Whisky Fringe 2008

[Leither]

Whisky Fringe 2008 will take place on 9th and 10th August at Mansfield Traquair, Edinburgh. Apparently tickets will be available from next week.

http://www.royalmilewhiskies.com/catego ... _id=S_WHFR

[Willie JJ]

Well spotted Paul. It's in my diary already.

[bobbyb]

Never been to this one.
Is it any good say compared to whisky live Galsgow.

bobbyb

[Spirit of Islay]

Won't be there this year as i shall be sunning myself at Bunnahabhain bay

[Deactivated Member]

Already marked on my iGoogle calendar!

[Deactivated Member]

Never been to this one.
Is it any good say compared to whisky live Galsgow.

bobbyb

Yes

[BruceCrichton]

Never been to this one.
Is it any good say compared to whisky live Galsgow.

bobbyb

It's brilliant. Mostly smaller bottlers rather than WL, which is a big boys event.

I'm surprised tickets aren't available yet.

[Deactivated Member]

If the last couple of years are anything to go by, WF is cheaper and has more interesting whiskies available for tasting. But WL has fantastic masterclasses.

[martin grant]

Never been to this one.
Is it any good say compared to whisky live Galsgow.

bobbyb

Certainly worth the train ticket through Bobby. I really enjoy this event.

[The Fachan]

I have to agree with what has been said before. Its a great venue and has an altogether feel to Whisky Live.
More fun, more relaxed and a great mix of people.

[BruceCrichton]

But WL has fantastic masterclasses.

Except for the An Cnoc tasting. Grr!

[Dram fine idea]

I enjoy Whisky Fringe. Usually the Saturday sells out and is pretty mobbed. The Sunday, by comparison, is a bit quieter, it's more relaxed and there's more time to enjoy the drams and chat with the folk pouring them. I am thoroughly educated (as a newt) at the end of the afternoon.

[BruceCrichton]

Just received notice:

Tickets for Whisky Fringe 2008 are now on sale.

Please click on the links below to purchase your tickets;

Saturday Ticket
http://www.royalmilewhiskies.com/produc ... 0000000586

Sunday Ticket
http://www.royalmilewhiskies.com/produc ... 0000000593

Two Day Ticket
http://www.royalmilewhiskies.com/produc ... 0000000609

[A Motley]

The Fachan, Bruce, Nick and Martin - thanks for your kind words about Fringe.

No sense beating around the bush: tickets have gone up by £5. First rise in 5 years, and we've actually increased the money off voucher from £5 to £10 so if you're buying a bottle the price effectively stays the same. Hope it still seems like a fair price and a good value event (I'd certainly be going if I didn't have to work every year...)

A little apology for the delay to getting these tickets on sale...we were trying something fancy with the vouchers that went a bit wrong and caused lengthy delays.

On the bright side the line up looks cracking: Kilchoman for the first time, Springbank and Signatory back...we've been turning suppliers away who replied too late. We may need a bigger church for next year - I wonder if Westminster Cathedral would be available?

[BruceCrichton]

The Fachan, Bruce, Nick and Martin - thanks for your kind words about Fringe.

No sense beating around the bush: tickets have gone up by £5. First rise in 5 years, and we've actually increased the money off voucher from £5 to £10 so if you're buying a bottle the price effectively stays the same. Hope it still seems like a fair price and a good value event (I'd certainly be going if I didn't have to work every year...)

It's not as if I won't drink £20 worth of whisky. I've got tickets for me and friends and I'll make my way to the shop afterward to buy my favourites of the day.

I'm looking forward to the new offerings from Auchentoshan and Ardbeg.

[Leither]

Tickets have almost sold out already - only Sunday left.

I tend to go for the 2 day marathon but will have to console myself with just a Sunday church visit this year. C'est la vie!

[BruceCrichton]

If tickets are selling out as quick as that, I think next year's event will be in a larger venue.

And I think more suplliers will respond more quickly and not miss out.

[yangbrucey]

The Whisky Fringe is my favourite day of the year! It's like Christmas and Hogmanay rolled into one! Seriously, this is much better than Whisky Live - no vouchers required to purchase whiskies. You can drink as much whisky or as little as you want for the entry price. The Douglas Laing stall is particularly good. Freddie dishes out 40-year old whiskies like there's no tomorrow - absolutely fantastic - where would you get to taste so many different whiskies of different ages in one venue for a tenner!?(if you use your tenner voucher against a bottle in RMW) I've been the last 5 years and I would thoroughly recommend the event to any whisky enthusiast or anyone with just a passing interest in whisky. Make a day of it - pub-lunch, Whisky Fringe, Pub, Restaurant, and finally Pub. A truly great day out!

