Our flagship event, the Midlands Whisky Festival, is done for another year. The show has grown in scale and ambition with every delivery, and it’s with great pride that we consign a successful 2025 festival to history.
Over two days, we welcomed 1,000 whisky lovers from across the globe to Birmingham city centre, sampling a selection of over 400 whiskies and rums, ranging from everyday delights to some of the rarest in the world. Here are some of our highlights.
First Appearances
Amongst the returning Midlands veterans, we also welcomed a few new exhibitors in 2025. Retribution Distillery, a craft producer operating out of a farm in Somerset, made their first appearance, showcasing their first three releases as well as behind-the-scenes samples of their unaged spirit. The Glasgow Distillery also made their debut, showcasing delightful single malts at accessible prices.
In terms of independent bottlers, Ferg & Harris joined us for the very first time, pouring a swathe of aged releases, right up to a 27-year-old Ledaig! An honourary mention here for returning legends Cadenhead’s, it was a delight to welcome back the oldest independent bottler in Scotland after a several-year hiatus.
The rum room saw some new additions, too. Nottinghamshire’s DropWorks distillery, founded in 2023, is said to be the largest rum distillery in Europe! Quite a feat. Their “Barrel Drop” release was a smash hit with attendees, selling out several times over the course of the show. Outlier Distillery, hailing from the Isle of Man, also wowed guests with their creative cuvées of rum, distilled on their wood-fired pot still.
New Releases Debuted
The show is always a great opportunity to try the latest releases from across the industry. Bruichladdich came in strong with the latest Octomores, the 16.x series. These remarkably smoky expressions have garnered a strong cult following over the years, and this latest instalment proved to be some of the very best yet.
N10 Bourbons provide a wonderful range of American whiskey to the UK market, so we were elated to welcome their new additions to the Nickolls & Perks shelves. Their latest project, “The Story of” series, aims to explain the different aspects of American whiskey by bottling excellent examples of each consideration, such as a “bourbon” or “bottled-in-bond”, both demystifying the category and providing drinkers with wonderful tipples in the process. Well, it’s clearly resonated, as The Story of Bourbon sold out within the first hour of the show!
The festival is also a chance to taste the latest Nickolls & Perks releases before they are launched. This year saw three immense single casks: a 10-year-old Arran fully matured in an ex-sherry hogshead; a 23-year-old Bruichladdich, a 2002 vintage matured solely in a single sherry cask; and a 31-year-old refill barrel Springbank, a wonderful example of this legendary distillery. The Bruichladdich and the Springbank were the launch of a new range in our offering, the Rare Cask Collection. This new range showcases some of the rarest casks in our portfolio. The Springbank and Bruichladdich will both be launched online and in-store on the 1st October 2025.
Dream Drams
Dream Drams are whiskies and rums of particular renown and value. These might be recent releases that are of high worth, or legendary releases of yore that have dwindled in numbers, existing in astonishing scarcity.
Top of the table in terms of token value, we popped the corks on some ludicrous rarities, like a 21 year old Lagavulin sherry cask of a 1985 vintage; a 50 year old 1963 vintage of Glen Grant, bottled by Gordon & MacPhail; a 1967 Talisker 100 Proof, the classic red & black label from Gordon & MacPhail; an 18 Year Old Hakushu bottled in the 2024’s Tsukuriwake collection; a 60 year old North British, fully matured in a refill butt by Hunter Laing. These are once-in-a-lifetime opportunities and go a long way to showing the unforgettable experience our festival can provide.
This year’s festival saw some 60+ Dream Drams of varying values and styles. No matter your preference, there’ll be a rarity for you at the Midlands Whisky Festival!
Masterclasses
Masterclasses are a chance to step away from the hubbub of festival fun and take a quiet moment to explore whiskies with some of the industry’s finest.
In our Bruichladdich masterclass, guests got a behind-the-scenes look at how their renowned Classic Laddie release is constructed. The session presented guests with samples of various styles, direct from the warehouses of Bruichladdich, including virgin oaks, Pauilliac red wine casks, ex-bourbon, refill casks, and more. Not only did this allow guests to enjoy tastes of these delectable single casks, but also the opportunity to concoct their own single malts by blending them!
To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Glencadam Distillery, we welcomed distillery brand ambassador Cameron McPherson to guide guests through some of the latest releases, the 25-year-old single malt, and a special pre-release tasting of an upcoming anniversary release. An anniversary of this magnitude is a once-in-a-lifetime moment for fans of a distillery, so it was a wonderful chance to celebrate this milestone with Glencadam enthusiasts.
Whisky legend Dave Broom joined us for two of our masterclasses. Dave is internationally renowned for his whisky writings. His intimate knowledge of whisky history and his stories from decades of whisky exploration always make for a special experience. In our Fine & Rare masterclass, Dave joined our in-house Spirits Specialist, Steven Cook, for a session exploring both rare releases of yore, as well as independent bottlings by Nickolls & Perks of exceptionally aged whisky and rum.
The session split between Steven’s technical knowledge of the processes and science in crafting whisky and rum, and Dave’s unparalleled knowledge of the history and ethos of each distillery. Amongst the rarities, guests even tried two rums from distilleries that no longer exist!
Our Icons of Islay masterclass was a celebration of two peaty giants, Bowmore and Laphroaig. For the Islay whisky fan, it doesn’t get much better than this. Guests tried brand new expressions from each distillery, including exceptionally aged examples such as the Laphroaig 33 Year Old Strong Characters – David Johnston Edition, and a Bowmore 20 Year Old 1996 Oloroso Sherry Butt hand-fill (a distillery exclusive). Leading this mesmerising event, David Myles of Suntory and Dave Broom.
Until Next Year
Midlands Whisky Festival 2025 is now over. Months of planning, research and physical labour go into delivering one of the biggest whisky festivals in the UK, but the experience and impressions left upon the thousand whisky lovers who attend make every effort worthwhile. New drams were discovered; legendary spirits were tasted; experts shared their knowledge; friends were reunited.
If you’re a whisky fan who hasn’t attended our festival, be sure to sign up to the Midlands Whisky Festival newsletter to stay updated on tickets for 2026. There are few better ways to experience whisky. We hope to see you there.