Whisky & Witches: Mythical Beasts – Belfast Whiskey Week 2023

Name: Belfast Whiskey Week 2026
Start: 2026-07-24
End: 2026-08-01
Location: Belfast

Filed: 15 Jul 2023
By: Belfast Whiskey Week
Read: 5 min
Ref: BWW/23/412

Some evenings at Belfast Whiskey Week linger long after the last dram is poured — and the Sunday night session of Whisky & Witches: Mythical Beasts was precisely that kind of evening. Spiritfilled, the Scottish independent bottler with a nose for the rare and the remarkable, joined forces with international composer and singer Christine Kammerer to conjure something that defied easy categorisation: part whisky tasting, part concert, part séance of the senses. Held at the Angel & Bible on Sunday 23rd October 2023, it was theatrical whisky at its most genuinely transportive.

About This Event

“Whisky & Witches presents Mythical Beasts: An Immersive, Mystical, Musical Whisky Tasting” A magical, musical whisky tasting by female forces! 5 exclusive whiskies, gripping storytelling and hauntingly beautiful music and song. Travel with us to the realm where folklore, exceptional whisky and mystical music meet in perfect harmony. Stimulating all the senses to create the ultimate experience. Experience the Mythical Beasts of Spiritfilled’s extraordinary whiskies come alive in this immersive whisky tasting. The very nature of the beasts are highlighted and beautifully connected to the characteristics and birthplace of each dram, through enchanting music and storytelling. Letting the experience of each whisky capture all your senses. WHAT DO YOU GET? • A guided tasting of 5 unique, cask strength whiskies from distilleries across Scotland. • A fusion of Nordic and Celtic folk music, interpreted in new symphonic ways! • Original music and song by international singer and composer Christine Kammerer • 4 captivating, tailored stories. A fusion of folklore from across the globe • Insight into the feminine powers of nature and their connection to the whiskies Spiritfilled is a whisky company that seeks out rare and special single malt casks to bottle. They have a strong reputation for seeking out the gems in the world of whisky, to share with fellow whisky lovers and explorers. Previously, Spiritfilled has featured beautiful expressions such as a 30 YO Bruichladdich, a 14 YO Port Charlotte and a 32 YO Fettercairn, and the whiskies embodied by the Mythical Beasts are just as exceptional. Timeslot: 6pm-9pm Start Time: 6pm Duration: 2hrs Venue: Angel 2 Bibles

Drinks: 5 Drams Type: Theatrical Disclaimers Please note that individual dietary requirements are not being catered for with any food at this event. Each Brand/Distillery and Collaborative Partner have agreed to our Min/Max Pour Policy. Please Respect this, and enjoy your festival responsibly. Festival Participants who are deemed to be too inebriated, or are not respecting themselves, will not be permitted into events and venues. ALL Hosts/Ushers/Collaborators and Venue Staff have the right to refuse participants without question and recourse. Please Drink Responsibly. All events are only available to those 18 years old and over. Do not purchase tickets if you are under the age of 18. Be prepared to produce ID if required. Venue staff & ushers may ask you to provide ID when showing your valid tickets. You may be refused enter to events if you can’t prove your age. Some venues may change, if they do, you will be notified. All events are subject to changes out of the control of the festival organisers. Any issues, please contact us @belfastwhiskeyweek on socials, or via email on marketing@belfastwhiskeyweek.com or 07773675179 (8am-8pm) to discuss. NO Refunds will be given. Please only buy tickets if you are prepared to attend the event. Tickets are transferable. If you are going to transfer tickets please email, marketing@belfastwhiskeyweek.com

Looking Back

From the moment guests settled in, it was clear this was not a conventional tasting. The room held the particular hush of an audience that knows something unusual is about to happen. Five cask strength single malts from distilleries across Scotland sat waiting, but they were not merely drams to be assessed — they were characters to be met. Each whisky had been selected by Spiritfilled for the way its origin, its nature, its very spirit mapped onto a mythical beast from the world's folklore traditions. The task of the evening was to feel that connection, not just analyse it.

Christine Kammerer's original compositions threaded through the proceedings like smoke through old timber. Drawing on Nordic and Celtic folk traditions and reshaping them into something altogether new and symphonic, her music didn't decorate the tasting so much as deepen it. As each whisky was introduced, its beast came alive in sound and story — folklore drawn from across the globe, carefully tailored to the character of the dram. It was seanchas in the truest sense: knowledge carried in the telling, the kind of thing our ancestors would have recognised as sacred even if the uisce beatha in the cup was considerably more complex than theirs.

Spiritfilled is a whisky company that earns its reputation quietly, through the quality of what it puts in the bottle rather than the volume of what it says about itself. Their catalogue speaks of patience and discernment — previous releases have included a 30-year-old Bruichladdich, a 14-year-old Port Charlotte, and a 32-year-old Fettercairn, expressions that reward the kind of attention this event was specifically designed to cultivate. The five whiskies presented on the night carried that same spirit of careful curation, each one cask strength and unrepeatable. Attendees weren't just tasting whisky; they were being trusted with something genuinely rare.

The feminine forces at the heart of Whisky & Witches gave the event its duchas — its sense of belonging to something older and wilder than a festival schedule. The storytelling drew on traditions where women were the keepers of knowledge, the namers of beasts, the ones who understood what lived in the sheugh and the moorland mist. That framing didn't feel forced or fashionable; it felt like the natural idiom for whisky this old, this atmospheric, this alive. Several attendees were heard remarking afterwards that they'd never experienced anything quite like it — which, in a festival not short of memorable nights, is saying something.

This was the third of four sessions Spiritfilled and Christine Kammerer brought to BWW 2023 — an earlier Saturday session had already set the tone, and two further dates carried the experience forward across the week. If you're curious about the wider world of whisky experiences Belfast Whiskey Week has to offer, our Whiskey Map is a fine place to begin your own exploration. Sláinte mhath to everyone who made it into the room that Sunday night — you witnessed something worth remembering.