Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Drams and donuts to make unlikely combination for Speyside whisky festival

Johnny Baldaray is travelling from California to Speyside for the tasting session
Johnny Baldaray is travelling from California to Speyside for the tasting session

Whisky and donuts will make an unlikely match at a celebration of Scotland’s national drink next month.

Johnny Baldaray fell in love with single malts when he visited the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival with his wife Erica three years ago.

The American took a selection of the area’s finest drams with him as he returned to California.

When his friends were invited to his home to sample the tipples, however, there was only a box of donuts to offer as a snack.

The night inspired Mr Baldaray to set up a website devoted entirely to pairing donuts with whisky to bring out the flavours of each.

And the Los Angeles-based connoisseur has now commissioned an Edinburgh donut baker to create recipes to go with six whiskies.

Mr Baldaray said: “It’s too early in our process to say that there are guidelines. All whiskies work, and more importantly, there is a donut out there for any whisky or the other way around.

“It may be biased to say that Speyside whiskies work particularly well, because I hold the region closer to my heart than others, but there are so many delicious characteristics here that the pairing process is that much more enjoyable.”

Bourbon-based drams are renowned for working with sweet chocolate donuts, while fruity whiskies go best with those topped with jelly.

Smoky or peaty malts have been found to taste best when matched with nuts or custard.

Mr Baldaray added: “Personally, I love and embrace the purists in whisky culture. I am far from an expert on the subject and often find inspiration from those who are so devoted to tradition and regiment.”

The tasting session has been organised for May 6 in Dufftown’s Commercial Hotel as part of the food-themed events that make up next month’s Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival.

Chairman James Campbell said: “Our festival is full of surprises and every year we’re amazed by the innovative additions to the programme which takes in everything from traditional tours and tastings to curious events like pairing whisky and donuts.

“It goes to show the diversity of our offering and we really do have something to appeal to all tastes.”