Its hard to believe that it is exactly a year ago that I last wrote on whiskylive 2007 and today is the eve of Whiskylive 2008.
Please support my stands the Single & Single as well as Nikka.
My workshop 100 years of Umami is on the Friday Night and features some great Japanese Malts.
Please drop in and share a wee dram or two with us.
Slainthe Mhath
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Whisky Live Cape Town
Well incredibly this years festival is over for Cape Town anyway we have Johannesburg starting on Wednesday. Thankfully Jack Daniels left their Harley at home so I still have a voice.
Thank you to all of you that came to say hello and all of the new folk I met it was great to meet you.
They were here once more in bright blazing technicolour, the Brands we all know Johhnie Walker, J&B, Bells, Jack Daniels, Glenfiddich with lounges, extended areas and all the marketing Rand thrown to create that space in our minds as first associated with whisky.
This year there had an underlying intelligence from the smaller stands, the back to basics area succeeded in achieving exactly that showing that knowledge allows for more discerning tastes and less gimmicks.
Ryan O'Conner was a great MC the music was vibrant and fitting all in all it was Wow. The calibre of people attending was so special, I must say though I still dread the Friday night, it seems as though this year was no different.
The lady who sold the extra coupons was rushed off her feet by 7.30 she had sold more tickets than she had sold the entire Wednesday and Thursday combined. It amazes me how many people bought extra coupons before they even started tasting so it would appear they were there for a reason, and polite conversation was not high up on their lists.
The crazy rush and vibe though allows the night to zip past and before you know it the vultures arrive waving their glasses as they slurr as honestly as they can," ag jist ooonnnnne mooore pleeeshhh." Now I would love to say that its my high standard when it comes to promoting responsible drinking that allows me to instantly reject and possibility of giving them even a sniff of what's before me. The truth is how on earth could I live with myself knowing that I poured a 32 Year old Glen Scotia for someone who had lost all sense of feeling a least 30 minutes ago.
No No its not going to happen I will not allow the Friday binging to spoil what is an otherwise very good production and certainly a world leader in its field , Whisky Live is here to stay and Cape Town and Johannesburg will continue to be the biggest and brightest.
Thank you to all of you that came to say hello and all of the new folk I met it was great to meet you.
They were here once more in bright blazing technicolour, the Brands we all know Johhnie Walker, J&B, Bells, Jack Daniels, Glenfiddich with lounges, extended areas and all the marketing Rand thrown to create that space in our minds as first associated with whisky.
This year there had an underlying intelligence from the smaller stands, the back to basics area succeeded in achieving exactly that showing that knowledge allows for more discerning tastes and less gimmicks.
Ryan O'Conner was a great MC the music was vibrant and fitting all in all it was Wow. The calibre of people attending was so special, I must say though I still dread the Friday night, it seems as though this year was no different.
The lady who sold the extra coupons was rushed off her feet by 7.30 she had sold more tickets than she had sold the entire Wednesday and Thursday combined. It amazes me how many people bought extra coupons before they even started tasting so it would appear they were there for a reason, and polite conversation was not high up on their lists.
The crazy rush and vibe though allows the night to zip past and before you know it the vultures arrive waving their glasses as they slurr as honestly as they can," ag jist ooonnnnne mooore pleeeshhh." Now I would love to say that its my high standard when it comes to promoting responsible drinking that allows me to instantly reject and possibility of giving them even a sniff of what's before me. The truth is how on earth could I live with myself knowing that I poured a 32 Year old Glen Scotia for someone who had lost all sense of feeling a least 30 minutes ago.
No No its not going to happen I will not allow the Friday binging to spoil what is an otherwise very good production and certainly a world leader in its field , Whisky Live is here to stay and Cape Town and Johannesburg will continue to be the biggest and brightest.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
The State of Idependents
Whisky Live Cape Town 2007 kicked off last night and whilst I would love to comment on the festival as a whole, I cannot, as I found myself bogged down on my stand.
What I did get to see is surely one of the very best shows the world has to offer.
I am very fortunate to be manning the Independent Bottlers Challenge stand this year, and those of you lucky enough to have sought me out last night I am sure will agree. The collection of malts is absolutely superb.
One has to wonder how much longer the independents are going to be able to get hold of such gems as they have over the last decade or so. As demand increases distilleries are less likely to let go of their casks opting rather to release proprietary labels only.
Having said that the malts on offer are as always of the highest quality with most of the older whiskies attracting the most attention. It is probably the hardest thing to convince someone that age does not mean better especially when whiskies like The Balblair 40 from whisky exchange and Duncan Taylor's 39 years Old Bunnahabhain not to mention Dun Bheagans 31 years Old Glen Scotia offer such a good argument to the contrary.
Of the independents on show though its rather interesting that more and more now own distilleries too. Ian Macleod owns Glengoyne, Signatory owns Edradour, Cadenheads owns Springbank or is it Springbank owns Cadenheads, Gordan MacPhail owns Benromach, I guess its a trend and there are many more examples.
