Campbeltown Malts Festival 2019
Full Schedule
The Campbeltown Malts Festival 2019 will commence in a few days time and staff here at J&A Mitchell & Co are looking forward to welcoming our visitors from across the globe to our distilleries next week. Preparations are well underway in Campbeltown as all hands are on deck to get the place looking its best ahead of all the fun which will take place.
As well as the events which will be held by Springbank, Glengyle and Cadenhead’s, a wide range of other local businesses will also be hosting events. The below information aims to include all events which will be taking place over the festival week. Please see the day to day break-down below:
Monday 20th May 2019
11am & 2pm: Historic Walking Tours
Campbeltown Heritage Trail Group will be conducting historic walking tours of the town as part of the Campbeltown Malts Festival celebrations on Monday and Tuesday next week. These tours give a great insight into Campbeltown’s fascinating history and rich heritage. The tours will be free of charge and conducted by local volunteers, Alex McKinven and John Bakes. Lasting approximately 1 hour, the tours finish off with a wee dram at Cadenhead’s Whisky Shop. Booking in advance is essential – please email [email protected] to book your place asap.
5:30pm: Whisky Impressions Davaar Island Dramble (FULLY BOOKED)
Tuesday 21st May 2019
11am & 2pm: Historic Walking Tours
As mentioned above, Campbeltown Heritage Trail Group will be conducting historic walking tours of the town in collaboration with the Campbeltown Malts Festival celebrations on Monday and Tuesday next week. These tours give a great insight into Campbeltown’s fascinating history and rich heritage. The tours will be free of charge and conducted by local volunteers, Alex McKinven and John Bakes. Lasting approximately 1 hour, the tours finish off with a wee dram at Cadenhead’s Whisky Shop. Booking in advance is essential – please email [email protected] to book your place asap.
11am – 6pm: Kintyre Gin Open Day
During the Kintyre Gin Open Day, free distillery tours will be available which will include tastings of the core range of gins, and other spirits produced in collaboration with others. There will also be food and a cocktail bar available. To make it easier for people to visit the distillery, free mini bus services will be running between Campbeltown and Torrisdale. For more information, please visit www.kintyregin.com.
4pm: Whisky Impressions Liquid History Tour
Discover Campbeltown’s distilling past and present on this guided walking tour around the town. There will be pit stops at a local hostelry or two for some liquid refreshment along the way! There are limited places left for this tour so be quick in booking your place by following this link – whisky impressions
5:30pm: Cadenhead Club Member Tasting in the Malt Barns at Springbank Distillery (FULLY BOOKED)
8pm: Campbeltown Picture House presents the film ‘Scotch: The Golden Dram’
To celebrate the Campbeltown Malts Festival, Campbeltown Picture house are showing “Scotch: The Golden Dram” on Tuesday. A member of the Springbank & Kilkerran Sales Team will be on hand from 7:15pm to serve some complementary drams from both distilleries before the film starts. A great way to round off your Tuesday evening! For the film synopsis and booking information, please click here.
Wednesday 22nd May 2019
10am – 6pm: Glen Scotia Open Day
Glen Scotia Distillery will be hosting their annual Open Day at the distillery on Wednesday and will also be hosting other events throughout the week. For the most up to date information of events taking place, visit www.glenscotia.com.
11:30am: Springbank Society Member Tasting in the Malt Barns at Springbank Distillery (FULLY BOOKED)
7pm: The Glengyle Distillery Dinner (FULLY BOOKED)
Evening: Hotel Dinners & Whisky Tastings
Those of you who missed out on a place at our Distillery Dinner on Wednesday evening may be interested to learn that we have teamed up with the Craigard House Hotel and the Ardshiel Hotel to offer a special whisky dinners and tastings on Wednesday evening. As you may know, people at our Distillery Dinner each receive a bottle of whisky chosen from a selection of casks by the guests themselves. While we can’t offer all attendees at the hotel dinners a bottle, a member of the Springbank/Kilkerran Sales & Marketing Team will be on hand to let you taste the same whiskies that are being enjoyed at the distillery. As a further bonus, all attendees at both hotels will be entered into a prize draw and one lucky person at each dinner will win a bottle of the whisky chosen by the group at the Glengyle Dinner, making these a very interesting alternative option.
