Shining a light on some of the Spring celebrations happening around the world, through the lens of whisky
When: 19th April 2025
Where: Northstowe Tap & Social
Host: Elliott Drinks Whisky
Northstowe is the biggest new town in the UK since Milton Keynes was built in the 60s. Although the first residents moved in in April 2017, it wasn’t until April 2024 that the first venue selling food and drink opened there. That venue was the Northstowe Tap and Social, and it brought a bar, bakery, coffee shop, food trucks and an event space.
In this event space, I joined in with their birthday celebrations over the Easter weekend. Choosing a line-up of whiskies (mostly) that allowed us to reflect on other celebrations happening around the world in Spring.
The Whisky
(Click on the images to buy a bottle)
Murray McDavid – Tullibardine – Chocolate & Fruit
Single malt Scotch whisky – 44.5%
Justification: Chocolate for Easter
Murray McDavid is an independent bottling brand currently based out of the Speyside Coleburn distillery, though originally founded in London in 1994.
Their Cask Craft series focuses on single malt scotch matured in a variety of woods, sold at a reasonable price and with simple, reductive descriptions. All very helpful in making bottles in the series perfect examples of specific notes or styles.
With a subtitle of Chocolate and Fruit, achieved through PX and Oloroso sherry cask finishing, this is a great whisky for first in the line-up, representing Easter. Whilst it wasn’t the bottle I’d originally hoped for in this role, it played its part wonderfully, if a little lacking in chocolate power (but that’s made up for later in the night).
Notes: Sherry, grape, cocoa dusting, foam banana, barnyard must/funk.
Becketts – Cask #1
Single cask, single malt English whisky – 46.8%
Justification: 1st edition for a 1st birthday
Primarily a gin producer, this bottle marks Becketts’ inaugural whisky release. Their gins include locally sourced botanicals from around their home in Kingston-upon-Thames.
Their sloe gin, made from their London dry gin, is sometimes aged in ex-bourbon barrels, and it is in those barrels, after the sloe gin is removed, that this whisky was aged; a first for whisky.
Cask #1, released late 2024, is the first in a planned annual series featuring progressively older sloe gin casked whisky. This edition is a limited 324-bottle run, and with it, we celebrate their first offering, as we celebrate the Tap & Social’s first birthday.
Notes: Lighter than bottle 1, but good jammy berries. Gin with a little fizz, oak spice. Some malt and yeast (i.e. young), bit of tea leaf.
Godawan – Series 1: Rich & Rounded
Indian single malt whisky- 56%
Justification: Indian for the Hindu festival of Holi
India consumes the largest volume of ‘whisky’ in the world. Why the inverted commas? Well, 4 of their brands outsell Johnnie Walker, but in Europe we’d probably see them labelled as rum: with added molasses, they aren’t what most of the world would recognise as whisky. However, there is also plenty of demand for ‘real’ whisky, and of course that means commercial attention.
Godawan is a brand owned by Diageo, running a distillery in Rajasthan – the hottest state in India, a desert. They focus on sustainability and conservation whilst marketing a premium spirit.
Unusually, Godawan whisky spends a small portion of its time in ex-bourbon barrels that have been treated with select Indian botanicals. This bottle was aged initially in PX sherry casks too. A colourful, Indian whisky worthy of representing Holi in this line-up.
Notes: A lot of wood. Sherry, bit of root veg, thick and syrupy.
Broken Bones – 5yo Peated
Slovenian single malt whisky – 46%
Justification: Easter butter lambs, from (e.g.) Slovenia
When 2 friends with backgrounds & training in winemaking, brewing and distilling came together to craft whisky to rival Scotland, they probably didn’t imagine that mutual personal injury would inspire the name of that whisky. But one broken nose and one broken leg later, Slovenia had its first whisky distillery.
With clean forest air and Slovenian oak to mature in, along with their alpine water and custom-designed still already part of the process, the distillery hopes to be able to start experimenting with local peat.
Currently, their peated releases are made incorporating imported malted, peat-smoked barley. This bottle also receives a finish in heavily peated ex-bourbon, ex-Islay barrels. Wanting to try something from this distillery, and learning about the Eastern European Easter butter lamb tradition seemed like a fitting coincidence.
Notes: BBQ crisps, chocolate, veg crisps, honey parsnips. After water, a bit of a bile note.
Holyrood – Cask #24
Single cask, single malt Scotch whisky – 61.6%
Justification: Smokey for Beltane fire festival
Although Edinburgh has a history of brewing and distilling, Holyrood distillery, established 2019 with a 2023 inaugural release, know they themselves have none. But, they are very happy about this, as it frees them to be curious and innovative.
They’ve made a big show of their yeast and malt experiments, with many bottled new make releases. This single ex-bourbon cask, filling 222 bottles, results from a fermentation with Nottingham ale (90%) & distillers (10%) yeasts and a heavily (Highland) peated malt. And we all know there’s no smoke without fire, which is why I chose this bottle as an embodiment of Beltane fire festival, whose modern interpretation sees a massive gathering on Edinburgh’s Calton Hill.
Notes: Definitely BBQ crisps now! Although the alcohol isn’t fire, it is a main note. With water there’s honey, some pate.
North Star Spirits – Campbeltown Chocolate Soop
Chocolate & whisky Liqueur – 50%
Justification: I mean…
To make up for missing out on a bottle of the recently launched, and just as recently removed, definitely not an April Fool’s, despite launching on April 1st, Dalry Milk, I presented this. Another definitely not an April Fool’s, despite launching on April 1st bottle, but one that has stuck around.
Not a whisky, but a chocolately treat, as it was Easter weekend. This (vegan-friendly) Italian chocolate liqueur was grabbed by the folk at North Star Spirits, and spiked with a little of the finest Campbeltown whisky they could spare.
Notes: Chocolate. Praline, nutty. Chocolate on toast (but not nutella).
The Winners
Vote Winner: Bottle #1 – Tullibardine, tied with bottle #3 – Godawan
Close Contender: Bottle #2 – Becketts
Thankfully, we didn’t vote on the quality of my connections between bottle & theme. I had taken the vote before the Soop came out, as I didn’t know how that was going to go down – we did get one vote conversion! The tied winners, both sherry casked drams, with the two smokey offerings shunned almost entirely, points to a crowd not fully welcoming of peat in their glasses, because those smokey bottles were quite incredible! For me, the Broken Bones particularly impressed, which, as I understand it, echoes the reviews and ratings their expressions generally receive.
The Murray McDavid sharing the podium is another great example of what their Cask Craft range does: clearly defined, fantastic value for money, placing it as approachable and understandable. The Godawan up there with it, shows off the quality of hot-climate or tropical whisky that India is so good at producing. Following closely was the very interesting Becketts. I am certainly excited to see how their experimentation with sloe gin casks evolves as their whisky ages further.
