The event was a tremendous success with over 130 attending on an awful evening. The evening started off with local piper Jenny Murray piping guests into the hall at the Potarch hotel.

The River Dee director Mark Bilsby spoke briefly about why the sponsorship from the Whyte and Mackay group was important for the River Dee and the community in Deeside, before handing over to the MC for the evening. The Master of ceremonies on the evening was Dominic Roskrow who In 2006 he received the Scotch whisky industry's highest honour when he was made a Keeper of the Quaich. Dominic spoke about his background and why "Local" is the big issue these days in the business and why it is important that the "Dee Dram" is born and he believes it will be of tremendous interest nationally and internationally. All profits from this will go to the River Dee Trust to support environmental enhancement projects for the River Dee which is an E.U designated Special area of conservation for the Salmon, Otters and Freshwater Mussels.

The Whyte and Mackay Team of Ambassadors with Ken Reid DDSFB

There then was series of brief introductions made to the guests by the brand ambassadors from the various distilleries in the Whyte and Mackay group, including Dalmore, Jura, Fettercairn and Whyte and Mackay. They were very well received by the guests, as the introductions were brief, enlightening and very humorous. The MC then introduced local well known Fiddler Paul Anderson who performed extremely well, a brief set, to get the audience in the mood for an enjoyable evening. The River Dee team of Ken Reid, Adrian Hudson, Ed Third, Lorraine Hawkins and Janet Service then took different groups of people to their appointed sampling stations and the sampling commenced. There were 6 different Whisky stations set up where people moved from station to station every 15 minutes. their marble into a receptacle at the station of their choice at the end of the sampling. The winning dram was a clear winner on the night and when it was announced there was quite a cheer in the hall. The next stage will be choosing the name for the product and the public launch which will happen shortly. At the end of the night Jim Coates, head of brand for Whyte and Mackay, who has arranged the sponsorship with the River Dee Trust and FishDee, closed the event and made some presentations to people supporting the event. The buses departed at 10 pm when the event finished with guests departing to all destinations in Deeside. The event was extremely popular with many people commenting how well the event went. Head of Dalmore brand, David Robertson commented that it was one of the best events he had been involved with nationally and internationally.

River Director Mark Bilsby Addressing the guests

The Potarch Hotel venue was kindly provided by Craig and Holly Beedie for the evenings events, Both Holly and Craig are very supportive of the River Dee and visitors to Deeside and were most kind in providing staffing support as well as the various areas in the hotel as sampling stations. The excellent background music and audio facilities were kindly provided by Graham Ross who is a well known Discotheque operator on Deeside. There were many local business people attending including many of the licensed trade who are united in their support of producing a locally themed product. There were buses from Aberdeen, Banchory, Aboyne and the Ballater transporting guests to the event with excellent support provided by Allan and Black and the DMO who arranged for the Ballater community bus to bring guests from the top of the valley. Local MP Sir Robert Smith attended as did river proprietors Michael and Claire Bruce from Glentanar estate, Edward and Serena Humphrey from Dinnet estates and Willie Banks from Tilbouries. There were visitors from Europe attending, including top Norwegian fishing agent Reid Hagelin from Global club of Flyfishers. Well known Honorary Italian Vice Consul Fabrizio Necch was also present.

Edward Humphrey from Dinnet Estate

The Winning Dram is Announced

Local Ghillies Mike Donald and David Cowie discussing their drams with Reid Hagelin from Norway

Paul Anderson renowned Fiddler entertaining guests

Ian Murray from Ballater tasting the winning Dram