Whisky live Glasgow 2007

[Muskrat Portage]

"ducks"

Good one!
Muskrat

[TreacleSponge]

There are a lot of very savvy and astute whisky lovers on this forum and many are women.
...
As for knowledge and love of whisky, Wendy could teach any of us more about Single Malts than we already know. They may be fairer but sure as heck aren't the "weaker" sex, when it comes to whisky!

Well saved Musky!!

I am not saying that you ladies are less enthusiastic, just less enthusiastic ladies around

(the only girl I've ever met who even drank whisky only drinks Jack Daniels completely drowned in Coke. Nothing wrong with that, if you fancy that, but still. The same goes for most whisky drinking guys, so it might just be I hang out with the wrong people)

OK, you're forgiven ... I'll accept you're just unfortunate and your friends drink the wrong drinks! If you're ever in the area I'll be happy to prove that girls are enthusiastic about whisky

Three of my friends (girls) enjoy whisky, to varying degrees. One stayed over this week - whilst Mr.TreacleSponge drank beer, we enjoyed Morrisons Islay single malt, G&M Macallan 17yo, Talisker, Bruichladdich 18 and ended where we began, trying to guess the Morrisons supermarket Islay.

She used to be an archivist with Diageo, but my friend still laughs at me cos even she thinks it's too nerdy to lurk/post on this forum! So maybe it's not so much the whisky that girls don't like as whisky forums!!

[les taylor]

Treacle Sponge your not nerdy at all. And your comments are much appreciated.

I have a friend who owns a Dive Centre in Lanzarotte and whenever she comes over to the UK she always fits in a game to see her team Everton. I fact she plans her trips around the games. So I think its great that girls enjoy doing things that might seem on the face of it just for the guys. Mrs Les enjoys sharing my whisky as does my grown up daughter. Who has quite a collection herself. Her husband who does not enjoy a single malt still buys her nice bottles ih his travels.

keep up the good work.





Only a week till Whisky LIve.

[Deactivated Member]

I think it's great nonetheless that your girlfriend will join you. Not that many enthusiastic wiskhy gals around it seems...

I have taken a number of visitors into the SMWS Vaults in Edinburgh. They invariably expect to find a room full of old men and are pleasantly surprised to find people of both sexes and various ages. I am often surprised myself when I go out with colleagues - again of both sexes - and discover that they like whisky and know a fair bit about it too.

[mattbuty]

Oh dear, looks like I have opened a massive can of worms with this one...

I suppose i should have pointed out that by lovely girlfriend is, like me, a student of the ert, and has definate preferences towards smoother whisky with less of the phenol about it. Her favorites include rosebank, so we will be really keen to try the aged version, and linkwood, and recently took a liking to Glen Scotia...

...but put a glass of lord of the isles down in front of her and she wouldn't thank you for it...

Which is fine by me, because I'll happily have it

[K-Mile]

I will conveniently avoid this thread from now on..

Hey, is that another posting in The Bar!?

* K-Mile has a sudden interest in a completely different section of the forum

[BruceCrichton]

There is a free shuttle bus service between Buchannan Bus Station and the SECC compliments of SPT - joining up journeys to Whisky Live. There is an hourly service on Friday 2nd and a half hourly service on Saturday 3rd.

What time are the buses leaving Buchanan street and are they available to take us back to Buchanan street?

[fishboy]

Right - Bag packed, car filled up and ready for off (need to pop to Asda and buy the cheapest bottle of spirits i can find!!).

Just need to get through today at work then I'm heading for Glasgow about 6pm tonight. I'm staying with a pal in Hamilton, then after a nice round of golf tomorrow morning, its off the the SECC for the pair of us. We are booked into the Diageo MC on Friday - this looks like an absolute cracker and excellent value for money! Then along with some other friends (who have real jobs and so can only make it on Saturday) we are booked in the Dave Broom "game" MC.

The list of exhibitors has filled out nicely and I'm really looking forward to two great days. See you all there!

If you see a bespectacled bloke in his thirties wearing a black jacket and a slightly bemused expression - it could be me. Say hello!

Fishboy

[les taylor]

Sounds good Fishboy. Hope you have a good time and please give us a good report along with everybody else from the forum who attends, next week when you've recovered.

[Di Blasi]

The Oslo Whisky Festival loses Annabel Meikle to Glasgow sadly, but lucky for you all. I was looking forward to meeting her and enjoying her masterclass. Hopefully she'll come back to Norway soon!

[Matt2]

I will be off to the airport at 10:30 to cacth our bus with wings. Look forward to seeing you all there and I will be hanging around the front entrance if anyone wants to come and say hi

I'm sitting on Annabels table at the Icons Dinner tonight so I will pass on the message to get over to Norway



(No more sleep for me until Sunday now ... )

[BruceCrichton]

The Oslo Whisky Festival loses Annabel Meikle to Glasgow sadly, but lucky for you all. I was looking forward to meeting her and enjoying her masterclass. Hopefully she'll come back to Norway soon!

