Whisky Night at The Old Mill in Leek with Distilled Events

Did you go out for Burns Night last weekend? I got my celebrating in early when I was lucky enough to be invited to The Old Mill in Leek. In honour of the Scottish poet, the smokehouse hosted a Whisky Night featuring Distilled Events. Along with other guests I enjoyed a four-course dinner, accompanied by whiskies specially selected by expert David Wood.

An Invitation

It was by lucky chance that I got to be among those at The Old Mill last Wednesday night, sitting down to some fantastic food and memorable whisky.

Back in December I was having a birthday meal at The George at Alstonefield with my partner ID. Overhearing the couple behind us discussing the food in minute detail (as were we) it was clear that they had a restaurant themselves. We got chatting and found that they were Nathan and Bernadeta, owners of The Old Mill in Leek.

After hearing Nathan ordering a glass of Lagavulin, I mentioned that I was a fan of the Islay single malt whisky too. In fact, I’d had a bottle of the sixteen year old stuff among my birthday presents that day. On hearing that, I was immediately invited to their Burns Night celebration of food and whisky.

How could I refuse?

The Old Mill

The Old Mill is situated in, of course, an old mill. Specifically, in the Grade II-listed Shoobridge Mill on Leek’s Haywood Street.

Opened towards the end of 2018, Nathan and Bernadeta have turned a building in a rather unloved part of town into an attractive, spacious venue.

Nipping in one lunchtime, I’d had a really good burger and some knock-out sides and went on to recommend it here. But I really wanted to go back and sample the smokehouse’s signature dishes like ribs and brisket.

Alas, as is often the case, what with attending newly opened venues and also discovering older places that are new to me at least, that return visit had yet to happen.

But what a great incentive to revisit: being invited for a four course dinner, each dish accompanied by a different whisky, and with a whisky expert on hand to guide us too.

Distilled Events

Our guide to ‘the water of life’ at the whisky night was David Wood of Distilled Events.

David and wife Leonie have huge experience in the drinks industry. Although a Leek local, David has managed distillery visitor centres at Caol Ila and Lagavulin on Islay, the Hebridean island known for its many fine whiskies. He was also distillery manager at Caol Ila and Leonie a manager at Kilchoman Distillery.

The couple now run Distilled Events, using their combined expertise to run tasting events for gin as well as whisky. They create bespoke events in the UK and abroad, from private tastings in your home, at events like those at The Old Mill, and also corporate entertaining. They’ll also take you on guided tours of whisky distilleries and whisky festivals.

Former owners of The Wine Shop in Leek, they began bottling their own whiskies with the launch of the Queen of the Moorlands single malt in 2005. Now bottling as The Moorland Distiller, their current range is Fraoch Mòinteach, Gaelic for ‘moorland heather’.

Whisky Night at The Old Mill

After first congregating in the cosy downstairs bar with one of their craft ales, myself and around twenty others made our way up to the Old Mill restaurant for the dinner and whisky tasting.

Two long tables in the light and bright restaurant (with its distinctive mural echoing the chicken, beef and pork on the smokehouse menu), were already set with the four whiskies we’d be tasting.

The theme of this tasting was ‘A Journey to Islay: Flight of Drams‘. David positioned himself at the front with his map of Islay, ready to point out the locations of the various distilleries.

But hang on. Don’t go thinking that this creates a bit of a classroom atmosphere. The tasting event was very informal with plenty of banter, back and forth of questions and conversation between David and the guests.

I’ve no doubt that whether you’re a whisky aficionado or a near beginner, you’ll find David great at communicating his knowledge and love of his subject in an interesting and accessible way.

He took us through why Islay is such a centre for whisky distilleries and, as with wine, cheeses and other artisan products, the role of terroir. Of course he also taught us that important lesson of how to properly taste whisky.

After David’s introduction, it was on to the dinner with accompanying whiskies.

The Food & The Whiskies

I confess that it’d never previously occurred to me that you could serve whisky with food. So the fact that I loved it, was something of a revelation.

Supervising the serving of the food was Bernadeta. Incredibly, besides co-owning The Old Mill, she’s also a university lecturer and a GP.

Like Nathan, she’s an excellent host and her passion for everything she does shines through.

STARTER

When our first course arrived, I wasn’t in any doubt that I was in a smokehouse. The aroma coming off this incredibly appetizing looking plate made you just want to dig in.