What is evident though is that the independents are still offering some of the very best casks of whisky available and I for one would be very sad to see them fade away. My favourite drams thus far have got to be the Highland Park 18 and Port Ellen 24 from Dewar Rattray , The Tamdhu 13 and Rosebank 15 from DunBheagan. Old Malt Casks Port Ellen 25 and Ardbeg 15 I have to get through at least another 50 drams over the next 2 days and will report on the actual results from whisky magazine too and then decide for once and all which are my favourites of the lot.
Get yourself to the stand and try some for yourself, it is truly an experience not to be missed.
See you then Slainthe Mhath.
What I did get to see is surely one of the very best shows the world has to offer.
I am very fortunate to be manning the Independent Bottlers Challenge stand this year, and those of you lucky enough to have sought me out last night I am sure will agree. The collection of malts is absolutely superb.
One has to wonder how much longer the independents are going to be able to get hold of such gems as they have over the last decade or so. As demand increases distilleries are less likely to let go of their casks opting rather to release proprietary labels only.
Having said that the malts on offer are as always of the highest quality with most of the older whiskies attracting the most attention. It is probably the hardest thing to convince someone that age does not mean better especially when whiskies like The Balblair 40 from whisky exchange and Duncan Taylor's 39 years Old Bunnahabhain not to mention Dun Bheagans 31 years Old Glen Scotia offer such a good argument to the contrary.
Of the independents on show though its rather interesting that more and more now own distilleries too. Ian Macleod owns Glengoyne, Signatory owns Edradour, Cadenheads owns Springbank or is it Springbank owns Cadenheads, Gordan MacPhail owns Benromach, I guess its a trend and there are many more examples.
What is evident though is that the independents are still offering some of the very best casks of whisky available and I for one would be very sad to see them fade away. My favourite drams thus far have got to be the Highland Park 18 and Port Ellen 24 from Dewar Rattray , The Tamdhu 13 and Rosebank 15 from DunBheagan. Old Malt Casks Port Ellen 25 and Ardbeg 15 I have to get through at least another 50 drams over the next 2 days and will report on the actual results from whisky magazine too and then decide for once and all which are my favourites of the lot.
Get yourself to the stand and try some for yourself, it is truly an experience not to be missed.
See you then Slainthe Mhath.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Update whats been up.
The 7th was real fun try presenting whisky to 250 people, their is only so much time you can manage to keep them listening, I have told most people I prefer to limit a tutored tasting to 50 people and rather go Whisky dinner for such large groups, that way you only need their attention for 20 minutes.
Ahhh well I still need to decide if I am too boring or if the crowds are just rude.
The 8th saw a nice group of people with a lot of new faces and boy were they lucky we featured some fantastic whisky they all seemed very keen and open minded.
I managed to go a whole week from the 13th to the 20th without presenting an event I finally caught up on some paperwork.
The 20th kicked off with me presenting the Van Gogh Vodka range to what turned out to be a very surprised and delighted crowd. My club met on the 22nd for part 2 and were rather pleased with being able to sample 2 whiskies that are not available in SA, it must be said they had a negative prejudice towards J&B Nox which I am afraid I could not change until they discovered Knockandoo that is.
A few were very pleased that I finally included a blended whisky(JW Blue Label) no I will not be featuring blends in the future. The reason I did it was The Royal Lochnagar did not arrive on time as such I selected what I thought was the next best thing.
The 23rd had me presenting to Beluga's Staff a full range of whisky including bourbon.
As of Monday the 27th I have been in Jozi I kicked off at Melrose Arch Wine sense with a Whisky and Sushi evening which must have been one of the toughest crowds I have ever presented to. Tuesday we gathered at the Wanderers Club with a great bunch of enthusiastic people thanks to Jeff Spiller. It turned out to be a brilliant tasting and was really well received.
Tonight I present at the Wanderers to The Rotary Club so I am sure it will be a lot of fun.
Tomorrow I am off to Pretoria to present to a Wine Club I will do my best not to have a go at their sour grapes I am sure we will have a blast though.
Then Friday Its back to the Mother City to celebrate my younger sons second birthday.
That's what I've been up to.Please do not be scared post a comment if you like but do consider yourself updated.
Slainthe Mhath
Ahhh well I still need to decide if I am too boring or if the crowds are just rude.
The 8th saw a nice group of people with a lot of new faces and boy were they lucky we featured some fantastic whisky they all seemed very keen and open minded.
I managed to go a whole week from the 13th to the 20th without presenting an event I finally caught up on some paperwork.
The 20th kicked off with me presenting the Van Gogh Vodka range to what turned out to be a very surprised and delighted crowd. My club met on the 22nd for part 2 and were rather pleased with being able to sample 2 whiskies that are not available in SA, it must be said they had a negative prejudice towards J&B Nox which I am afraid I could not change until they discovered Knockandoo that is.
A few were very pleased that I finally included a blended whisky(JW Blue Label) no I will not be featuring blends in the future. The reason I did it was The Royal Lochnagar did not arrive on time as such I selected what I thought was the next best thing.