That's a surprise. She told me she would be in Oslo for the festival.

A bonus for us.

[Di Blasi]

I will be off to the airport at 10:30 to cacth our bus with wings. Look forward to seeing you all there and I will be hanging around the front entrance if anyone wants to come and say hi

I'm sitting on Annabels table at the Icons Dinner tonight so I will pass on the message to get over to Norway



(No more sleep for me until Sunday now ... )

Thanks Matt! Tell her to get back over quick, I'd love to host her at Terminus Whisky Bar in Bergen for a tasting next month originally planned for the Norwegian brand ambassador to host.
And Bruce, she was supposed to be here for the festival, but the last minute announcement is good news for you all over there. Have fun!!

[K-Mile]

Enjoy the festival to all of you. Luckily I only have to wait untill next week before Whisky Live Leiden

Let us know how it went, the rest of the world expects detailed reports of the day before online at around 8am the next morning..

A dutch saying: "A man at night, a man in the morning"

[Oiler_Kiwi99]

I'll be at the Ardbeg Masterclass and the Diageo Masterclass (with my wife). I'll be wearing my World Cup All Blacks jersey and my Oran Mor fleece if anyone wants to say hi.

[les taylor]

Oiler I hope you have a great time. I'm very envious of you guys and girls hope you enjoy it. Roll on London next spring.

[mattbuty]

bags packed. try to catch a few hours sleep and then the long drive...

I'm so excited I could soil myself....

[Deactivated Member]

I'm so excited I could soil myself....

I bet you don't, though...

[Matt2]

It's 2:40am and I've just got back to my hotel room.. Icons of Whisky dinner was a great night and the usual City Inn after hours drinking went as planned. Up at 7am to get the show running

Had a few indie bottlings, but due to the venue adding slices of lemon to all the water everyone was saying ... theres some acidity / lemon / citrus ......

A nice HP from the guys went down well.

ooooops....

[les taylor]

Matt your eyes are going to look good by sunday. Or are the tastings in the fashion of Bill Clinton. I did not inhale.

[Deactivated Member]

I shall be there both days - if anyone sees me then do say Hi

I look like the person in the bottom photo on this page - http://www.peatfreak.com/forum/viewtopi ... 3&start=45

But hopefully without an expression like I've just drunk a mouthful of liquidized, burnt popcorn.

[Iain]

Nick, could you persuade the blonde lady in the background to come too?

[martin grant]

I shall be there both days - if anyone sees me then do say Hi

I look like the person in the bottom photo on this page - http://www.peatfreak.com/forum/viewtopi ... 3&start=45

But hopefully without an expression like I've just drunk a mouthful of liquidized, burnt popcorn.

Great picture Nick, and good to see you again today!

[Deactivated Member]

Back from Whisky Live - eventually. SECC really isn't well connected and the free buses didn't materialize. I told the man at the station (half a mile up a bridge that was confusingly referred to as a tunnel) that I thought the SECC was the worst place in the world. He asked what was the second worst place in the world. Obviously the answer is Blackpool, but he thought it was probably Edinburgh.

But apart from that, I went along to a stonking Ardbeg masterclass - new make, 10yo, Uigeadail, Mor, Airigh nam Beist, and a 1974 double barrel. For me, the two stars werevthe Mor - extremely complex with a kippery and grapefruity nose, chocolate and cream amongstthecitric flavours and peat on the palate, and a long, minty, peaty and ashy finish - and tge 1974 which had varnishy pine notes on the nose, along with mint, slight tcp, lemon and dried fruit; cherry and smooth mint with chocolate, nettles, coffee, vanilla and cream on the palate and a veey sweet, cherry mint, blueberry and vanilla finish. I confess the blueberry was put forward by Rachel, the Ardbeg blender, but I couldn't disagree. Her blueberry was spot on.

Unfortunately, the masterclass wasn't sold out so we had to help ourselves to seconds (and thirds, etc... - handy that they provided water in screwtop bottles...). And I mean unfortunately: it was lovely to have free access to untaken drams but some of the whiskies deserved to be shared by more people in a more dignified fashion.

Another highlight was the Tullibardine 1973 (48.7%) which had some really unusual peachy flavours to it - in amongst the pine, varnish, lemon, verry, coffee, orange, mint, vanilla and all...

It was nice to meet Martin Grant, Oiler Kiwi and Crieftan (and saw Suzy Wong from afar) - perhaps meet others tomorrow.

[Iain]

I spent most of Saturday afternoon at WL, and I thought it was excellent. Very easy to get to and from by train from the city centre (just a 5 minute ride). A great buzz in the hall. Some lovely people and great whiskies. I don't think the event was harmed at all by the absence of Diageo, Chivas and the big boys - quite the opposite, in fact. I'll certainly go back next year.

[BruceCrichton]

Great day out.

Was only there on Friday but virtually every dram I had was brilliant.

Skipped most of the big names but Glenmorangie was fantastic and I was pleased to meet Martin.

