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albo
Master Of Malts
Joined: 22 Mar 2011
Posts: 1888
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 Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 9:32 am Post subject: Edinburgh Whisky Festival |
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I've just booked tickets to the Edinburgh Whisky Festival, run by Whisky Lounge, anyone know anything about this? It's a punt as I've read nothing at all but asume that for £20 I can't go too far wrong.
Any info greatly recieved. |
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Innes
Master Of Malts
Joined: 29 Apr 2010
Posts: 1080
Location: England
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| Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2013 6:11 pm Post subject: |
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The Whisky Lounge organises whisky events and tastings usually in England, this is the first time they have done one in Scotland.
Is this the Edinburgh Whisky Fest on Saturday April 27th at The Hub, Castlehill. if so they have joined up with The Scotch Malt Whisky Society for this event. Tickets are £50 on their website but they have an early bird offer of 2 for £50 at the moment. So you got a good deal at £20 for your ticket.
Some more info here, looks like there will be a good line up
http://www.thewhiskylounge.com/book-now-whisky-festivals/edinburgh-whisky-fest-2013-2-for-50/ |
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Mark
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| Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2013 6:45 pm Post subject: |
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| albo if your ticket is for the same event Innes mentions then it looks like you got a good deal. If you dont mind me asking where did you get the ticket for £20, i assume that is perhaps a SMWS members price. |
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albo
Master Of Malts
Joined: 22 Mar 2011
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| Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 11:44 am Post subject: |
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Yes it was through the SMWS they had an offer of 2 tickets for £40 working out at £20 each, so I took a punt on them,
Never been to one of these before, only the whisky fringe in Edinburgh which was basically a bunch of stalls from different ditillerys or companties who gave out drams of their wears, I had wayyy to much and woke up with a smashing headache the next day.
Just wondered if this would be somehting similar |
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Blackadder
Master Of Malts
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 1734
Location: UK
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| Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 10:32 pm Post subject: |
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| Sounds like it may be a bit like a Whisky Live event. Why cant they just do an offer on an single ticket. |
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albo
Master Of Malts
Joined: 22 Mar 2011
Posts: 1888
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| Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 12:44 am Post subject: |
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| Blackadder wrote: | | Sounds like it may be a bit like a Whisky Live event. Why cant they just do an offer on an single ticket. |
I know it's a pain, however, thankfully Bifter, from here, works in the same building as I and has taken the other ticket off my hands so it all works out fine this time. |
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Blakey
Master Of Malts
Joined: 07 Sep 2009
Posts: 263
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| Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2013 7:07 pm Post subject: |
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I see the tickets are now £35 each. Does anyone know is this just a a couple of hours event or perhaps 5 hours, it doesnt say on the Whisky Lounge web site but i would assume it will be a full afternoon as there are workshops which i assume will be some type of masterclass and food as well.
Just trying to figure out whether it is worth heading to Edinburgh for this or if i would be better off spending my money on a couple of nice bottles of whisky. |
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bifter
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Joined: 10 Apr 2012
Posts: 1403
Location: East Lothian
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| Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2013 3:14 pm Post subject: |
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Looks like the £50 for 2 early bird offer on the official Web site is gone however I'd keep an eye out on the deal sites (Groupon, ItIsOn, KGB, TodaysGreatDeal, etc). The Whisky Stramash did some good last minute deals last year.
There is also a compo to win two tickets here, last entries by 15th:
http://www.ionmagazine.co.uk/edinburgh/win/win-tickets-whisky-festival-hub/
_________________
"Whisky is liquid sunshine."
[George Bernard Shaw] |
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Archer
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Joined: 06 Oct 2009
Posts: 1519
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| Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2013 8:07 pm Post subject: |
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| Just entered the comp, cheers bifter |
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Innes
Master Of Malts
Joined: 29 Apr 2010
Posts: 1080
Location: England
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| Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2013 2:47 pm Post subject: |
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| Just entered the comp for the tickets, a free ticket would be nice as i would have to pay for a hotel, fingers crossed. |
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Frankie
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Posts: 345
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| Posted: Sun Apr 28, 2013 2:45 pm Post subject: |
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| Did anyone attend this, was it any good? i did hear that they were selling tickets on the door for £20 |
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albo
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Joined: 22 Mar 2011
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| Posted: Sun Apr 28, 2013 4:35 pm Post subject: |
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Bifter and I went yesterday, I'm still toiling today mind so I'll do a reasonable update at a later date, however its worth saying that 5 hours is quite a long time in the company of free whisky!
Didn't see any on the door sales, perhaps they were half day tickets. |
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bifter
Master Of Malts
Joined: 10 Apr 2012
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Location: East Lothian
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| Posted: Mon Apr 29, 2013 9:30 pm Post subject: |
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| albo wrote: | | I'm still toiling today mind so I'll do a reasonable update at a later date |
Hope you've recovered! I had a big cigar from Robert Graham afterwards and made myself quite queasy. I was tucked up in bed by 10pm though wasn't too bad on Sunday.
I thought the event was great. There were far fewer stalls than at the Whisky Fringe though still a decent selection. I didn't get round them all but, of the ones I frequented, SMWS, Diageo, Maxxium, Morrison Bowmore and Inverhouse had particularly good line-ups. Other stalls had only a very limited range, e.g. the Elements range wasn't particularly wide. SMWS had a whole room to themselves and were showcasing their new outturn.
albo and I had four white tokens each which could be exchanged for the more special drams. However the generosity of the stalls varied. Inverhouse included the Balblair '75 and Old Pulteney 21 for free whereas Diageo wanted a white token for the Talisker Port Ruighe, though I guess it is still to be released! Others didn't even have a special dram. We also had one black token each, which cost £5 each and were supposedly for extra special drams, however I thought this was poor value - I exchanged it for a sample of Talisker 30 but barely got a dribble! albo is a good blagger though, I tagged along while we got some interesting samples e.g. Glenmorangie new make and a couple of Macallan cask strength samples that had only been brought to demonstrate the wildly contrasting hues of the whisky (this is the best thing about attending events like this!) Our SMWS connections also got us generous pours.