The 23rd had me presenting to Beluga's Staff a full range of whisky including bourbon.
As of Monday the 27th I have been in Jozi I kicked off at Melrose Arch Wine sense with a Whisky and Sushi evening which must have been one of the toughest crowds I have ever presented to. Tuesday we gathered at the Wanderers Club with a great bunch of enthusiastic people thanks to Jeff Spiller. It turned out to be a brilliant tasting and was really well received.
Tonight I present at the Wanderers to The Rotary Club so I am sure it will be a lot of fun.
Tomorrow I am off to Pretoria to present to a Wine Club I will do my best not to have a go at their sour grapes I am sure we will have a blast though.
Then Friday Its back to the Mother City to celebrate my younger sons second birthday.
That's what I've been up to.Please do not be scared post a comment if you like but do consider yourself updated.
Slainthe Mhath
Friday, August 3, 2007
Coming Up Next week
For those of you that do read this Blog......
Tuesday 7 August Corporate tasting with international speaker, this should be interesting will be nice to get feedback from delegates to see how I compare.
Wed 8 August Club tasting at the FBG in Greenamrket square I reveal some new whiskies including a Brora 23 Years old which makes my top 8 of all time it is the first time in about 3 years that there has been a new entry, peat and sherry wowowowowow fan...tastic.
Thursday 9 August was supposed to be a tasting with Don Paul at Marimba where we would be creating our own blends but as fashion week is on at the same time it looks as though we will have to postpone the event again.
So there is much to do about whisky, hope to see you out and about till then Keep dramming.
Tuesday 7 August Corporate tasting with international speaker, this should be interesting will be nice to get feedback from delegates to see how I compare.
Wed 8 August Club tasting at the FBG in Greenamrket square I reveal some new whiskies including a Brora 23 Years old which makes my top 8 of all time it is the first time in about 3 years that there has been a new entry, peat and sherry wowowowowow fan...tastic.
Thursday 9 August was supposed to be a tasting with Don Paul at Marimba where we would be creating our own blends but as fashion week is on at the same time it looks as though we will have to postpone the event again.
So there is much to do about whisky, hope to see you out and about till then Keep dramming.
August Still Cold and Wet
Well August has officially arrived, I ended July with a tasting at The FBG in Greenmarket square which was well received and good to see so many new faces.
Today is cold and wet again so methinks a dram be a good idea.
There is some terrific news, coming soon, I will be completely overhauling my club and how it is structured as well as a strategic partnership which you wine lovers will certainly enjoy,,, more on this a bit later look out for my Newsletter.
This was not a quiet week by any ones standards, Tuesday was my Club tasting, Wednesday was a Cigar tasting at a woman's Success club which was rather interesting.Last night was some quality family time to celebrate the wife's birthday.
As yet I have not received a single comment so I am assuming that no one is reading this blog which makes me wonder if I can better spend this time elsewhere.
Have a good weekend
Keep Dramming
Today is cold and wet again so methinks a dram be a good idea.
There is some terrific news, coming soon, I will be completely overhauling my club and how it is structured as well as a strategic partnership which you wine lovers will certainly enjoy,,, more on this a bit later look out for my Newsletter.
This was not a quiet week by any ones standards, Tuesday was my Club tasting, Wednesday was a Cigar tasting at a woman's Success club which was rather interesting.Last night was some quality family time to celebrate the wife's birthday.
As yet I have not received a single comment so I am assuming that no one is reading this blog which makes me wonder if I can better spend this time elsewhere.
Have a good weekend
Keep Dramming
Friday, July 27, 2007
Coming up Next Week
Tuesday 31 July
This month I only had time to fit in one Club tasting event in Cape Town and it happens to be a re look at 6 malts we have tasted previously a kind of favourite or mentionable list join me at the Famous Butchers Grill at greenmarket square Members R50 Non Members R100.
Wednesday 1 August is my Darling wife's Birthday so best I behave and not work although I may have to present Cigars to 100 Executive woman at one of those network dinners.
Thursday the 2nd Don Paul gathers with The Striding Men a Pigalle ( was I invited.... yes oops did I book.....ah well will have to phone Don with a long sob story.
Hope you all have a great weekend and have enough of your favourite Dram to keep you dry.
Slainthe Mhath
This month I only had time to fit in one Club tasting event in Cape Town and it happens to be a re look at 6 malts we have tasted previously a kind of favourite or mentionable list join me at the Famous Butchers Grill at greenmarket square Members R50 Non Members R100.
Wednesday 1 August is my Darling wife's Birthday so best I behave and not work although I may have to present Cigars to 100 Executive woman at one of those network dinners.
Thursday the 2nd Don Paul gathers with The Striding Men a Pigalle ( was I invited.... yes oops did I book.....ah well will have to phone Don with a long sob story.
Hope you all have a great weekend and have enough of your favourite Dram to keep you dry.
Slainthe Mhath
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