Castlemaine publican Pat Furze may be of Irish heritage but when it comes to a dram of top shelf whisky it’s the Scottish stuff he personally prefers.
So much so that the co-owner of Castlemaine’s Bridge Hotel recently completed an appreciative in person tour of the distilleries of Scotland.
In the process Pat, who also happens to be married to a Scottish lass, gained insights he’s looking forward to sharing with fellow Scotch devotees closer to home through a whisky tasting event he’s preparing to lead at the local pub.
Coming up Saturday October 1 the Whiskies of Scotland, whisky tasting event promises to dispense plenty of tastings of the liquid gold itself alongside a goodly splash of the myths, methods and marvels of Scottish Whisky.
“It’s a really good opportunity for people to try something exceptional and quite rare,” he says
“It’s one of these drinks that people are interested in but don’t tend to know about, but it’s steeped in history, culture and mythology.”
“We stopped at every whisky distillery we could,” Pat says recounting his research tour.
“We also drove a few hundred miles out of our way for some, like the Oban distillery on the Scottish west coast.”
Pat says the upcoming intimate whisky tasting event is limited to 16 people who will be taken through a selection of the very best Scottish single malts while learning a little about what makes Scottish whisky great.
“It will be focused on the whisky and learning how to appreciate it, how to taste it and develop a palate for it,” he says.
“I’ve been passionate about whisky for about 20 years.
“Going back pre-pandemic we’ve done some whisky tasting courses before but we haven’t focused on Scotch whisky before.
“If the demand is there we’d like to increase our course offerings to also do gin tastings and wine tastings as well.”
More info about next month’s Whiskies of Scotland tasting course is available via the pub’s website.