The August Bank Holiday & Ice Cream just makes sense!
When: 24th August 2025
Where: Thirsty
Host: Elliott Drinks Whisky
This event was a huge amount of fun. It was also an experiment with an element of measured risk. I think the room agreed it paid off. About halfway through, I was reminded by a guest that I’ve previously said I was reluctant to do paired tastings because you can’t guarantee the efficacy of a pairing without testing it out. Most of my lineups are as new to me as they are to the audience I’m presenting and sharing them with; that’s part of the fun for me, and I’ve been told it’s part of the charm of my events. I suppose you could argue that I take a risk every time I present a lineup like that: reviews and official tasting notes can only be so reliable, not to mention the inherently subjective and variable nature of whisky tasting. But I do trust that my research and experience with different distilleries or styles, plus those reviews, will lead to a good event, aiming for contrasting bottles and a varied selection.
Typically, if I’m planning an event, then doubling the risk of not knowing for certain how a whisky will behave by attaching a specific food pairing to it has always seemed to be a step too far. Guests put their trust in me when they buy a ticket, and I don’t want to damage that relationship. But if I have help from someone who is as confident in their specific food knowledge as I am about my lineup selections, then that is something I’m happy to investigate. That was what the eponymous owner of Jack’s Gelato offers, and why it felt insane not to try this event!
I had a rough idea of the boxes to tick to have an appealing, effective whisky lineup if we were going to be enjoying ice cream alongside it. So, I sent that to Jack with my rough idea of what flavours were going to be going on, and what I gingerly thought might work well, and then left it to him to spin his gears. A bit closer to the time, I confirmed with him some actual bottles, and he gave me the flavours he was thinking of. After an initial confusion on my part (I don’t speak Italian!), we were set with four interesting whiskies and four attractive ice creams.
The Whisky
(Click on the images to buy a bottle)
Ten Summers
Bourbon – 45%
Justification: Recreating the event inspiration
Ice Cream: Coconut & Sour Cherry Ripple
There isn’t a lot to say about this bottle. It’s a Kentucky bourbon, which implies some things based on the strict legal definition of a bourbon. And we know it sat in charred virgin oak for at least 10 years. It comes from Atom Labs, the people behind Master of Malt, and fits their pattern of independently bottling all sorts of things they get their hands on, for good value, with little supporting information.
I wanted a bourbon for this event because it was discovering Jack’s bourbon & blueberry ripple earlier this year that really convinced me there were interesting flavour combos out there, which could survive being exposed to each other. I was confident this would be a solid bourbon example, especially considering the aim was not to rely on sampling it in isolation.
The paired coconut and sour cherry ripple was a direct continuation of that earlier flavour journey. The coconut was expected to pair well with the wood, vanilla, char and cereal spice elements of every good bourbon. Whilst the cherry would push us towards Manhattan cocktail territory. This pairing definitely delivered, amplifying what turned out to be a pretty typical bourbon, and proving right from the off that this event was worth having.
Notes: Char, woody, vanilla.
With Ice Cream: Leathery, sherry, more fruit. Coconut pops. Lots of banana. Solvent. Plenty of wood still, perhaps cherry wood.
North Star – Secret 15yo Speyside
Single Cask Single Malt Scotch Whisky – 50.3%
Justification: Sherry and caramel
Ice Cream: Dulde de Leche
Second bottle, second secret source. North Star are an independent bottler based in Glasgow that has made a name for themselves with their single cask series of bottlings. They’re a small company, founded in 2016, with access to some really cracking casks. This release of 232 bottles from series 26, they’ve said, is unlike any Speyside they’ve released before, with a really region-atypical funk. An apt expression to release, perhaps, given that planning and building permissions have now been given to North Star for their very own Campbeltown distillery: a region known for its funky whiskies.
It was aged for 15 years, spending at least some of that time in a sherry cask.Not knowing the style of sherry previously in the cask, but banking on the sherry spectrum meaning either fruity or nutty characteristics imparted, choosing a rich, sweet ice flavour for pairing was the direction we went.
I think that caramel chocolates work well with sherried whiskies, and caramel improves every dessert, so the dulce de leche should have been a reasonably safe bet. Dulce de leche is a cousin of caramel, popular in South America, and made with milk to give a nuttier flavour than the sharp sweetness of caramel. While the whisky was as interesting as promised, and the ice cream was delicious, the general feeling in the room was that the pairing didn’t add anything much to either party.
Notes: Bit of salt, aerosol + farm funk. Woody pepper, nutty sherry, some red fruit leather.