[bobbyb]

Usual left it to the last minute and missed saturday tickets so have ordered ticket for sunday. looking forward to it,hope to bump into some of you there.

bobbyb

[Willie JJ]

I'll be there on the Sunday Bobby. I'll see you there

[Willie JJ]

Make a day of it - pub-lunch, Whisky Fringe, Pub, Restaurant, and finally Pub.

Bruce with all that pubbing afterwards I can't help but feel that you can't be maximising your tasting opportunities at the event

[yangbrucey]

Try to pace myself. Need to try and remain reasonably civilised when tasting the whiskies. Once into double figures it usually becomes a bit of a blur anyway, and a 40 year old Invergordon is probably wasted on me.

[Dram fine idea]

I've ordered my ticket for Sunday. Looking forward to it and to seeing you guys there. Always a good day with some surprises. Last year it was my first time to try the Glenfiddich 18 and the Arran 10, both excellent.

[Deactivated Member]

I missed Saturday too and will need to make the trip through on Sunday. Good to see that I won't be alone.

[Deactivated Member]

Got my ticket for Sunday!

[Deactivated Member]

Anyone travelling through on the train from Glasgow on the Sunday want to meet up with bobbyb and myself?

[jmrl]

anybody know what time the Sunday Fringe starts?

[Willie JJ]

It's 2pm Mark.

[Deactivated Member]

deleted - Willie got there first

[BruceCrichton]

Great event.

Will comment tomorrow on the highlights.

[BruceCrichton]

Best one yet.

Kicked off with Glenlivet Nadurra - brilliantly nutty with hints of wine.

other highlights:

Ian Macleod's Caol ila
Dewar Rattray's 1976 Bunnahabhain and 1992 Highland Park - best single cask HP
Bruichladdich Peat
Laphroiag 15
DTC Port Dundas 1973
DTC 1975 Mosstowie
(plus Battlehill Auchentoshan is recommended by my mate)
Adelphi 1993 Cragganmore
Tomintoul Oloroso Finish
Benriach Madeira finish 13
Kilbeggan 15
G&M 1997 Clynelish CS
Oban Distiller's edition
Glenfarclas 21
Arran Madeira
Springbank 1997 Batch 2
Glenmorangie Astar - what a revelation
Dalmore Gran Reserva

[yangbrucey]

What a day out! Unfortunately during the whisky-fuelled carnage at the end of the event I lost my tasting notes! I would agree with my namesake - the Glenmorangie Astar was gorgeous.
The whiskies I remember tasting are;
Adelphi Mortlach 1990 - rubbery
Bruichladdich Peat - mixture of standard bourbon casks plus some Port Charlotte - one of the highglights of the day for me.
Bruichladdich 18 year old - French red dessert wine finish - too sweet for me.
Bruichladdich 21 year old (under table) Oloroso cask from day one - absolutely horrendous, unless you like chewing on a part-burnt Pirelli.
Talisker and Caol Ila Distillers edition- both excellent, but the Caol Ila shaded it.
Duncan Taylor Clynelish - nice but tasted a bit diluted.
Glenfarclas 1972 - great sherry cask, very sweet but no hint of sulphur/rubber.
Amrut Cask Strength - Poured it away.
Glenmorangie Chateau Margaux - OK, but a bit rubbery.
Laphroaig 15 year old - not as good as I remember, but my tastebuds had taken a hammering by this point.
Kilchoman 2.5 year old - superb, really smooth for one so young. One of my favourites on the day.
North British 1963 (45 year old) - really good, heavy smooth vanilla, a real privilege to drink a whisky so old.
Longrow CV and Gaja Barolo - CV excellent, GB can't remember!
Dalmore King Alexander - Mr Paterson's been at it again with his IBC-full of caramel. A shame, as I reckon it would have been much more interesting if it hadn't been overpowered with caramel.
Overall this was another fantastic Whisky Fringe, but I was disappointed that Douglas Laing weren't in attendance this year as they had some real crackers last year.

[Deactivated Member]

Just back - good event but possibly not as good as the one in Ayr and nothing that I thought really stood out apart from Nick's recommendation of the Benriach 1988 Virgin American Oak Cask.

Good to meet Leither and Nick Brown, and good to see all the usual forum members (Willie, Bobby and Mark) and all the Glasgow's Whisky Club gang.

Also, where was the food???

[Deactivated Member]

So, another year, another Whisky Fringe.