After a twenty-four hour smoke with applewood and hickory, yes, the bacon-wrapped stuffed chicken thighs were of course smoky. But the smokiness didn’t overpower the flavours of the quality ingredients.

The chicken was cooked to a perfect soft tenderness. In the centre, what else could it be for Burns Night, but haggis? I love the stuff and have no idea why I don’t have it more often. If you haven’t eaten it before, you might worry that haggis has an overly strong flavour. But I’ve never found that to be the case. Used like this as a stuffing, it complemented the smoked chicken very well.

The good-sized portion sat on nicely cooked, iron-y spinach. A lightly creamy sauce brought the whole thing together.

To accompany the starter, our first whisky was a twelve year old Auchentoshan single malt. This was the only whisky of the evening not from Islay, the distillery some ten miles north west of the city of Glasgow.

This slightly citrusy whisky is triple distilled. After the Whisky Night I’m still very much a novice, but now understand that this is said to make it a smoother product.

While I certainly wouldn’t kick it out of bed on a cold night (or, in truth, any other night either), the Auchentoshan didn’t have the distinctiveness that drew the ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ which the rest of the night’s whiskies did. But I guess it was precisely that point of difference that David was aiming to illustrate.

MAIN COURSE

With our main course, I finally got to try The Old Mill’s famous smoked brisket.

When I’d met Nathan, he’d explained that his first attempts at creating the perfect brisket hadn’t met the high standards they were after. He and Bernadeta are committed to using local produce as much as possible but, after genuinely persevering, had to conclude that the beef available here just didn’t have the large amount of fat required.

Incredibly passionate about creating the very best, Nathan had even showed me a video on his phone showing the huge seam of fat running through the Canadian beef the restaurant now uses (Canadian as it doesn’t contain the growth hormones rife in US cattle).

Even now, he says part of him is almost tempted to cut out that seam, several inches thick. But experience has taught him that virtually all the fat disappears in the long and slow cooking process, resulting in fabulous tasting, moist meat.

For the Scottish themed dinner, The Old Mill had prepared Aberdeen Angus beef. The brisket was served in slices, generously piled up on a bed of traditional ‘neeps and tatties’, leeks, and topped with beefy juices studded with onions and mushrooms.

If you’ve read much of my blog or read my social media posts, you’ll know that I’m passionate about local food and encouraging everyone to support local farmers. So I admit I felt somewhat guilty tucking into the soft, lightly smoky Canadian beef and finding it wondrously good.

Full of meaty flavour, there was no sign of that humongous strip of fat. It had melted away to nothing while internally basting the meat. All that remained was a very thin and delicate layer of fat, circling the outside of each slice and which tasted as good as the meat.

THE CHEF

At this point, I’ll just give a shout out to The Old Mill’s young chef. I think it was agreed the neeps and tatties could have done with a little extra seasoning. A minor thing and really the only detail of the whole evening you could even consider quibbling about. But, talking to Andy later, I could see here was a perfectionist and his little mistake had irked him.

A set of circumstances beyond anyone’s control meant that the chef was working largely single-handedly to produce the dinner. I think that’s pretty impressive and Andy should be extremely proud of what he achieved.

As for the accompanying whisky, I was surprised to find that with our smoked brisket we were drinking the sixteen year old Lagavulin. Surprised because this single malt, rich and smoky, is my favourite whisky, hence the birthday gift. But I didn’t actually recognise it.

However, as David explained, how you experience a particular whisky will be affected by what you’ve just eaten and drank.

So perhaps it was that triple-distilled Auchentoshan that went before which accentuated the Lagavulin‘s smokiness. I’d also never drank it with food before, so a whole new world of possibilities was opening up for me here.

DESSERT

Our dessert of Raspberry Cranachan provided the first opportunity to try one of David and Leonie’s own whiskies.

Cranachan is a traditional Scottish dish of raspberries and cream with those all-important local ingredients of oats and whisky.

We were presented with beautiful looking goblets which contained the perfect combination of tart fruit, softly whipped cream and golden, crunchy clusters of oats.

In there too was a touch of Fraoch Mòinteach Edition V. This is a blended malt whisky from The Moorland Distiller, made in a limited edition of just 110 bottles. Matured in sherry casks, this was a richer, sweeter whisky.

Our whisky accompanying dessert was a rich and fruity Bunnahabhain single malt.

An Aside on Dr Curly

You may notice a similarity in style between the illustration on the Fraoch Mòinteach bottles and the impressive cockerel, cattle and pig murals on the walls at The Old Mill.