Spaces at both dinners are limited so if you would like to book a place please call them ASAP on the below telephone numbers:
Craigard House Hotel: +44 (0) 1586 554242
Ardshiel Hotel: +44 (0) 1586 552133
Thursday 23rd May 2019
The Springbank Open Day will take place on Thursday 23rd May. Events begin at 10:30am when the sale of our special Open Day bottles will commence and the day will feature a range of attractions including:
- Free tours of Springbank at 12pm, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm & 4pm
- Free tours of Glengyle at 11:30am, 12:30pm, 1:30pm, 2:30pm & 3:30pm
- A selection of over 20 stalls from local businesses
- Food from Argyll Bakeries, Food For Thought, Ifferdale Lamb & Kintyre Smokehouse
- Delicious cakes from Muneroy
- Three special Springbank Open Day bottlings (more information below)
- Warehouse Whisky Bar & Festival Bar
- Fyne Ales Bar
- Live music
- Various Tastings, including some only bookable on the day (more information below)
From 4pm-9pm, we will have a range of local musical artists performing in the yard. This will kick off at 4pm with Hope Strang followed by young local band Western Sound who will play from 4:30pm-6pm. Around 6pm, Kintyre Schools Pipe Band will entertain the crowd with their talent and then to finish proceedings from 7pm-9pm, Rhuvaal will perform. In addition to the music, from 6:45pm, we will see the return of the ever popular Spooks Tour through the haunted warehouses at Springbank! Food and drink will also be available throughout the evening. Events at Springbank will conclude at 9pm.
Bookable on the Day Tastings
Unfortunately all our advance booking tastings are already fully booked but please don’t fret! We will be hosting 3 events which will be bookable on the day, details of which can be found below:
12:30pm & 2:45pm: Malting Demonstrations – FOC
Watch a member of our production team demonstrate our traditional malting process while enjoying a dram of one of our most popular whiskies. These free events serve as an excellent opportunity to learn about Springbank and maybe even try turning the barley yourself! Tickets are only available to book on the day so make sure you head straight for the ticket point (located in our main marquee) to book and collect your tickets.
1pm: Springbank Tasting – £30.00
Only available to book on the day, you can join one of our Sales Team in enjoying a selection of drams from across the Springbank range, from old favourites to the most recent releases. Whether you are new to Springbank or an old hand, this tasting has something for everyone. Tickets can be purchased from our ticket point (located in our main marquee) on the day.
Information on Pre-Booked Tastings – Venues and Times
If you were successful in purchasing tickets via Eventbrite, please bring proof of purchase with you (print the information or show confirmation email on your phone). Below is a reminder of the tastings with their start time, venue and entry time. Please take note of this so that you know where to go on the day.
| Time | Event Name | Location | Venue Entry Time |
| 11:30am | The Hazelburn Breakfast Tasting | Springbank Malt Barns | From 11:15am |
| 11:30am | The Art (and Science) of Maturation | Warehouse 4 | From 11:25am |
| 12:30pm | Springbank Warehouse Tasting | Warehouse 3 | From 12:15pm |
| 1:30pm | The Directors’ Cut (or The Good, The Bad and The Ugly) – The Sequel | Springbank Malt Barns | From 1:15pm |
| 2:30pm | Springbank Warehouse Tasting | Warehouse 3 | From 2:15pm |
| 2:30pm | Springbank Distillers Single Cask Tasting | Warehouse 4 | From 2:25pm |
| 3:30pm | Springbank; New and Forthcoming Releases | Springbank Malt Barns | From 3:15pm |
| 4pm | Springbank Warehouse Tasting | Warehouse 3 | From 3:45pm |
*** Warehouses 3 and 4 are located just behind the main distillery office at Springbank. There will be signs to direct you to both warehouses on the day.
Springbank Open Day Bottlings
As mentioned above, we will have three bottlings which will be bottled especially for the Springbank Open Day 2019.
The first is a very special Hazelburn 21 year old which has been matured in a Refill Sherry Hogshead. This will be bottled at 46% ABV with only 222 bottles available. This will retail at £250.00 on the day and will be limited to 1 bottle per transaction.
The next is a Springbank 8 year old which has been matured in Fresh Sherry casks. This will be bottled at 56.8% ABV and there will be 1100 bottles available. This will retail at £65.00 and will be limited to 2 bottles per transaction.
Our third special Open Day bottling is a Longrow 15 year old which has been matured exclusively in First Fill Rum casks. This will be bottled at 52.4% ABV, with 911 bottles available. The retail price will be £75.00 and will be limited to 2 bottles per transaction.
Campbeltown Picture House Tours
In addition to our busy schedule on Thursday, Campbeltown Picture House will also be hosting free tours of the cinema on Thursday morning at 10am and 11:30am. If you’ve not seen it before, this is a great chance to see the refurbishment work that has been carried out on the cinema (back before its reopening in 2017).
Friday 24th May 2019
The final day of the Campbeltown Malts Festival 2019 will be dedicated to Mitchell’s Glengyle Distillery, home of Kilkerran Single Malt, and Wm Cadenhead’s Independent Bottler.