With Ice Cream: Lot of wood. Vacuum bag. Touch of grape and apple
Laphroaig – Sherry 10yo
Single Malt Scotch Whisky – 48%
Justification: BBQ meat with salty & sweet
Ice Cream: Stracciatella & Salted Marcona Almond
For the back half of the line-up, I knew I wanted 2 smokey whiskies, one with fruit, one more ‘natural’. Laphroaig offer both within their 10yo entries, and I plumped for their sherry oak finish, thinking that it’s less likely people will have tried this expression, and because of what I had planned for the last bottle. If you want to taste Islay, you can’t go too far wrong with a bottle of Laphroaig. And even despite the green glass, you can tell the sherry cask finish has had a profound effect on this whisky.
With the medicinal, smokey Laphroaig character, modified with the fruity sherry, I often head down the bbq meat road with my notes, so a salted component in the ice cream felt necessary – hence the salted almonds. And, as I said before, I like caramel chocolates with sherried whiskies, so the stracciatella here checks that box. Stracciatella (in this case, as it can also mean a torn egg soup, or a reformed mozzarella cheese) is the presence of fine shards of dark chocolate in the ice cream, made by folding in melted chocolate which solidfies quickly. The Marcona almonds are of Spanish origin and are rounder and softer than more traditional almonds, imparting a buttery flavour and texture, more like almond essence.
I was still busy presenting as the ice cream came around the room, so I hadn’t even tried the whisky before I could see people digging into their pots. And I could tell from the glee on people’s faces that this was a successful pairing. The salt was a great compliment to the whisky, as well as the bitterness of the dark chocolate, but more than that, the crunchy texture of both made the whole experience feel different and engaging.
Notes: Fully smokey with red boiled sweets. Finish of roast beef + cranberry
With Ice Cream: more nuts, more earth, less meat, less fruit. More tobacco, damp wood, perfumey smoke. Comes with its own wafer. White chocolate notes despite the dark stracciatella.
Kilkerran – Heavily Peated Batch 12
Single Malt Scotch Whisky – 58.4%
Justification: Funky coastal with tart orchard fruit
Ice Cream: Damson Sorbet
Kilkerran, the brand name of whiskies made at the Glengyle distillery in Campbeltown (due to an existing blended brand called Glengyle), represents a success story and culmination of some family history. The current production on the site has been going since 2004, but the Glengyle distillery was originally founded in 1872 by one of the sons of the original Springbank founder (also Campbeltown-based). Back in the late 19th century, Campbeltown was the capital of Scotch whisky, given its proximity to Glasgow along the water for both raw ingredients and exporting, there were over 30 distilleries. Once US prohibition, WWI, and the rise of rail connections through Scotland took hold, the demand for Campbeltown whiskies dropped. By 1935 there were only two surviving distilleries: Springbank and Glen Scotia.
At the turn of the millennium, the Scotch Whisky Association were updating their ‘regions’ of Scotland, and told the two Campbeltown distilleries they were out, which the Springbank owner, Hedley Wright, was not going to take lying down. Hedley was the great-great-grandson of the original Springbank founder and great-great-nephew of the original Glengyle founder. It was he who founded a new company to bring Glengyle back to life, ultimately saving the regional moniker of Campbeltown by ensuring the minimum requirement of 3 distilleries was met.
Most Kilkerran output is lightly peated, but they have been releasing 2 limited expressions a year in their Heavily Peated range, which does what it says on the tin. This is batch 12, and like the rest, is bottled at cask strength. It is made from a ratio of about 90:10 bourbon to sherry casks. Each batch is different as time and cask variation make their effects known, but there’s typically funk, cereal and orchard fruit notes along with a prominent coastal smoke. So, a tart damson sorbet to cut through some of that, but equally sit comfortably alongside it, was the plan. However, as with pairing 2 from earlier, while both were lovely in their own right, there wasn’t a lot to say about their partnership.
Notes: Treacle tart, chicken gravy, cereal, good strong smoke.
With Ice Cream: Brings out some citrus, more of the malt, knocks out the smoke, some bitter sea salt + damp sand.
The Winners
Vote Winner: Bottle & Ice Cream #3 – Laphroaig with stracciatella and salted almond
Close Contenders: Bottle & Ice Cream #1 – Bourbon with coconut and cherry
Throughout the afternoon, the audience was a step ahead of me, as I was talking and introducing and justifying, they’d tried each whisky and each ice cream before I’d put my clipboard down. I could tell that the Laphroaig pairing was something special from the grins and happy murmurs. Then I tried both and concurred.
The opening bourbon wasn’t particularly inspiring in itself, but paired with the coconut and cherry, the two worked well together and did a good job of confirming that the experimental tasting was worth doing.
What was almost most interesting with this event was hearing the contrasting opinions around the room regarding when a pairing worked for one person, but didn’t for another. Sometimes that meant there was no change, sometimes it meant it removed a characteristic of the whisky that someone enjoyed. Most of the people I spoke to found that 2 of the 4 worked well, and 2 were less effective, but they didn’t agree about which.