Whisky Live Madrid 2011

[Fscott]

I went to Whisky Live Madrid last night and was thoroughly disappointed. Last year was good, but this year's was a big step back in many ways. First of all, the people who run the stands are hostesses/models or brand managers. Don't get me wrong, I love models as much as the next guy, but when you have a girl (Ok a tall, beautiful girl), answering questions about 'her' whisky from an index card... Nearly every face behind a table was 'get me out of here ASAP'. The average person on this forum knows 10x more about whisky than 90% of the expositors. So, you found: drunk guys hitting on models for hours, blocking the tables from people who wanted to try a whisky. Odd combos of whiskies at single tables, (One table had Macallan, cocktails with Macallan, Laphroaig, Highland Park and Glenrothes all together), cranky brand managers pouring ridiculously small samples, the same whisky at several tables (Laphroaig at 4), less food, more space dedicated to bartending and less to whisky...
This is an event less for whisky enthusiasts and more for bartenders and people curious about whisky. Case and point: The Diageo table featured Lagavulin 16, Talisker 10 and Cardhu. Sadly, this will probably be my last visit. I am sure the whisky industry in Spain will be crippled by my absence. I hope this doesn't come across as the rant of a bitter old man, as I'm not that old.
One bright spot: the Yamazaki 18 was spectacular.

[aitor]

hi fscot!

I've been busy this week and, finally, I read your post. . The main reason for not having gone to whisky live is because i would have had to go alone maybe if I had read your post before would have stayed together, are you living in Madrid?

On the other hand bad news for whisky fans in Madrid. I read the list of destilleries and it seems that they were not most interesting distilleries and after reading your post i think the whisky live Madrid is like a supermarket ... but really in Spain doesn´t exists a culture of whisky so this is it.

at least you could buy a bottle of Yamazaki 18? this is a must have in any cabinet...

[Fscott]

Aitor,

Yes, I live just outside Madrid. It's funny because I thought the exact same thing about the distilleries as you and we were right. I just received this month's Whisky Magazine for Spain, and in the photo from last year you can see Balvenie and Balbair, two distilleries that are much more interesting than anything that was there this year. Also, most stands just had the standard offering from each brand. When I saw Talisker I got excited, as I have been dying to try the 57º North. But no, the only thing they had was the 10 year old.

In any case, some people I recognized from last year told me that there is a more interesting fair in October. We can keep in touch and maybe get together for that one.

[aitor]

hi! I live like you outside Madrid, in las Rozas, great, we hope that in october we have a better event!