(Reviewed by John Glennie)
What: The Whisky Show
Where: Stamford Plaza, Adelaide
When: Saturday 29thJune, 4:00-7:00pm
Being a malt whisky lover, I was fortunate enough to attend this year’s Whisky Show. There were some excellent drams to sample from the birthplace of this wonderful brew, Scotland, to the “newcomers” from Australia, New Zealand and even one from France!
It was a little slow getting the crowd in but not overly so, and all attendees were given a bag containing a bottle of water, a delicious healthy wrap and some chips and crackers – to help soak up the alcohol. There were also many water dispensers available and large bowls of pretzels to cleanse the palate.
My only issue was the length of the line-ups at each table – especially during the first hour. In hindsight we could have come in about 45-60 minutes late and avoid the queues yet still have time to taste the whiskies available. There were 2 tasting sessions – the first being from 12:00 to 3:00 – and we discovered that, if you wanted to buy any of the whisky, some popular ones had already sold out in the first session.
I won’t go into my favourites or “disappointments” as whisky is definitely an individual preference, but there was a good mix between unpeated and peated malts as well as some Canadian whisky and American bourbons available.
On entry, we were recommended to download the Whisky List app onto our phones. This app listed, by distillery, every whisky available for tasting and we were encouraged to rate each one – there was a Dislike option and under the Like menu there were several options to provide adequate ratings:
- I’ll buy this to drink
- I’ll buy this to collect
- I’ll buy this as a gift
- I like it, but not enough to buy
- I like it, but it’s too expensive
At the end I was surprised to see I had tasted, and rated, 32 whiskies! Thanks to drinking lots of water I felt fine, and even woke up on Sunday with a clear head and healthy appetite for a good breakfast.
If you are a whisky lover, keep an eye out for this even next year (we will most likely promote it on Eventalaide – so keep watching this space)!
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