Whisky Live Perth Updates
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Almost 20 days to go before Whisky Live Perth starts, and time is flying by and the questions I hear again and again are: What should I expect?

Well I've just spent the day on and off the phone and on and off the email with the guys from Whisky Live and all I can say is that this is going to be AWESOME!

Actually screw that, let's get into some of the nitty gritty details that us whisky geeks love to talk about and see just what sort of time we'll be having at Whisky Live!

First off I've just received a list, of over 100 different whiskies from all over the world that will be open for the tasting!

Bourbons, blends, single malts, Australian whiskies, Indian whiskies, Japanese whiskies, Welsh whiskies, Taiwanese whiskies, whisky liquors!

We'll discuss some of those whiskies in just a second.

Now in Australia there seems to be a reality show craze on TV and it's been going on for the last 4 or so years and I must admit it's infected both myself and my wife and that craze would be: cooking shows!

My Kitchen Rules, Master Chef, Iron Chef, etc no sooner does one cooking show go off the air then another one takes it's place it feels like and that's not necessarily a bad thing, nor is it necessarily a good thing.

It is however an interesting thing for me.

The reason why is I like pairing foods, specifically whisky and food, and beer and food.

For countless decades we've heard about wine and food pairings, wine and cheese pairings, wine and chocolate, etc.

Wine, wine, wine.

Bah!

Give me the whisky!

And the guys at Whisky Live have heard that bah and said they'll help me out!

At Whisky Live Perth there's going to be a few different food and whisky pairing stations which sounds nothing short of awesome!

Want to match your favorite Islay whisky with some oysters?  There's going to be someone there to help you do that.

How about matching a sexy little Speyside with some chocolate?

Done!

Mmmm this is something that's near and dear to my heart because I must admit during some slow days at work of daydreaming of someday maybe going onto My Kitchen Rules and doing a meal and whisky pairing.   I think it'd be a lot of fun and I also think that it'd remove whisky from a category that I all too often seen it thrown into.

The alcoholic category.  Too many people when they hear that you prefer to drink your whisky neat will look at you and gasp and go "is everything all right dear?  is there anything we can do to help? do you need a program?"

As if drinking a dram of whisky instead of a glass of wine or a pint of beer makes you into an alcoholic.  I'm hoping that as more and more people realize that many different foods can be paired up with whiskies that some of that stigma will gradually disappear.

But enough of that!

More on yummy things at Whisky Live!

Over 100 different whiskies from dozens of distilleries from all over the world including some whiskies just coming out in Australia for the very first time!

First off Gordon and Macphail!  One of the top independent whisky bottlers in the world will be there!   With what bottles?!  Not a single clue, but I don't care!  I love it when I try a 10 year old or an 18 year old whisky from a distillery that I know and it tastes NOTHING like I expect it to!  It's one of the joys of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society and it's one of the joys of independent bottlers!  They'll grab the casks that the distilleries wouldn't normally use and bottle those bad boys and when they do you can get some INTERESTING and awesome whiskies!  Even so that on my upcoming trip to Scotland I have a private tasting booked with Gordon and Macphail.

Talisker Storm, a whisky from one of my favorite Scottish distilleries, their new no age statement which has been making the blogger circles over the last few months will be debuting at Whisky Live Perth, 2 whole days before anywhere else in the country gets to see it!  This is a whisky that I've got to put my hands on as I own the 10 yr old, the 57 North, a Distiller Edition, etc.  Currently hunting for a SMWS bottling of them because hey it's Talisker and they rock!

Kavalan will be making an official appearance with their sexy cask strength whiskies, which partly due to my obsession with the distillery I already own, but hey you can never have too much good whisky and considering the fact that's not the cheapest whisky out there, sitting on par price wise as Buffalo Trace's Antique Collection this is a good chance to try before you buy.

Bruichladdich....mmmm Islay!  I'm seeing them on the list of whiskies available for tasting and while I'm smiling, there's a couple whiskies from that has me panting like a dog in heat!

Bruichladdich's Octomore 5.1, one of the heaviest peated whiskies in the world, sitting at 169ppm and looking oh so beautiful as I stare at it on the distilleries website.  $150 to $200 a bottle and I'll again get to try before I buy, and possibly complete the conversion of my wine loving friend who just recently fell in love with Bruichladdich's Octomore Orpheus 2.2!

Even cooler is the release of a brand new Australian distillery!  Starward distillery will be there with bottles open for me to try!  This is a distillery that I've heard muttered rumors about for months and now I'll get a chance to crack a bottle and see for myself!  God this is exciting!

Less then 3 weeks to go and my holidays start with Whisky Live!