24-Hour Whiskey Tasting Would Have Broken World Record If Officials Had Showed Up

Back in June, a group of whiskey aficionados in Scotland recently attempted what they hoped would be the world's first 24-hour whiskey tasting.

Made up of several smaller tastings spread out across eight whiskey shops in eight cities in the UK over a span of 643 miles, the event served more than 130 people and would have secured a new world record -- if authorities from Guinness World Records had actually showed up.

The Drinks Business website shares the story, which had a nearly happy ending. Guinness officials had not been able to attend, but responded three days after the event to say that it would have won the title, but they can't officially name it as such. That doesn't to be swaying the group's pride, which included managing director of The Whiskey Shop, Andrew Torrance:

“I heard someone talking about the world’s biggest whisky tasting and I felt that it was a record that should be held by Scotland but it wasn’t. I got to thinking and had the idea that if we couldn’t do the biggest we should do the most, so that’s how it developed,” Torrance said.

Pictures on the Facebook page of another participating whiskey shop, Compass Box Whisky, show large groups congregated in the early hours of the morning drinking whiskey. One image is accompanied by a caption that says it all: "Victoria Street Whisky Shop in Edinburgh at 4.30am in the morning, astonishingly, plays host to our biggest crowd of the day. We love that city!"

Compass Box founder and whiskymaker John Glaser shared his feelings about the event in a Facebook note:

“I have to admit to staying up pretty late a few times in support of our whiskies, but usually this take places in a very civilised bar rather than a van. Regardless, I can’t wait for this night. If it gets more people to understand our craft approach, enjoy what we do, and learn more about the wonders that whisky has to offer, then it is worth every one of the 1440 minutes on the road”.

Glaser, Torrance and the rest of their team travelled 643 miles by car, from Inverness to Brighton. The envoy reached their final destination at 11:30 p.m., 30 minutes shy of their 24 hour deadline.