What do you gift someone who already has everything? A common dilemma that I’m increasingly faced with, ahead of birthdays, anniversaries and other celebratory occasions. In line with my favourite quote “collect moments not things”, as well as my ageing self, I am increasingly more in favour of creating memories that last a lifetime rather than material gifts that can be gone in an instant.
This is exactly what Truly Experiences are all about. With a variety of gift experiences ranging from food/drink tastings, dining, spa and travel experiences, you are almost guaranteed to find something of interest to that special someone or occasion.
On a personal level, knowing that my boyfriend loves Whisky, I was on the hunt for a special premium whisky tasting experience. Having come across Truly last year, I recently went on their website to see what they had to offer. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had a dedicated Whisky tasting section, with a collection of experiences that are unique to Truly customers. Their range can cater for different budgets, starting from only £50 for a tasting for two people, all of which are hosted in carefully selected premium bars.
From the range of whisky experiences available, Black Rock stood out to me, as I had heard great things about them from reviews and word of mouth. I liked the fact that they are a dedicated whisky bar, founded by Tom Aske and Tristan Stephenson (London’s alcohol connoisseurs), with a selection of over 250 bottles in-house.
I decided to book Black Rock for a Saturday night. As it was less than two weeks away, I was unsure whether Truly could accommodate us at such short notice. However, within a few working days, they emailed us back and had booked us in for Black Rock’s Whisky Tasting at 6pm. We were very pleased and excited for our experience!
Upon our arrival that Saturday night, we entered Black Rock and found ourselves joining a whisky tasting along with other Truly clients who had booked the same experience. I was immediately struck by their centrepiece table that stretched across the whole room, an enormous 185 year-old oak tree, in their intimate underground bar.
This oak tree table has a secret though. The owners have fitted the oak tree with two channels filled with 17 litres of Cherry River (an American bourbon with Morello cherry and spices) and a slowly blended house whisky. The most amazing thing are the two taps at the end of the table, basically offering guests their whisky on tap – heaven for whisky lovers! As you will see from the first image above, there are also cork lids at different points of the table which you can remove to smell the distilled whisky inside – so cool!
As a whisky novice, I really liked the fact that all their whiskies were organised according to flavour, not by brand or region. Their cabinets have three shelves, all representing a different price tier and organised into six different flavour profiles: round, fragrance, smoke, sweet, spice and fruit. This enabled the guests, whether a novice or experienced whisky connoisseur, to choose their drink wisely.
The premium whisky tasting starts off with a tasty welcome drink – which was Nay-Grainy; a cocktail negroni with Scotch whisky, Gin Campari and sweet vermouth. This served as a palette cleanser and apertif before we began our whisky tasting.
Thanks Truly for a wonderful evening. I’m looking forward to booking my next experience soon!
Read more of my reviews at, www.marjanfocus.com!