Dramnation ("The love of whisky") - Hills-based whisky courses in Sydney's North West

Good friend of TimeforWhisky, fellow whisky blogger and all-round nice bloke Matthew Wooler has recently launched Dramnation, which will run whisky appreciation courses based in Sydney's Hills District and surrounding suburbs.

In Matt's own words:

"Dramnation is a business created to impart knowledge about whisky appreciation through the tactical approach of speaker driven presentations, combined with measured whisky tasting samples and sensory exploration. We intend to nurture and focus a growing community of whisky appreciators in the Hills district.  

The Dramnation whisky appreciation course is to introduce individuals into the dynamically expanding world of whisky. Through the 4 part course, each individual will have the opportunity to taste a minimum of 20 whiskies from both the traditional Scotch foundations and new world whiskies. All samples tasted during the course will be drawn from whiskies readily available on Australian store shelves. 85% of all whisky samples to be tasted are valued at below $100AU and the remaining 15% valued at above $100AU. This ration is to ensure we deliver attendees a showcase of quality whisky that can fit an average whisky buyer's budget. Dramnation’s ultimate aim is to instill enough valued information to allow for a confident, educated decision making process when selecting and purchasing whisky at retail liquor chains or individual specialist stores.  

The Dramnation course will be held over 4 sessions of consecutive or alternating weeks. A minimum of x5 15ml whisky samples will be served at each session per attendee. It is intended to also include a small tasting of a beer, sherry, and port to give the link between malt to beer to barrel to finish. Tastings will also be accompanied with a light finger foods of cheese, crackers, mixed nuts, dried fruits, chocolate, with potentially some cured protein. "

Those who have met Matt, or know of him through the Distant Thunder Whisky Club or Dram Full Sydney would know he has a genuine passion for whisk(e)y, coupled with a deep knowledge of the liquid we know and love - facts that will no doubt shine through in the soon to commence courses.

The courses will be conveniently held at Castle Hills Bowls Club (1 year membership to the club included in the course fee), and will consist of four sessions spaced one to two weeks apart. At a cost of $210AUD per course - $52.50AUD per session (with an initial discount available at the time of posting using the discount code DRAM50) each session will focus on a different theme and will typically include:

• Wooden tasting flight 
• x5 stemmed tasting glasses 
• 600ml sealed water bottle 
• Pen and note book 
• Printed basic tasting notes 
• Shared water vial and pipettes 
• Shared finger food platter 

Matt has shared with us a list of the 20 whiskies Dramnation will cover during the courses (not including the "mystery drams" that will also be available for purchase during the courses), and I have to say - they've built an impressive list of quality, but accessible drams. From Small batch Irish whiskies, to classic Speysiders, to Japanese NAS whisky, Islays, Islands, Bourbons and well-aged blends, it's all covered. It's actually a very impressive list and would be sure to give anyone a very solid grounding in the world of whisky / whiskey.

As the photos show, Matt puts a lot of care into everything he does, and we have no doubt these courses will be a huge success (Hendy will hopefully be attending one soon). If you live in Sydney and would like to learn a bit more about whisk(e)y (or you know someone who fits that bill), we recommend you consider booking one of Dramnation's courses, stat.

Cheers,

Martin.

The photos provided for this article belong to Matthew and Dramnation - and just quietly, are stunning.