Spur of the moment

Having been a member of the Tasting Panel for over 10 years, Nicola Young is a familiar face to many of us at the Society. Alongside her wealth of experience in nosing and tasting whisky, her time spent as a Society ambassador has helped gather a handy selection of industry contacts. Together, she’s garnered the perfect ingredients for her latest whisky adventure.

Nicola has a knack for bringing people together, particularly through her new whisky club in Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire. Despite having only started last summer, The Spur Whisky Club has had no shortage of interest and has already shot up to 100 members. Run as a non-profit passion project, the club meet on the first Friday of each month to indulge in an informal but educational tasting that has become an instant hit in the community. From themed tastings to guest visits, locals have found it too good a deal to miss out on. The £8 attendance fee allows members to indulge in a specially selected five-dram flight, and with around 50 monthly attendees there’s plenty funds for Nicola to reinvest in the club’s stock.

The club holds a close connection to the pub it’s hosted in, The Spur, where Nicola has struck a deal with owner Graeme. She explains: “We try and make it fair for everybody so that nobody's loses. If there's a little chunk of whisky left, we offer it to the pub for £20, regardless of how much is in the bottle or how much it’s worth.”

She continues: “Sometimes they’re getting a bottle of whisky that's worth £800 for £20. The return is that they must sell it behind the bar for less than £5 a dram. This means people in the pub can be drinking a £40 dram for £4.50. It makes whiskies that people wouldn’t normally be able to try totally accessible and the pub gains from it too.”
The club’s connection to The Spur goes beyond the name. Graeme has been a member since the first session and acknowledges the positive impact it’s had. He explains: “There’s no downside to it for the pub. It’s increased the turnover massively, helps pull people in and gets the pub known to other folk that wouldn’t have come here.”

He continues: “We’ve had to move to a bigger room. The one we’re in now we didn’t really use much at all before the club – it would be a disaster if they all turned up at once! To this day I can’t believe how much Nicola puts into this club off her own back, it’s unbelievable. She’s the driving force behind it, there’s no doubt about it. We couldn’t have done this anywhere near as well without her knowledge and drive. Every pub needs a Nicola!”

With no committee, secretary or treasurer, it's undeniable that Nicola’s behind the club’s success. Her top tip for anyone looking to follow suit: “Keep it simple”. Although there’s still lots of work to do in planning, Nicola says streamlining the admin makes it much more manageable. This frees her up to focus on the other key components needed to run a successful whisky club. She explains: “You have to make it fun and cheap. You also have to make sure you have good knowledge and access to good whisky. You need access to the good stuff otherwise your membership isn’t going to grow. We've also been super lucky, because I've got some great friends in the whisky industry we've already had some really good guests come along and host for us.”

One thing keeping the club fun is the infamous raffle held at the end of each session where a few drams of each bottle are raffled off to members for £1 a ticket. This has quickly become the most anticipated and exciting part of each gathering, as Nicola adds: “We have this monumental raffle at the end of every session, it’s literally the most exciting part of the night and everybody looks forward to trying to win a few drams of their favourite whisky. Now some of our members have started donating prizes, bottles of whisky or vodka, anything that they've got hanging around. The raffle is now legend; it raises more than we take in in fees and it doesn’t cost the club a penny.”

With Nicola’s ties to the Society, it wasn’t long before we received an invite to host our own tasting at The Spur. Heading along for a taste of the action, I find eager members arriving hours early with the room quickly filling with people from all walks of life. With no space to spare, Society ambassador Rhys sets off on a lively five-dram tasting, with the rowdy crowd excited to interact from the start.

Sitting at the front are David and Jennifer, a father and daughter who found a common interest in whisky through the club. Despite Jennifer having never liked whisky before coming, it’s now a great way for them to spend time together, as David explains: “It’s amazing father-daughter time. I didn’t think Jennifer would like whisky, that was unexpected. The camaraderie and friendships are brilliant, and the atmosphere has been great.”

Dramming alongside them is Neill, who’s seen The Spur Whisky Club draw people together from across the area: “It feels like a real community. I’ve met a lot of people I’ve never met before that live in Cumbernauld village. When a lot of things are shutting it’s nice to see something as vibrant as this that’s really good at bringing the community together.”

Graeme agrees and believes there should be more to any whisky club than just great whisky: “It’s not all about the whisky, the whisky’s an added bonus. It doesn’t really matter if you like whisky or don’t like whisky. Taste them and it’s okay if you don’t like every one. The discussion around them and chatting to everybody is what it’s all about. I didn’t drink whisky before the club and I still only like one or two, but I still come along because every session is an experience.”

Since its first session The Spur Whisky Club has been an incredible hit. Nicola has crafted an accessible community where old and new pals alike can connect over our beloved spirit, no matter what their experience. So when attending your next whisky club or tasting, be sure to raise a glass and toast to your local whisky hero!