Win Cool George Dickel Tennessee Whisky Stuff

On March 5, the Whisky Guild announced that George Dickel Tennessee Whisky was launching a new reality series on Hulu, Raising the Bar, in partner ship with Thom Beers, the acclaimed producer of the hugely famous “Deadliest Catch” and “Storage Wars”. This original reality series offers an inside look at expert craftsmen as they tackle the challenge of building hand-made bars capable of pouring a shot of George Dickel Tennessee Whisky in eight hours or less. We all know that George Dickel is ‘hand made the hard way’, and these bars are too!

The competition: During the 2012 American Royal World Series of BBQ, six teams of builders were tasked with building a bar from scratch in 8 hours or less. Now, these guys are woodworkers, ironworkers, computer geeks, artists, and the like. Some pretty cool, creative, innovative thinkers. They went crazy, welding over 4,000 washers together, another bar used bowling ball mechanics and whisky barrels as bar stools, another used a computer guided robot, and still another uses a HOT ROD, yes, a Hot Rod, as a bar! To really put these guys to task, their bars, after being “Hand made the hard way”, must then be able to pour a full shot of George Dickel Tennessee Whisky. They are then judged on craftsmanship, originality, design and innovation.

 

This is where YOU come in. “Me?” you say. Yes, YOU, my fellow whisky lovers!

 

Time to get creative everyone… Here’s your chance to win a really cool, and totally unique piece of the show. YOU get to influence how one of these kick-ass bars is crafted, by making suggestions on how to take that bar to the next level – Raising the Bar (that’s the name of the show, remember?!). And if your idea is selected, they create it and you win it! The Whisky Guild and our legions – that means YOU, loyal readers – have been selected to participate in Raising the Bar’s Influencer Program. We will be going head-to-head with 11 other Influencers who are trying to win their own piece of the show. They will be submitting ideas as well. Only 1 idea will win. We will be judged by the Raising the Bar participants themselves, and Master of Whisky, Gerry Graham.

Our ideas will be judged on the following criteria:

1. Originality and creativity. Give us ideas that are completely out of the box and unique.
2. Representative of true American craftsmanship.
3. We want ideas that are flat out awesome! These are items that you would want at your own bar to show off to your friends!

Here’s an example: If one of your ideas was to replace the traditional shot glasses in the videos with specialty glasses hand-crafted from redwood, you could win those redwood shot glasses. Just remember – like George Dickel Whisky, these bars were Handmade the Hard Way, so let that sense of craftsmanship be your guide!

So why the competition? What’s with “Hand Made the Hard Way” anyway? Let me explain. “Hand Made the Hard Way” refers to George Dickel’s 25 employees personally overseeing every aspect of its production, every step of the distillation process. Only 25 employees who painstakingly create this spirit. Get it? We are celebrating authenticity, hard work, craftsmanship, and pride in one’s work.

 

So, that said, time to get crazy.   Get stupid.   Get innovative.   Get out of your box.

 

Our Bar to influence is featured in Episode 6 – Team Hot Rod. Check it out on HULU.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/465591#i0,p0,d0#i0,p0,d0

 

What you need to do:

1. Watch the episode.
2. Think about what you would do to make the bar even better – take it to the next level – RAISE THE BAR – Remember, think “Handmade the Hard Way”.
3. Send me your ideas. Inbox Whisky Guild on Facebook or email Jessica@whiskyguild.com by April 15. Send me a detailed description of your idea and your contact info so I can easily reach you if you win!

Now, Get to it!

Today is National Tartan Day!

Show some love to your Scottish-American brothers and sisters today. Today is National Tartan Day! Why is April 6th so significant, you ask. It was on this day in 1320 that the Declaration of Arbroath was signed – this document asserted Scotland’s sovereignty over English territorial claims, AND was later used as a model for the U.S. Declaration of Independence. That’s a neat little history lesson for a Saturday.

Americans of Scottish descent have long played an influential role in the development of the United States. From the framers of the Declaration of Independence to the first man on the moon, Scottish-Americans have contributed mightily to the fields of the arts, science, politics, law, and don’t forget…. WHISKY… and some really cool fashion trends, i.e. KILTS, and did I mention WHISKY? Today, over eleven million Americans claim Scottish and Scotch-Irish roots — making them the eighth largest ethnic group in the United States. These are the people and accomplishments that are honored on National Tartan Day, April 6th.

Join the celebration that is Tartan Week. Kicking it off today with the New York Tartan Day Parade starting at 2:00 pm. Pipe bands, Scottish clans, Scottish terriers and Scottish groups of all sorts will be marching along 6th Avenue from W45 Street to W55.

Or have your own personal celebration and pour yourself a wee dram today in honor of our Scottish friends.

Sláinte!

Aboard the DC Whisky Cruise on April 10, Come Meet Master of Whisky Gregor Cattanch and spend ‘An Evening with Oban’

Master Class ‘An Evening with Oban’ hosted by Gregor Cattanach will be presented on April 10th aboard Whisky Guild’s DC Whisky Cruise at 8:00 pm on Deck 3.

Master of Whisky, Gregor Cattanach, believes the most effective way to educate anyone about whisky is through flavour, interaction and discovery – all of which are at the heart of his presentation. You will experience the wonders of the Oban family of Single Malt Whiskies while gaining an understanding of the art of malt whisky production. This will be followed by quiet moments of sensory analysis, which will allow you to appreciate Oban’s Strength in Modesty.

A wee bit about Gregor… As a boy, Gregor grew up at distilleries such as Caol Ila, Coleburn, Cragganmore and Cardhu where his father Evan worked as Master Distiller of these quality single malts. This is where Gregor’s apprenticeship truly began.

In addition, Gregor has worked with Master Distillers of the Classic Malts Selection, Master Blenders of Old Parr, Johnnie Walker, Buchanans, J&B and many other distillery staff who kindly shared their wealth of knowledge of the business with Gregor when he worked at their distilleries and facilities in Scotland.

While working in Scotland as Global Brand Ambassador for Johnnie Walker and the Classic Malts, Gregor developed a deeper passion for the nosing & tasting of Scotch Whisky, the history/heritage, production process, maturation, the blending and all the great stories that were told over a “wee dram.” Gregor has visited many countries around the World sharing his extensive knowledge of whisky to thousands of whisky lovers. He is now based in the USA working as National Master of Scotch Whisky for Johnnie Walker and the Classic Malts, and in October 2011 Gregor was inducted into The Keepers of the Quaich, an exclusive Scotch Whisky society that honors individuals for their contribution to the Scotch Whisky Industry.

Call 877-3-WHISKY x107 for more information or to purchase tickets.