Whisky Live Confessions and Protests

Confessions

Unfortunately, this series of posts on Whisky Live Singapore 2016 will contain almost no pictures. In my excitement to try everything, I forgot to take pictures of the whiskies, of the booths, of the people, of the atmosphere. 

The flesh is weak, and the eye is forgetful.

I bought the standard ticket, without any master classes. I was toying with the idea of purchasing one for perhaps Dalmore or Nikka. However, the tickets sold out by the time I reached the event. So, no Masterclass. And I wasn't going to sign up for one on Macallan. On hindsight, I should have. Even if I am not too impressed by the malt, it would have been a good experience to just be tutored through one tasting, and learn how one presents a Masterclass. 

The mind is indecisive.

I tasted many whiskies, and barely touched any of the other spirits. Rum, bourbons, gin, vodka, etc. were in fairly large quantities, but barring one (very good) gin and a (very very bad) rum, I skipped all the other spirits.

The disposition is not impartial.

Protests 

(pro-test, in the sense that is used in Pro-test-antism, whereby it is not a protest in the negative form of shouting something down, but in the positive form, where something is testified to. Being "pro" a particular testimony)

I had a lot of fun at the event, and I tried whiskies from almost every single booth, barring Compass Box (because there was nothing exotic), Nikka, Macallan, Glenfiddich, Old Pulteney, and Balblair.

What I managed to try: Glenrothes, Kavalan, Monkey Shoulder, AnCnoc, Glendronach, Bruichladdich, Port Askaig, Kilchoman,  Amrut, Paul John, Hunter Laing's Old Malt Cask (Auchentoshan) and Sovereign (Carsebridge), Diageo's Distinguished Malts (Talisker, Oban), Highwest, Gordon and Macphail's Connoisseur's Choice Caol Ila, Signatory's The Ten (Tamdhu) and Cask Strength Series (Cambus), Benromach, Dalmore, Arbelour, Lost Distillery.

***

Overall Impressions

I really had a great time. Those who went with me did too. The guys at the booths were all great. The distillery and brand staff were knowledgeable and generous with their whiskies, and even more generous with their knowledge. Those who were not brand reps or experts were either LMDW staff, or, in the case of the Glendronach booth, LMDW regular customer. These guys were just great to chat with, feeling less like an education about whisky, but more like a fireplace chat between aficionados.

The guy at the Glendronach booth allowed visitors to pour themselves a dram and trusted us to be sensible. The Cask Strength (batch 5) and the 18 year Allardice finished quite quickly.

Several brands hired some girls to be sales reps, probably on a per-hour rate. These pour girls had to wear tight dresses and heels that were about 24 inches high. That's mad. And sexist. Maybe it goes with the brand image, etc., etc., but really, I rather a knowledgeable lady than a sexy sales rep that just parrots from a script. They're all friendly enough, and are all doing a job, but I wish the brand gave customers a little more credit, and be a little less willing to use sexy ladies to sell their whiskies.

Some VR stuff to bring you on a tour around a couple of the distilleries, but that's more gimmick than anything. Glenfiddich brought in the VR-tour thingy, but only brought the regular 12, 15, 18 year whiskies. Was hoping to be able to try the experimental IPA finish, or something different/weird. But nope. I get a VR tour instead.

Brands that were big on marketing were big on marketing. Whiskies that focused on craft were, well, focused on craft. No surprises, really.

Because Whisky Live was over 2 full days, there was food provided, and that was a very welcomed amidst the drinking. The white and brown spirits were rather hit and miss though. More on that in the next post.

***

With the facts and apologies out of the way, let's get down to it. How was Whisky Live 2016, and did I learn any tips for future whisky events?

It was a great opportunity for connoisseurs and amateurs like yours truly to get in touch with whiskies of many different styles in one setting. Definitely worth the money, and I even bought a bottle from the pop-up store, that will be opened in December. More on that when it comes.

TIPS/SPIT

Tip 1: Bring your own bottle of water

The event hosts were generous with providing water to rinse the glass, and there were water dispensers strategically placed around the perimeter of the event hall. However, sometimes, you want more water than just enough to rinse the glass. You need a big gulp to get that Lagavulin out of your system. You probably need to gargle, but that's not very glam. Nonetheless, bring your own bottle of water. It's easier to fill it up than to run to the water dispensers every half an hour.

Tip 2: Don't be afraid to toss

Not over your shoulder, mind. There are small pails and baisins provided to collect water and whisky that people pour away. As a first timer, I felt a little shy to throw 18 year old whiskies away. But then, if I didn't not throw them away and tried to swallow everything I tasted, I may not be alive to write this, and I will definitely won't be able to even give decent impressions of the whiskies that were tasted. So, sip, spit, toss. Swallow a bit if it's nice. But definitely toss.

Tip 3: Plan your route of attack

I think it helps to start with the whiskies that are not peaty, and not cask strength. So, go early if possible, and make one round of the event hall. Mentally note down the order that you want to go in. For me, I placed Kilchoman near the end of my day because what I wanted to try was a cask strength bottling for LMDW, matured in a bourbon cask and bottled at over 60% abv. If I tried that early in the day, I probably wouldn't have been able to taste anything else after that. Maybe alternating between cask types would help too; you wouldn't want the Glendronachs to affect your tasting of, say, the Macallans, and make them feel better than they actually are. Ok, that's not very fair to Macallan.

Tip 4: Stop when you have to

Don't make a scene, don't collapse. Whisky's gotten popular, but it isn't vulgar nor crass. Stop if you have to, even if it means you miss out on half of what's on offer. Come back next year, or after some food. But you probably only reached this stage because you swallowed too much and did not toss enough, yes? Time out is the right punishment. Tsk tsk.

Tip 5: Always go VIP.

No more explanation needed. I truly regret not going VIP, especially this year, when there were LMDW 60th Anniversary bottlings for tasting in the VIP area. Next year it is.