MaltBlog

WhiskeyFest NYC 2004 Recap

The 2004 Malt Advocate WhiskeyFest was held on Monday, November 8 at the Marriott Marquis hotel in New York City's Times Square. The event was a showcase for whiskey distillers and distributors from around the world. Represented were Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Japan, Canada, and the United States.

In addition to the opportunity to sample the whiskies themselves, the event included seminars by whisky experts on everything from production techniques to marketing. An extensive buffet was provided, featuring breads, cheeses, jams/chutneys, and hot entrees.

I had the pleasure of attending the show with my friends Pat and Niall. Pat is my partner in the exploration of beer and whisky in Central New York, and Niall is a co-worker with whom I've shared many good pints and drams. In fact, Niall and I attended the WhiskeyFest NYC show in 2000 and had a fun time - we learned then that we should consciously pace ourselves if we ever attended again.

And we did just that. When we arrived, my personal mission was to find a 1965 Springbank (a Campeltown Scotch whisky) at the table for Lombard Scotch Whisky. It was perfect - mellow and full without being heavy, and a light flavor of peat and smoke. I can't find Springbank anywhere around here, so I'm thinking of special ordering through Lombard.

Another interesting specialty bottler was Wild Scotsman. We visited them and tried a 15-year-old Bladnoch that was very mild but still tasty. Bladnoch is in an area I visited on my 1993 honeymoon, and though I wanted to visit the distillery even then, it was not open to the public.

Beer vendors were there too, including Anchor Brewing and Unibroue, probably my two favorite North American beer producers. Speaking of Anchor... Fritz Maytag is its president, and he was there with his single grain rye whiskey, which he has been producing in an 18th century style. Now, I love the Anchor beers - all of them from Anchor Steam to Old Foghorn, from Liberty to Porter, and the seasonal beers as well. And I like the taste of rye. I am not sure what it is that I don't like about Old Portero, which is Maytag's rye. I had the charred version, and it tasted too much (in my opinion) like the charred barrel in which it was finished. Regardless of my personal preference in whiskey, I greatly admire Maytag for all that he has done for the beer industry and I commend him on his passion for inventive distilling and marketing.

Also present was Knappogue Castle, an Irish castle and distillery in County Clare, not far from Niall's boyhood home. At the 2000 festival, Niall and I attended a presentation by the master distiller there, and we were glad to see it there again. The whiskey is light in color and body, very smooth and drinkable. The three of us enjoyed it, and we enjoyed talking with Ms. King, the marketing representative who poured and answered questions.

The event was held in a large ballroom at the hotel, and it was easy to miss out on good whiskies if we didn't pay careful attention. Some distillers had young women serving their whiskies; these women attracted significant attention from the male-dominated crowd. Two great examples of this phenomenon were the Glenfiddich and Balvenie booths, located right next to each other (as are the distilleries, not coincidentally, I'm sure!). Unfortunately neither of the young ladies were wearing name tags, so although I have photos of them, I can't identify them personally. If anyone can help me out with this - so I can give credit where it's due - I'll be grateful.

The whiskies from these distilleries were as impressive as the people serving them. At The Balvenie, we sampled 21-year old Portwood and the 12 year old Doublewood. Pat is a big fan of these whiskies and I can see why - they have a powerful but balanced flavor, with just a hint of sweetness and red color from the wine casks in which they're aged. I also am partial to The Balvenie, since on a 1996 vacation I was brought to the distillery by my Glenfiddich tour guide. Balvenie is one of the few distilleries to malt its own barley on the premises, and the guide brought me to the malting floor where I turned the malt myself with a shovel. This photo from their marketing materials shows a man doing just what I did in that same room. Ahh, memories!

At Glenfiddich, Pat and Niall were able to sample a 30-year-old. I came by later to try it, but they had run out. I did try the 18 and 15 year old varieties, and they were the epitome of good Scotch whiskies. Glenfiddich is balanced, rich, and very drinkable!

Near Glenfiddich and the Balvenie was Whisky Galore, which was pouring their bottling of a 1966 Highland Park. Highland Park is normally a very smoky, peaty, salty whisky from the northern islands of Scotland. This particular bottling had all the notes I love about Highland Park, but tasted much subtler than the younger versions. It was as if the flavors had mellowed and melted into each other, and it was terrific.

There were many, many other whiskies and people and we enjoyed nearly all of them!

When the event ended around 10 PM, we'd found that pacing ourselves had indeed been a smart idea, as we were all ready to have a bit of a walk and then a pint of Guinness. Luckily, Niall didn't have to catch his train until 12:40, so we had a couple of hours to get to a pub for some conversation and a comfortable seat (we had been standing for all of the Whiskey Festival). Our destination was Paddy Reilly's, a pub at 2nd Avenue and 29th Street. Pat and I had been there the night before and enjoyed our converstion with the young Welsh bartender, Will. Will is a woman, despite her name; I know what it's short for but I'll never tell. Anyway, we got there and Will was pouring pints (and John Power's whiskey) again. The great thing about Paddy Reilly's - in addition to Will - is that they have nine beer taps, all pouring draught Guinness. They have nothing else on tap, period. The configuration of the taps was neat - eight of them spelled out "G-U-I-N-N-E-S-S" (see photo -- and yes, that's Will). After much good conversation and reminiscence of Ireland, Niall had to leave for home (via cab and train, of course). Pat and I stayed until the very wee hours talking with Will about our lives and loves... Will, if you're out there, I hope it's all going great for you!

Many thanks to our families and our employers for enabling us to get away to this fun and fascinating event. It was great to spend two days in New York with Pat, and to see Niall again. I hope we can do it again someday.

Posted by jimj at November 11, 2004 11:29 AM | TrackBack