillers

Integrity Malts - Brand new first ever festival attended

Necropolis Spirits - Brand new first ever festival attended

One Cask at a Time - Brand new first ever festival attended

Distillery Corner (well might be a room full)

Speyside Distillery

Spirit of Yorkshire/Filey Bay

Lancaster Spirits

Cooper King Distillery

Ad Gefrin

**** Claxton's Masterclass Line up:

Curated and hosted by Adrian Hoose from Claxton's, what a treat is in store for participants. The Stravaig/Tri Carragh line up is top secret and currated and hosted by Ryan McCafferty and we'll see if its the World's best :).

Ultimate Charity Tasting by Tina Siewert: Pick 5 out of 12 Every bottle is single cask in cask strength that come from private casks that were bought by a group of friends. The cost is 25 pounds of which 15 goes to the festival charity, Newcastle Dog & Cat Shelter. You are welcome to purchase extra drams if you bring your own sample bottles.

Indie/Indy bottlers is where its at, producing outstanding often single cask, cask strength stunning whisky (and other spirits) and frankly the value is far better than you would expect. These are not the whiskies you find sitting on supermarket shelves, all the distilleries you may have heard of just a whole lot more than your average core range. You get to meet and try whiskies from perhaps the best Indies on the planet (~20 of them) your ticket gets you entry, an exclusive festival Glencairn nosing glass, a bottle of water and try as many of the whiskies as you like (be careful as its high octane stuff so please drink responsibly).

FYI: What is an independent whisky bottler? Independent whisky bottlers buy casks of whisky from distilleries and bottle them under their own label. They tend to focus on the flavour of the whisky by managing the maturation in the cask, how long to mature it for, and often using cask finishes to add additional layers of flavour. Another thing is they tend to offer their whisky un-chill-filtered and higher if not original cask strength so big stuff. Also arguably they offer some of the best value and bang for buck. Some of the bottlers will also be offering often very hard to find bottles there on their stand for you to try and buy straight off them.

Tickets from as little as £20 for a taster session. Also the venue could not be better and only 5 mins walk from Newcastle Central Rail station and metro.

Dates

Friday 12 September 2025 - Saturday 13 September 2025 (UTC+01)

Location

Get directions

The Assembly Rooms, Newcastle
Fenkle St, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 5XU

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