Whisky Stramash-Up

Darroch Ramsay isn't too sure about the direction that whisky events have taken. “Things can be a bit pretentious, and a bit... trainspotterish. Scotch is about chewing the fat and enjoying people's company, and you don't want to suck the fun out of it by worrying about really minute details.” His response – take over Edinburgh's Surgeons' Hall and fill it with whisky chemistry, haircare, and amateur dramatics. Clearly, Whisky Stramash is about pumping the fun back into whisky with an industrial hose.

A background in the world of 'brand management' has taken Darroch across the world to all kinds of whisky shindigs, and he and partner Scott Martin knew they wanted to put on an event that could offer something different. “We wanted something really approachable,” he says, “where it didn't matter whether you had 25 years of knowledge or 25 minutes.

“The Stramash is about challenging everyone's perceptions, and everyone should leave feeling different about whisky.” Looking at the programme, that last part shouldn't be a problem. Some of the biggest names in whisky are present, but in unexpected scenarios. Glenfiddich are bringing an 'atmospheric room' that can take visitors on a virtual tour of their distillery while facing a barrage on the senses. Dewar's are responsible for the aforementioned hair advice, with a Sweeney Todd-inspired barber on site. There will be whisky caviar, molecular science, and a cocktail bar.

For Darroch, what is arguably the most unconventional part of the Stramash is the most anticipated. The Jura Murder Mystery, gleefully described as 'Scooby Doo meets Coronation Street', will see attendees attempt to solve a murderous, whisky-inspired riddle in order to win a trip to the Herbides.

“It's not exactly Hamlet, but it's going to be good fun. The mystery is actually quite tricky, and there's only really one subtle clue that could give the game away. That's taken the most work out of everything, there's been a lot of planning and we're going through rehearsals at the moment.

“We've recruited the guys from the Edinburgh Whisky Blog to act as a kind of 'face' of the event. They'll be there to lead people around, make sure that they are comfortable and getting into everything that's going on, making sure that no matter what your whisky knowledge you still have a good time. They all know their stuff, and to be honest it's the kind of role I wish I was doing – but instead I've got to organise everything!”

We take it Darroch has never had to run rehearsals for a whisky event before? “No, no,” comes the reply, “this is a new thing for me.” It's clear that this is a passion project aimed at everyone, that's about fun around whisky, rather than whisky with some fun tacked on.

“We wanted to have three or four key pieces for people to get involved with,” Darroch says. “We've made sure that everything is fun and engaging, and that it challenges thoughts on whisky. We didn't want things half done, and ideally people should leave thinking 'Wow, that was great.'”

Whisky Stramash's location, character and selection of events-within-events seem, for all the talk of including everyone, to skew away from the Tweed-y eyebrow-mongers associated with whisky appreciation. This feels like a whisky event for cool people, a mild oxymoron which Darroch acknowledges.

“Whisky has never been cool, really,” he says. “People have always been protective of it. You'll go to events and ask a bit of a newbie question, and people will visibly sneer. But look at beer, and BrewDog sticking two fingers up to convention and bringing new people into the fold. I wouldn't say we're as radical as them, but we do want people to be challenged and that's at the core of the event. There's a change going on in Scotch, and we'd like to be at the cutting edge of it.

“At some other events, you pay a tenner to basically walk around and have stuff sold to you. That's not what we want to do. We want to give people value for money, for people to say it was amazing and that they got involved in a really fun event.” They'll say they were at a whisky event with chemistry, cocktails and amateur dramatics, and onlookers will be confused and envious. Sounds like the result the Stramash is going for.