Whisky Live is almost upon us! In 33 days it starts in Perth and it has got me stupidly excited!
Last year I wasn't able to go, but I'd heard some excellent things about it so this year, about 6 weeks ago, when it popped up as a suggested post in my Facebook post I immediately took a look at it. At the time there wasn't much information out there about it, but even though the tickets were running at $95 each it sounded like it'd be a hell of a lot of fun so I immediately purchased tickets for both my wife and myself, and let our whisky club know about this chance.
I didn't think anything much about this, beyond occasionally checking their webpage to see if there were any updates.
And then Kavalan occurred. A whisky that I'd spent years chasing relentlessly, calling all over the globe trying to put my hands on a bottle of it. I'd started following a local bottle shop on Facebook on the recommendation of a co worker, a whisky store with awesome selection. Shortly after I started following them they posted something that made my jaw drop.
A Kavalan tasting!
7 drams, $30. I was in, so in. I immediately booked spots for my wife and myself, reserved a couple more for possible whisky club members who might want to come and then sat down to wait.
When the day arrived work dragged out, oh so slowly, customers lingered in my shop past closing, driving me nuts even though I maintained a giant grin until my wife and I could finally get into our cab and head over to the bottle shop.
There we met a very nice gentleman named Doug, who I thought at first, was the Australian rep for Kavalan.
How quickly I was proved wrong. He and his partner owned an whisky importing business and Kavalan was part of their portfolio.
Even cooler was the fact that they owned Whisky Live in Australia.
Holy crap!!!
Yeah definitely not a Kavalan rep.
He talks briefly about what they've got lined up for Whisky Live this year and it sounds good, however we exchange mobile numbers and make a plan to meet up a little later on for dinner or drinks.
Later is the next day and sweet jesus there is no describing how exciting the conversation that occurs is!
He mentions that many whisky distilleries are going to be coming to Whisky Live.
I immediately ask about a few of my favorites, Talisker, Buffalo Trace, Ardbeg.
Yes, yes, maybe.
Doug talks about some of the events that will be at Whisky Live. Food and whisky matching such as chocolate, cheese, oysters, etc.
Whisky cocktails with bartenders there who'll be able to pair the RIGHT whisky with the right cocktail.
A glencairn stand where if you don't know how to, they'll teach you how to nose and taste whisky in order to pull the maximum amount out of your tasting experience.
Over 100 whiskies, up for the tasting!
A whisky raffle with the first prize being over a $1000 worth of different whiskies with the proceeds going to Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia.
Even better is that a week before Whisky Live takes place if you've purchased tickets you'll receive an email with a whisky list, with all of the different whiskies available for tasting so you can make a plan of attack on what whiskies you would love to try.
All of this sounds awesome and makes me extremely happy that I got our tickets early.
A couple weeks go by and then I wound up talking to Doug last night about some updates in Whisky Live. More distilleries signing on.
Sullivans Cove, Nant, Suntory, Laphroiag, Noah's Mill, Highland Park, Wemyss, and the one that has me panting even more heavily now: Kavalan.
Even better is that for many of these distilleries we'll be getting a chance to taste whiskies that aren't yet out, or are just coming out. Kavalan expressions not yet out, Talisker's Storm? Highland Park's Loki?
I mean obviously the distilleries are going to be bringing their standard whiskies: Talisker 10, Highland Park 12, etc. That just makes sense, but for us whisky geeks you're going to have to pull out some of the stops, bring out some whiskies that I haven't likely tried before, or if I've tried it, is a special occasion whisky.
Who knows what all is going to be there? Not me, but I know that off the little I've heard, I'm drooling. April 27th can't come fast enough!
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