I make a point at festivals of trying new drams that I haven’t had before. Some of the stalls at Whisky Fringe (especially ones that also appear at Whisky Live) are like old friends, but if I know their whiskies then I will look elsewhere for my pours. So - the roll call of drams tasted, with no disrespect to those I already know:

Benriach 1988 Virgin American Oak
An Cnoc 16yo
Dalmore King Alexander III
Amrut Cask Strength 61.9%
Tobermory 15yo Oloroso Cask
Glenfarclas Family Casks 1972
Strathmill 1976 31yo (Adelphi)
Bunnahabhain 21yo Feis Ile bottling
Kilchoman 2.5yo New Spirit
Bunnahabhain 31yo (Dewar Rattray)
Glenlivet Eclipse 21yo Single Cask
Glenlivet Cellar Collection 1969
Oban Double Matured
Dufftown 32yo (Dewar Rattray)
Braes of Glenlivet 18yo (Dewar Rattray)
Cragganmore 15yo (Adelphi)
Glenmorangie Astar
Hedonism (Compass Box)
Glenfarclas Family Casks 1988
Glenlivet Sma’ Still New Make
Hazelburn 8yo

This was paced over both days, and I did use the spittoons on some drams in an attempt to keep my palate and my head fresh.

My vote for whisky of the weekend went to:

Benriach 1988 Virgin American Oak
N: furniture polish, emon, apple, oak warehouses, sweet, icing sugar
T: sweet, vanilla, dry, slightly sour, hot, gooseberry, grapefruit, toasty
F: fruity, estery, polish, gorse, vanilla and toast, grapefruit

My surprise of the weekend (sorry Yangbrucey) was:

Amrut Cask Strength 61.9%
N: sour, wood polish, coal tar, apple, plum, vanilla
T: creamy, milk chocolate, becomes hot, raspberry, vanilla, grassy
F: minty, licorice, aniseed, grassy

Stall of the weekend was Glenfarclas, who had their entire range up to 30yo, different family cask bottles on the Saturday and Sunday, and a bottle of new make for people to dip their fingers in. They also had fudge, which was a slightly different touch.

But for man of the moment, please step forward Ian Logan. Ian was his usual chatty, welcoming self. And the drams he gave me - sadly not on general access so I didn’t vote for them above - were stellar. The Eclipse is a real treat for people who got a bottle at Whisky Live in London - a fruit led nose with melons and pears, a huge chocolate fudge and coffee explosion on the palate, followed up by the soft fruits, and a long grassy, fruity, biscuity finish. And the 1969 was just amazing - I ran out of space to write my notes there were so many flavours at play. Here’s what I did manage to record:

Glenlivet 1969 Cellar Collection
N: tropical, pineapple, mango, varnish, gooseberry, pencil shavings, orange, grassy
T: orange, tropical, melon, green mango, light smoke, varnish, sweet, creamy, fudge, toffee, milk chocolate, vanilla
F: medicinal, cherry, blackcurrant, plum, mint, fruitgums, bubblegum, grassy, boiled sweets

It was also good to bump into forum members, including (and sorry for those I have missed): Yangbrucey, The Fachan, Willie JJ, jmrl, Oiler Kiwi, Butephoto and Suzywong. Hopefully all had a good time.

Thanks to Royal Mile Whiskies, again, for organizing such a good event. It is nice to have the informality and affordability of Whisky Fringe alongside some of the other whisky festivals - excellent though those other festivals can be. And thanks to the exhibitors for their time and samples. I hope they will continue to support this highlight in the whisky calendar for many years to come.

[Rosebankfan]

Just got back from another action packed Fringe and reflecting on the day with a cuppa - working tomorrow unfortunately.

The Fringe was very slick this year and the range of whisky on offer was amazing. I agree with many of Yangbrucey's choices above but I also understand where Butephoto is coming from when he says that there were no real stand outs - there were 8 in our party today and we all pretty much came to the same conclusion - the standard was good overall but no real stars.

That said, my highlight was Dewar Rattray's 26YO Caperdonich - this was head and shoulders above the pack - really spritely and lively for its age and beautifully presented. The Glenmorangie Astar was also worth its star billing although it was really played down by the team on the stand, who seemed to struggle to muster any enthusiasm for their bottlings. I think we will hear plenty more about this dram in due course.

Bullshitter of the day award goes to Dalmore - well done guys, for their 15min dissertation on how King Alexender III went into the woods and slayed the 12 point stag in finest Tarantino fashion blah blah blah - to be fair though the bottles do look good.

Also looking good were the girls on the Tomintoul stand - top marks for appearance and chit chat girls - there should be an award for this category.

All that remains now is for me to decide what to spend my £10 voucher on at RMW - what incredible value, a day out for £20 with unlimited whisky and £10 back if you buy a bottle during the festival. Top marks to RMW yet again for another great festival - you really can show Whisky Live how to put on a great show.

Rosebankfan (apologies for the spelling).