FEAST 2012: A Celebration of Regional Scottish Food

 The Booze Boutique at FEAST 2012

 An exciting range of drinks producers will be showcasing their products at FEAST 2012. This is a great opportunity to sample some of Scotland’s finest wines, whiskies, gins and cider and learn a bit more about these drinks at the tutor-led taster sessions.

Inverarity Vaults Ltd (Biggar)

Inverarity Vaults Ltd was formed in 1991 as an independent Scottish company producing Inverarity Whiskies and imported fine wines.

The company has grown between 20% to 35% year on year. Inverarity Vaults is a highly motivated company, focusing on exceeding expectations to its objective market: the On Trade. It has total control of all aspects of its business, from importing directly from wineries all over the world, having its own wine brands and bonded and duty paid warehouses.

Inverarity Vaults is unique in the Scottish Wine Trade, delivering exceptionally high level of personal detail and ensuring a competitive, exclusive, comprehensive wine service.

http://www.inverarity-vaults.com/

Thistly Cross Cider (Dunbar, East Lothian)

Thistly Cross produces Scotland’s award winning farmhouse ciders. Established as a collaboration between farmer, Ian Rennie, and artist-turned-cidermaker, Peter Stuart, in 2008, Thistly Cross has gained a reputation for making ciders that people rave about.

The Thistly Cross cider family consists of six hand-picked cider varieties, including summery Red cider- matured with Scottish strawberries and the complex Gold cider- matured with chipped whisky casks to give layers of flavour. Its Elderflower-pressed Cider at 1.1% proves to be quite a talking point but it is the Original Farmhouse Cider at 7.2% that is loved across the board. http://www.thistlycrosscider.co.uk/

The Spencerfield Spirit Company Ltd (Fife)

Set up by former marketing director of Glenmorangie, and whisky aficionado, Alex Nicol, Spencerfield Spirits prides itself on being a close-knit, family run business. A business where Alex, and his wife Jane, are whole-heartedly dedicated to providing a quality niche alternative to the more conventional mainstream brands.

 About the gin: Edinburgh Gin

It's partly the distinctive, locally sourced ingredients that make Edinburgh Gin so special - ingredients that include the finest Scottish grain spirit together with nine other carefully selected typical gin botanicals. The botanicals contain essential oils, and it's their extraction in the presence of alcohol that gives any gin its unique flavour.

The company sources its rectified white spirit from Invergordon distillery in the North East of Scotland - as the believe it's the perfect light grain spirit, upon which to base Edinburgh Gin.

The production process then moves to a revered 200 year old Scottish copper pot still in the Black Country, where this exceptional quality Scottish rectified grain spirit is slowly reduced down with water before the nine classic gin botanicals are added in carefully controlled amounts. At this stage, although the gin distillate is definitely recognisable as a gin, it does not yet have the unique taste or the distinctive aromas of the final product. This only happens back in Edinburgh. It's here that the locally sourced ingredients - juniper berries, milk thistle, pine, heather and other carefully selected botanicals are macerated with the gin distillate at about 60% abv. This allows the oils to mix with the original gin distillate and impart their unique flavours. In a final process, the company reduces the precious liquid to 43% alcohol. It is now ready to be bottled. The result is Edinburgh Gin - a refreshingly crisp, big juniper gin with a distinctively Scottish twist.

 Perthshire Raspberry Infused Edinburgh Gin

Raspberry Infused Edinburgh Gin is made from a traditional family recipe using locally sourced raspberries, matured with Edinburgh Gin and pure cane sugar. This results in a delicious deep, tart raspberry flavour - a refreshing alternative to Sloe or Damson Gin.

The raspberries used in this recipe are from Perthshire. The raspberry fruit is picked at its optimum ripeness ensuring the best natural sugar balance is captured.

Perfect on its own or mixed with Champagne, Prosecco, Cava, Soda Water or Lemonade. It’s also brilliant in cocktails. http://www.spencerfieldspirit. com/

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (Leith and Queen’s Street, Edinburgh)

The Society, which has bases in Edinburgh and London, is an association of lovers of single malt Scotch whisky. The team will be leading two tutor-led tasting sessions at FEAST 2012.

For more information about the Society and membership opportunities visit: www.smws.com