We’re docking at Liverpool Food and Drink Festival with Aiden Byrne

Join us as we return to Liverpool Food and Drink Festival with local Chef Aiden Byrne.

Following our successful debut at the Liverpool Food and Drink Festival in 2015, we have teamed up with leading local chef Aiden Byrne again to bring fine drams and delicious food pairings to this year’s event (17th – 18th September).  Our ‘Old Pulteney Drifter’, a hand-crafted, boat-shaped bar featuring original nautical details and an eye-catching sail-like canopy, will be anchored at Sefton Park throughout the festival.

We have had such an exciting year with appearances at a number of food festivals and special events around the North of England. Aiden, who is chef and owner of The Church Green British Grill in Lymm and Chef Patron at Manchester House, is the Old Pulteney brand ambassador, on a mission to give food lovers a fresh taste of malt whisky and to pioneer whisky and food pairing.

Aiden began 2016 with a visit to the Pulteney Distillery to immerse himself in our rich maritime heritage and traditional crafting of the whisky, enjoying a personal masterclass with our Senior Brand Manager, Margaret Mary Clarke. Inspired by its distinctive flavours and faint hint of the sea, Aiden has devised a selection of Old Pulteney-inspired food pairings. He will be educating festival visitors on how to bring together the perfect combination of complementary flavours during his appearance at the Old Pulteney Drifter on Sunday 18th September from 2 – 4pm.

Margaret Mary Clarke, Senior Brand Manager for Old Pulteney commented: ‘We really enjoyed our last trip to Liverpool, we found that Festival visitors were keen to learn more about Scotch malt whisky and to sample our collection. It’s a huge asset for us to be able to work alongside as talented and passionate a chef as Aiden. Pairing food and whisky is a relatively new idea and he has taken our challenge and created some wonderful and creative dishes which we’re all looking forward to sharing with Festival guests over the weekend.’

Aiden Byrne added: ‘Since starting to work with Old Pulteney at last year’s Liverpool Food and Drink Festival, we have developed a partnership that has been fascinating for both parties. I love working with the delicious, complex and slightly salty flavours of the various Old Pulteney malts and developing flavour pairings has become something of a passion for me. Having the chance to introduce so many people to the taste of malt whisky and the foods that it can pair with has also been very rewarding.’

At this year’s Festival, Aiden will be preparing a special food pairing for Old Pulteney 12 Years Old – a nori rice cracker with cured salmon and seaweed salad. ‘The citrusy and salty back notes in the 12 Years Old are complemented perfectly by the seaweed, citrus fruits and small bursts of seafood from the salmon caviar’, he commented.

The Liverpool Food and Drink Festival takes place on Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th September 2016 at Sefton Park, Liverpool. The Old Pulteney Drifter Bar will be on site in Zone B throughout the Festival. Aiden Byrne will appear at the Old Pulteney Drifter Bar on Sunday the 18th of September from 2 – 4pm.