The Old & Rare Show is one of our favourite times of year, and we’re very sad we won’t be able to host a physical show in 2021. To commemorate what would have been the show weekend, the organisers — Angus, Jonny and Sukhinder — have dug deep into their collections to bring you four unforgettable masterclasses, broadcast live on 25, 26 and 27 February. Each masterclass is accompanied by its own Perfect Measure tasting set, allowing you the chance to join in at home.

Discover the classes and tasting sets below, or visit the show website for more details.

Waxy Whisky Masterclass

One of the key hallmarks of older style single malts is the elusive characteristic we call 'waxiness'. It can manifest as a flavour, or a group of flavours that includes minerality, spiciness and medicinal phenols, but also as an impression of texture and mouthfeel. Older-style distillates made using floor-malted barley, longer ferments and direct-fired distillation often display this rare, waxy profile – a style which eludes many contemporary malts. This tasting explores this flavour profile in depth with some famous and lesser-known examples. The unifying feature of all these whiskies is their extraordinary quality and a consistently beautiful expression of waxiness in single malt.

Longmorn Masterclass

Longmorn is one of the Scotch whisky blenders' favourite malts, used as a ‘top dresser’ for adding something special to their blends, and it’s best known in the wider world as one of the key components of the Chivas Regal range of blended whiskies. However, there’s much more to Longmorn than its modern incarnation.

In this class we dive deep into the flavours of Longmorn to discover what makes the distillery’s older whiskies so special. We’re tasting across different vintages, bottlers and maturation casks, but with a constant leitmotif: the omnipresent rich but elegantly fruity flavour that is the trademark of the spirit distilled in this era.

Gordon & MacPhail Old and Rare Masterclass

Gordon & MacPhail are one of the most respected independent bottlers in the business, with a long history that has shaped Scotch whisky's journey since its founding in 1895. However, among the company’s whisky ranges sits one that is over overlooked – the distillery label bottlings.

We don’t think enough people know about these bottles, and this class aims to change that by showcasing some of the best examples of more recent years, distilled between 1953 and 1972 – the golden years of whisky production.

Old-Style Peat Masterclass

The flavour of peat is one of the most misunderstood and least explored aspects of whisky. Most contemporary peated malts display an up-front, ashy and aggressively smoky style of peat, but this has not always been the case. This tasting will explore an era of whisky production when many distilleries operated their own floor matings and had their own peat sources. It features some stunning examples of single malts that express starkly differing aspects of peat flavour. From the deep, herbal and heathery peat of Orkney, via the more farmyard and medical styles of Glen Garioch and Ardmore, all the way to the powerfully chiselled, sharp and purely smoky style of 1970s' Port Ellen. A journey through history and geography with some stunning, rarely available whiskies.