I can think of few better ways to spend a Summer’s day than heading to an abandoned milk factory to drink whisky with some strangers. Hell, after Create:Eat:Whisky I’d happily do it every night of the week.
Dress – H&M
Necklace – H&M
Bag – H! by Henry Holland at Debenhams
Shoes – Faith
Jacket – Debenhams
Sunglasses – the internet…..
I’m a passive whisky drinker at best. The idea of a whisky tasting sounds like a special kind of hell. In a room, with all these passionate whisky drinkers talking about how they can “really taste the ginger” – no thank you. It just fills my head with images of people swilling, spitting in to buckets and it’s all a bit stuffy (speaking of, do people spit whisky the way they do wine? Answers on a postcard please.) I do however like food, so the idea of a fully imersive whisky dining experience sounded like something worth giving a shot. I may not quite be a whisky enthusiast just yet, but Jelly and Gin’s Create:Eat:Whisky as part of Edinburgh’s Whisky month did some job swaying me.
Jelly & Gin are pretty much known for their innovative experiential events. From abandoned train stations to foodie science experiments, these girls make eating out exciting again. I’d heard LOADS before Betty and I started working with the girls and after speaking to them I’ve pretty much become obsessed. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I knew it was going to be good.
The set up for the event was simple. 4 drams and 4 mini meals to compliment the different tasting notes in each whisky. Each dram came with a short film letting you know what to watch out for (honey, licorice, oranges) with music and light to guide us on a journey from spicy to smokey to sweet. The food was incredible and beautifully presented. I adored the little packed lunched that awaited us on entry with perfect portions of cheese, venison salami, oatcakes and the best god damn chutney I’ve ever tasted (pineapple and ginger. I’m going to marry it. Or at the very least stock pile it and eat it with everything.) This was followed by dramatic smoke filled jars with squid ink bread sticks and smoked salmon pate. A few at the table were unsure if we could eat the breadsticks and they seemed pretty divisive due to their strong flavour but I for one loved them and their dense texture. Swiftly moving on to sweets we were treated to a pear compote with cream and nuts which was refreshing and light and was utterly beautiful with the whisky (my fave dram of the evening.) To finish everything off we were treated to some gorgeous chocolates – a sticky caramel, a heather infused little number and one wrapped in tea leaves. Again these were pretty divisive, the sticky caramel going down the treat and the heather proving popular but the tea number wasn’t for everyone’s cup if you catch my drift. I may have polished off Sheri’s too. I loved how aromatic, rich and creamy it was.
Pop up dining is something we’ve been crying out for ages. Pop up dining done well is even rarer. I feel like I’ll be near enough stalking the Jelly & Gin girls in future to see the different projects they are working on (and buying tickets for EVERYTHING) as well as hoping, wishing and praying they take one of their events to Glasgow. Or maybe create a whole new one? With gin? Yes?