Our Friday events will mainly take place at Glengyle Distillery where the gates will open at 10:30am when the sale of our Kilkerran Open Day bottling will begin. This special bottle is a 15 year old Kilkerran which has been matured in Refill Bourbon casks. This will be bottled at 57.1% ABV with only 630 bottles available. This will retail at £75.00 and will be limited to 2 bottles per transaction. Throughout the day there will be:
- Free tours of Glengyle at 11:30am, 12:30pm, 1:30pm, 2:30pm & 3:30pm
- A selection of craft and food stalls from local businesses
- Activities from Wee Toon Warriors from 12:30pm
- The famous Cadenhead Lucky Dip Bar
- Cocktail Bar & Festival Bar
- Live music
- Various Tastings (tickets still available for The Evolution of Kilkerran Tasting – more information below)
Events at Glengyle will conclude around 5pm.
Tastings
Most of our advance booking tastings are already fully booked but there are still some limited spaces left on our Evolution of Kilkerran Tasting at 11:30am.
During this tasting you will get the opportunity to experience the evolution of Kilkerran. Be part of the journey, sampling some of the earliest Work in Progress bottlings, present day releases and a glimpse into the future with the headline Kilkerran event of the day.
Tickets for this are £30.00 and can be purchased from our ticket stand in the yard on Friday. They will also be available to buy in advance on Thursday from the Springbank marquee ticket point.
Information on Pre-Booked Tastings – Venues and Times
If you were successful in purchasing tickets via Eventbrite, please bring proof of purchase with you (print out your ticket or show the confirmation email on your phone). Below is a reminder of the tastings with their start time, venue and entry time. Please take note of this so that you know where to go on the day.
| TIme | Event Name | Location | Venue Entry Time |
| 10am | Cadenhead Warehouse Tasting | Warehouse 7 | From 9:45am |
| 10:15am | Cadenhead Warehouse Tasting | Warehouse 9 | From 10am |
| 10:30am | Cadenhead Alternative Tasting | Glengyle Filling Store | From 10:20am |
| 11:30am | The Evolution of Kilkerran Tasting | Glengyle Bottle Store | From 11:15am |
| 12pm | The “Wee” Cadenhead Tasting | Glengyle Filling Store | From 11:50am |
| 1:30pm | Kilkerran Alternative Tasting | Glengyle Filling Store | From 1:20pm |
| 2:30pm | Cadenhead Masterclass | Glengyle Bottle Store | From 2:15pm |
| 2:30pm | Kilkerran Warehouse Tasting | Glengyle Malt Barns | From 2:15pm |
| 3:30pm | Cadenhead Warehouse Tasting | Warehouse 7 | From 3:15pm |
| 3:45pm | Cadenhead Warehouse Tasting | Warehouse 9 | From 3:30pm |
| 4pm | Kilkerran Warehouse Tasting | Glengyle Malt Barns | From 3:45pm |
*** Warehouses 7 and 9 are located at Springbank Distillery. Please meet at the Springbank Distillery Office and a member of staff will guide you to the warehouses.
*** For tastings taking place in the Glengyle Filling Store, Glengyle Bottle Store and Glengyle Malt Barns, signs will help direct you on the day.
Other Notable Information
Traffic Delays
We know that many of you will be travelling to the town by road over the next 7 days.
Please be aware that there are roadworks scheduled to be taking place during this time so please consult the Traffic Scotland website for full details. However, at the time of writing it appears that all works that may affect visitors travelling south to Campbeltown are minor in nature and are unlikely to cause any great delay. Specifically, there are minor works planned at Inverary, (just south of) Lochgilphead and between Clachan and Tayinloan – none of these are expected to significantly add to your journey time, however please continue to check with Traffic Scotland in case this changes. Nevertheless, it is advisable that you leave a little extra time to account for unforeseen delays – we don’t want you to miss out on anything!
Collecting bottles from the Cadenhead Shop
The staff at the Cadenhead Shop have asked that if you have bottles stored with them, then please make an effort to collect them as soon as possible – preferably as soon as you arrive.
As the shop will be incredibly busy at times throughout the festival, the team would like to do what they can to make everyone’s festival experience enjoyable and this includes any time you spend in the Cadenhead shop. We appreciate your cooperation.
Collecting Society and Cadenhead Club bottles
Members that have Society or Cadenhead Club bottles to collect can pick them up from the Distillery Shop (not the Cadenhead shop on Union Street). Please let us know if you intend to collect your bottle(s) so we can make sure they are ready for you!
Society: [email protected]
Club: [email protected]
Whiskyopolis Exhibition
Campbeltown Heritage Centre will be open Monday – Friday from around 11am-4pm each day (times may vary slightly). Following the launch of their special Whiskyopolis exhibition last year, they would love to welcome visitors to see their display and teach people about the history of distilling in Campbeltown.
Doors Open Day
The Lorne & Lowland Church are having an Open Doors Day on Thursday 23rd, Friday 24th and Saturday 25th May and all visitors to the town are welcome to pop in.
We think that is all for now…anyone who managed to read that deserves to pour themselves a large dram!
For more information on any of the above events, please email [email protected] or call +44 (0) 1586 552009.
Slainte,
The J&A Mitchell Team