Well, that’s because they’re all by local artist Dr Curly. Believe it or not, he paints them using toothbrushes. Take a look at his Instagram to see more and maybe send a commission his way.

CHEESEBOARD

Our final course for the Whisky Night was a selection of cheeses, Scottish oatcakes and crackers topped with chutneys.

The cheeses included a firm Isle of Mull unpasteurised cow’s milk cheese, the mildish, golden-coloured Blacksticks Blue and a Brie de Meaux with a particularly nice fig and port chutney.

I was also pleased to see, topped with a smoked beetroot chutney, one of my favourite local cheeses (and not just because it’s made in the village where I live), creamy and tangy Dovedale Blue from the Staffordshire Cheese Company.

To drink, we had a glass of The Moorland Distiller’s Fraoch Mòinteach Edition VII, a Single Cask Single Malt Whisky. Now, if you’ve read this far, then you might well be familiar with the term ‘single malt’. But perhaps not necessarily the ‘single cask’ bit of that description? I confess I certainly wasn’t.

A single malt is the product of a single distillery, as distinct from a blended whisky. But the contents of any particular bottle of single malt will have been mixed from different casks to ensure consistency. So, all things being equal, any bottle of 16 year old Lagavulin say, should always taste like any other bottle of 16 year old Lagavulin.

However the contents of a bottle of single cask whisky, like David’s Fraoch Mòinteach Edition VII, will have come from one individual cask. It’s therefore a very unique thing.

You see, this is how going to one of Distilled Events’ tastings will get you. If you’ve even a passing liking in whisky, your interest will be piqued and you’ll just want to know more.

As for the whisky itself, I don’t think I’ve had anything like it. Very pale and beautifully smoky, I thought it went wonderfully well with the cheeses. And who’d have thought I’d ever be drinking whisky with cheese?

AN EXCEPTIONAL NIGHT

After some more whisky related chat, plus listening to a fellow guest’s fascinating foodie tales (complete with holiday snaps of Texan smokehouses), it was time to go back downstairs. We’d planned another quick craft ale, then home.

But, always ready to share his passion, Nathan had another treat in store. That was a rather generous dram of Queen of the Hebrides Gann Baraille 2005 sherry hogshead matured Bruichladdich. You’ll see that David Wood’s name is on this bottle too.

Before heading out into the late January dark, tasting this exceptional, deep flavoured whisky was like being given a big, warm hug. A fantastic end to an exceptional night.

There’d been a lovely atmosphere at the Whisky Night. Although I didn’t know anyone else other than Nathan and Bernadetta, and them only a little, it almost felt like a gathering of friends.

One word that keeps coming to mind is ‘passion’. From The Old Mill’s commitment to producing the very best food they can, chef Andy wanting everything on the plate to be perfect, through to David Wood’s incredible experience and wanting to share his knowledge and his wonderful whiskies.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

If you’re after fantastic smokehouse food served with great generosity, then The Old Mill is the place to go. I’m not going to leave it so long before my next visit as I reckon there’s some ribs of Iberico pork with my name on.

The whisky tasting and pairing with food was a complete revelation, and lots of fun too.

I’ve enjoyed whisky for many years, but don’t honestly know that much about it. Listening to David from Distilled Events, I’m coming to realise that having a little bit more knowledge is the key to my enjoying it even more.

But whether you’re a novice or an old hand at whisky, Distilled Events will tailor an event for you. They’re popular for stag, hen and other private parties. They also hold gin tastings as well as events featuring both whisky and gin. As well as Staffordshire and the Peak District, they operate across the UK.

If you’re already a whisky enthusiast, then you might be interested in going on one of their Guided Islay Whisky Trips & Distillery Experiences.

Upcoming tastings for 2020 include:

12 March 2020: Single Malt Whisky Tasting at Five Clouds Tap & Bottle, Macclesfield

14 March 2020: Single Malt Whisky Tasting at Picture House Social, Sheffield

11 June 2020: Gin Tasting at The Borehole, Stone

ALL PHOTOS © MOORLANDS EATER & NOT TO BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT PERMISSION

(thanks to Ian Dakin Photography for providing a number of images)

Disclosure

I was invited to this event by The Old Mill and it was free of charge for myself and my guest. However, as always, my review is an honest one based on my own experience.

Where a meal, product or service has been provided without charge then a disclosure such as this will always be included in the post.

Read more about working with Moorlands Eater on my About page here