Organisers of a Speyside whisky festival are packing their passports as they prepare to go global to find the region’s best dram.
Roving judging sessions are being held in Canada, the Netherlands and Germany for the coveted audience vote.
Every year the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival crowns the top tipples after an extensive process that allows the public to choose the winners.
But now organisers want to take the event worldwide in a hope to broaden the appeal of the event and Speyside whisky.
Festival chairman James Campbell said: “We trialled this on a very small scale last year when we held a tasting and judging event at Scotia Spirit in Cologne,
“It was very warmly received and it made us realise there was potential to take the awards judging to even more international destination.
“It provides us with an excellent platform to promote the festival to the whisky enthusiasts who are most likely to want to travel significant distances to be a part of it.”
As well as the three judging sessions already planned, organisers are hoping to line up further events in New York and Stockholm.
The USA, Germany and Scandinavia provide the bulk of the event’s overseas visitors.
New box office records were set when tickets went on sale last month with visitors from 24 different countries logging on to secure their places.
Frank Scott, who is hosting a session in New Brunswick in Canada this month, said: “This is a wonderful opportunity to showcase the best whisky festival in the world.”
The festival runs from April 27 until May 1 with more than 500 events across Speyside.