From the oak trees and forests of Galicia in northern Spain to the cooperages and bodegas in Andalucía’s ‘sherry triangle’ in the south, a new film has been released by The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) which explores the influence of sherry on whisky.

Scotch and Sherry: A Flavour Odyssey follows the whisky club’s Head of Whisky Creation Euan Campbell as he travels across Spain to examine each aspect of a sherry cask’s journey and meets the people who create both the casks and the sherry that goes into them.

The 40-minute feature film is being launched on YouTube on Friday 26th April. Whisky fans can learn about the film in advance by joining a special online ‘Dram-along’ event at 9pm on Thursday 25 April. Part of the Society’s Flavour Hunter Festival, the international event will be streamed live on the SMWS Facebook and YouTube channels and will feature live music, discussion, a quiz and a behind-the-scenes look at the documentary.

The release of Scotch and Sherry: A Flavour Odyssey comes as the worldwide whisky club gears up to showcase its expertise in exceptional sherry cask-matured whiskies and celebrate the links between Scotch and sherry in a variety of ways throughout the year.

The SMWS, which now has more than 41,000 members around the world, will begin its sherry cask-matured whisky celebrations with a series of special events and film screenings across its venues in London, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Scotch and Sherry: A Flavour Odyssey will be screened every Saturday in May at the Society’s Bath Street venue in Glasgow, while there will be special screenings at its Queen Street venue in Edinburgh on the 16th and 23rd of May. The film will also be shown at The Machrie Hotel during the Islay Festival, on 29th and 30th May.

A series of Scotch & Sherry tasting events will also take place during May at the Society’s venues and external events. Its Scottish venues in Edinburgh and Glasgow will offer sherry cask cocktail flights, special sherry cask drams and tapas.

Sherry expert Diego Borras will host a Sherry Confidential event at the club’s spiritual home, The Vaults in Leith, on the 6th May, while the Society’s London venue will stage a My Sherry Amour event on 15th May. Full details of all events are available at https://smws.com/events

As well as the film, the SMWS is releasing a special sherry tasting pack which will include three 50ml sherry cask-matured whiskies, plus a special 76-page Scotch & Sherry magazine delving further into the world of sherry and sherried whisky.

Throughout the year a series of carefully selected sherry cask-matured whiskies will be released by the Society. These include Cinnamon chilli chocolate cupcakes (£85.) a 7-year-old single malt French whisky matured in a 1st fill ex-oloroso butt; and Heaven in a leather hammock (£895), an exceptional 34-year-old single malt whisky matured in a 1st fill ex-Pedro Ximenez butt. The latter, from the Society’s prestigious The Vaults Collection range which showcases the club’s finest and rarest single cask, single malt whisky, is described on bottle with the line: ‘If you could only take one dram with you to a desert island this would be it’.

SMWS Head of Whisky Creation, Euan Campbell, said:

“It was an incredible experience to travel across Spain and trace the journey of sherry casks and meet the people who are involved in each step of the process.

“From the forests and sawmills to the cooperages and bodegas, our film gives viewers a deep insight into the level of attention, craftsmanship and care that goes into each step of the process to create sherry casks and the flavour that goes on to have a massive influence on Scotch whisky.

“Many of our members love sherry cask-matured whiskies and over the coming weeks and months, we’re going to be screening the film, staging special events and celebrating the links between Scotch and sherry.”