Here at Miss Whisky I’m big on celebrating all the women who work in the wonderful world of whisky. This doesn’t mean I don’t care about all you chaps either, of course! I just am so glad to share stories of the women who bring so much vibrancy to this industry, especially those who may have slipped the radar in the past.
So, it was with joyous ears that I heard about a rather exciting event happening on Thursday from 6-8pm at the Albannach Restaurant and Bar over near Trafalgar Square. You see, it’s International Women’s Day on the 8th and in its honour the bar has paired up with the fantastic Compass Box whisky to raise money for a brilliant charity called the Girl Effect.
It makes sense that the Albannach would be involved in something like this. Cat Spencer, head of marketing at Albannach, is big on celebrating and honouring fabulous women in business, especially those in the whisky industry. A feisty New Yorker, Cat exudes a effervescent confidence that one cannot help but be impressed by so she’s a great ambassador for a day that celebrates women trying to create equality for females worldwide.
She says teaming up with Compass Box was a “nice meeting of minds” because of the company’s innovation and creativity, along with its roster of great females. The company is putting on four events globally – in San Francsico, New York, London and Beijing – all of which will raise money for a different charity helping women.
The Albannach’s choice of the Girl Effect is one I really feel passionate about. Its focus is quite simple, but very impacting. The charity aims to reach out to impoverished 12-year old girls to try and alter the course of their lives by ensuring they stay in education and have the opportunity to choose when they marry and have children. By putting all their effort into this one small factor, the charity suggests the futures of villages and impoverished communities can be improved globally – you ensure one girl stays in education, she becomes empowered, earns a living, marries later and passes on this independence to her children. It is such a small thing, in so many ways, but so very key. I became really interested in this idea when I was at university (something I had easy access to, being a western woman in this day and age). I studied sociology as my minor and this idea of empowering young girls at critical stages was a well documented way of changing lives for the better. The charity sums all of this up in a powerful video, which I highly recommend you take a couple of minutes to watch (here).
At the event, Compass Box will showcase its range of whiskies and there will be £3 drams and £6 cocktails, with money going towards the charity. All in all, it’s a bit of a win-win situation.
And, this is not an exclusively female event at all – as always in the whisky world, everyone is welcome.
So come down and help honour some of the fantastic women in your life, drink some fantastic drams and raise money to help change the world’s future, one girl at a time!
For more information about the Girl Effect or to watch the video, go to: www.girleffect.org. For further details of Compass Box, go to: www.compassboxwhisky.com. And for information on Albannach Restaurant and Bar, head to: www.albannach.co.uk/. To read the Whisky Women interview with Cat Spencer, visit: http://misswhisky.com/whisky-women/cat-spencer/