Of the whiskies I tried the ones that linger in fond memory were the Balblair '75, the Highland Park 21 and a 19yo SMWS sherried Caol Ila. The Glen Garioch Founder's Reserve, which I'd never tried before, seemed like excellent value. This said I think it's sometimes hard for the more subtle whiskies to shine in this kind of setting. On the downside I wasn't impressed with Talisker Storm at all (but the Ruighe was OK).
I chatted with a recently-retired sales rep from Edrington and he was very generous with his pours and his time. I thought the Macallan Amber and Sienna were very nice to be fair though the move to NAS still takes some selling. He admitted that this tactic is indeed a response to declining stock levels of older whisky and that the American market may be harder to break with NAS. Oh, and there was a unique stall from Balcones, punting distilled corn-syrup that really spoiled my palate at the end of an otherwise enjoyable day!
At this point the prospect of the Stramash is a bit daunting but who knows, I might recover my bottle in time to convince myself that drinking ill-advised quantities of hard liquor in the afternoon is a good idea.
_________________
"Whisky is liquid sunshine."
[George Bernard Shaw] |
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Quaich1
Master Of Malts
Joined: 21 Apr 2012
Posts: 5749
Location: Ontario, Canada
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| Posted: Mon Apr 29, 2013 10:21 pm Post subject: |
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| bifter wrote: | | albo wrote: | | I'm still toiling today mind so I'll do a reasonable update at a later date |
Hope you've recovered! I had a big cigar from Robert Graham afterwards and made myself quite queasy. I was tucked up in bed by 10pm though wasn't too bad on Sunday.
I thought the event was great. There were far fewer stalls than at the Whisky Fringe though still a decent selection. I didn't get round them all but, of the ones I frequented, SMWS, Diageo, Maxxium, Morrison Bowmore and Inverhouse had particularly good line-ups. Other stalls had only a very limited range, e.g. the Elements range wasn't particularly wide. SMWS had a whole room to themselves and were showcasing their new outturn.
albo and I had four white tokens each which could be exchanged for the more special drams. However the generosity of the stalls varied. Inverhouse included the Balblair '75 and Old Pulteney 21 for free whereas Diageo wanted a white token for the Talisker Port Ruighe, though I guess it is still to be released! Others didn't even have a special dram. We also had one black token each, which cost £5 each and were supposedly for extra special drams, however I thought this was poor value - I exchanged it for a sample of Talisker 30 but barely got a dribble! albo is a good blagger though, I tagged along while we got some interesting samples e.g. Glenmorangie new make and a couple of Macallan cask strength samples that had only been brought to demonstrate the wildly contrasting hues of the whisky (this is the best thing about attending events like this!) Our SMWS connections also got us generous pours.
Of the whiskies I tried the ones that linger in fond memory were the Balblair '75, the Highland Park 21 and a 19yo SMWS sherried Caol Ila. The Glen Garioch Founder's Reserve, which I'd never tried before, seemed like excellent value. This said I think it's sometimes hard for the more subtle whiskies to shine in this kind of setting. On the downside I wasn't impressed with Talisker Storm at all (but the Ruighe was OK).
I chatted with a recently-retired sales rep from Edrington and he was very generous with his pours and his time. I thought the Macallan Amber and Sienna were very nice to be fair though the move to NAS still takes some selling. He admitted that this tactic is indeed a response to declining stock levels of older whisky and that the American market may be harder to break with NAS. Oh, and there was a unique stall from Balcones, punting distilled corn-syrup that really spoiled my palate at the end of an otherwise enjoyable day!
At this point the prospect of the Stramash is a bit daunting but who knows, I might recover my bottle in time to convince myself that drinking ill-advised quantities of hard liquor in the afternoon is a good idea. |
I'm glad you had a good time Olie. I would have loved to tag along with you and Alun on that one if I wasn't across the ocean. I have a bottle of Founder's Reserve and I quite like it. I've never tried the Highland Park 21 and after really enjoying the 30 year, i expect the 21 would be a real contender as well. I've never had the Old Pulteney 21 but everyone who has had it, provides positive feedback. I have a dinner and tasting at my scotch club at the end of May but they haven't released the drams to be offered yet. I'm bringing a guest this time. I took him to the Feather's Pub the last time I went so he got spoiled with a 22 year old Port Ellen and a Highland Park 30. He tells folks when they ask him that he is new to single malts and when he tells them what he has tried, they go bug-eyed. He started at the top of the game thanks to me. He didn't mention prices to his wife.
Again, I'm glad your excursion went well. I always enjoy listening to your scotch experiences.
_________________
"Always carry a large flagon of whisky in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake."
W.C. Fields (1880-1946) |
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William
Administrator
Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Posts: 4056
Location: Scotland
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| Posted: Mon Apr 29, 2013 11:42 pm Post subject: |
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I almost jumped on the train to Edinburgh on Saturday morning, i wish i had now.
bifter the Highland Park 21 has always been a favourite of mine, except for the short period when they reduced the ABV to 40%, it just wasnt the same but happily it is back up to the very decent srength of 47.5%. I have had the Balblair 1975 sherry cask which is outstanding but i believe there has been a second 75 release since i had it about 4 years ago if i remember correctly.
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There's no bad whisky. Just good whisky and better whisky. |
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