New competition to find Europe’s best whisky taster to launch in Edinburgh this summer
Whisky fans will be put through their paces in a new blind whisky tasting competition launching in the capital this August.
The event, called Caskmaster 2026, is being staged by The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS), whose whiskies are usually only available to members, and is the Society’s first blind tasting championship in the UK following the success of a similar competition launched by the Australian branch.
Two Edinburgh heats will take place at the Society’s Members’ Rooms, The Vaults in Leith on Wednesday 12 August and Queen Street on Wednesday 19 August, with further heats in Glasgow and London. The 20 heat winner will go head-to-head at a Grand Final on home turf at The Vaults in Leith on 12 November 2026.
Participants will have 30 minutes to nose and taste eight carefully selected Society drams and identify each one from a lineup of nine, with no conferring. The top five from each heat will be announced live on the night and go straight through to the Grand Final at The Vaults in Leith, Edinburgh, the Society's spiritual home. Each £50 ticket includes the eight drams and a Society supper. There is no additional charge for finalists to attend the Grand Final, and the five qualifiers from the London heat will have travel and accommodation to Edinburgh covered.
The Caskmaster 2026 champion will not only receive a lifetime membership to the Society, but also one of 14 places on The Speysider, a bespoke four-day whisky retreat in Speyside running from 12 to 15 March 2027. Hosted by Mitch Bechard of CopperCairn, a Keeper of the Quaich, author and host of Not Another Whisky Podcast, the retreat offers private transport, handpicked drams, and access to whisky experiences and locations that most visitors will never find.
Heats take place at The Vaults, Leith (Wednesday 12 August), Queen Street, Edinburgh (Wednesday 19 August), Bath Street, Glasgow (Wednesday 26 August) and 19 Greville Street, London (Wednesday 02 September). Doors open at 6pm, with competition beginning at 6.30pm.
Founded in Edinburgh in 1983, the Society has built its reputation on a simple but radical idea: that flavour matters more than name.
It bottles single cask whiskies from more than 180 distilleries without ever revealing which one, giving each dram an evocative name instead. These include: "Red Wine and Brine in the Old Coal Mine" or "Lavender Honey and Chimney Lobsters." With 41,000 members worldwide, the Society has always known how to find the good whisky and Caskmaster is a fun series of events to find out who else can.
Calum Lawson, member experience manager at SMWS said: “At the Society, we have always believed that flavour should do the talking.
“Caskmaster puts that to the ultimate test. This is whisky as it should be, shared, debated and enjoyed, but with a healthy dose of competition thrown in. It’s a rare opportunity to test your palate against likeminded people, and, for one person, to walk away with a prize that will last a lifetime.”
Tickets are on sale now at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society website. Participants are asked to confirm they can attend the Grand Final on 12 November before booking. Accessibility requirements can be noted at the point of purchase.
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