Met Susan Webster (Suzywong) as well. Also met Kate from Springbank, Euan from DTC, Nikki from Tomintoul (2 superb new bottlings), Cooley distillery have a great selection and met Ardmore's manager.

An Cnoc masterclass was great and watch out for the forthcoming 16 year old bottling.

[Deactivated Member]

I spent most of Saturday afternoon at WL, and I thought it was excellent. Very easy to get to and from by train from the city centre (just a 5 minute ride).

You are joking, I presume. Five minutes wouldn't even get you from the Exhibition Centre station to the SECC itself! Yesterday they refused to sell me a low level train ticket from Queen St to Exhibition Centre because "the train leaves from Glasgow Central Station". I said that you could change at Partick and the man said I'd have to buy two tickets for that! Of course, the free buses were not there again, making a taxi there the only option - especially if I wanted to hit my Masterclass on time.

The Diageo masterclass was very interesting, giving an opportunity to try some rare, old whiskies. The Glenury Royal 50yo was the most expensive whisky - but it was heavily sherried so some people didn't like it. Interestingly the Port Ellen (4th release) was the ugly duckling - not everyone finished it and at the end, the spare Port Ellens were the last to get hoovered up. The Islay-philes seemed to prefer the Lagavulin 30, and others went for the Rosebank or Convalmore. This was a shame, as the Port Ellen was really rather good - and very youthful for its 25 years - you could still get the stillroom sweetness on the nose. Dave Broom guided us through - I'd not heard Dave Broom speak before and whilst I may not find his tasting notes match mine (I do better with JM), he is very good value. I was intrigued to see bottles left unattended at the front of the room after the masterclass. I was sorely tempted by the half full sample bottle of Ardbeg 1974 Double Barrel but the angels will be relieved to know that I left it untouched.

Had a couple of rather forgettable drams after that - and a Strawberry drink that I'd like to forget. Unfair, perhaps, to expect anything to compare to the Masterclass. I did find myself very unwilling to part with tokens, even though I ended up giving four of them away at the end. I thought giving a £1 token for a splash of £20 whisky was a nonsense - especially afer paying the entrance fee - and the £2 or £3 of tokens needed to try anything over the age of 12 meant it wasn't far short of bar prices. I noticed that people were being restrained in the amount they drank - which may have been the intention, but it is an odd one for a whisky festival - and some stalls had almost no trade at all. Did Bunnahabhain open their bottles at all?

And then the fun of trying to get back from the SECC. As it goes, I took a train to Hyndland, had some tea with a friend, and she put me on the right bus to the city centre.

I hope that the disappointing attendence will not be the final nail in the coffin for Whisky Live Glasgow - I think that a return to George Square (or a City Centre venue) would help enormously and some relaxation of the voucher system might help people to experiment a little more with their tasting.

[les taylor]

Thanks for the reports guys very interesting reading. The idea that the masterclasses were great value and perhaps the most enjoyable part of the day matches our experience of the past. I wonder what the powers that be will make of your comments of constructive criticism.

[Matt2]

Great to see everyone I did and hope you all had a good time. Think the SECC is the venue for Glasgow from now on, it does everything that is needed, maybe with a few tweaks.

Attendance was up on last year at G.Square, and at one point on Saturday we thought we may have to stop letting people in. Lots of people enjoyed having the BBC Good Food Show just next door, it was a nice mix.

Vouchers are still a hot topic, but something interesting has come up which you will be finding out at next years events. Its constantly evolving to meet the various demands of visitors, venues, etc...

The cocktails guys on stage were great, and the rest looked very interesting although I didn't have time to see anything really. Sat in half of Dave Brooms and Gillians masterclass. Balblair 89 with Smoked Goose - wow, and of course Linkwood with cheese.

Now to make our way back to Norwich before a few hours sleep and back to work

[Deactivated Member]

Well if attendance was up, then I take back the comment about attendance - but Friday did feel a bit empty. I think the transport issue needs to be worked on. The SECC feels like a venue designed for access by car, which simply can't work with a whisky event. The free buses would have been great if they had actually run - but perhaps next year.

Thanks to everyone for their efforts - and especially to Ardbeg for their stunning 1974!

[Iain]

. I think the transport issue needs to be worked on. The SECC feels like a venue designed for access by car, which simply can't work with a whisky event.

Nick, it's less than a mile from the centre of Glasgow. The very frequent train service gets you from Central Station in the city centre to Exhibition Centre station. And it's just 5 minutes walk from there to the venue, along a covered walkway so you don't get cold or wet. How difficult is that! Every weekend thousands of people pitch up there without any problem at all, for concerts, exhibitions etc, and most of them seem to come by public transport. When I got the train back to Central, it was full of happy Whisky Live go-ers who didn't seem confused and stressed at all.

Most folks I spoke to preferred the SECC to the old George Square venue because it was warmer and there was more room for seating areas, water stations etc.

And I wasn't asked for a voucher all afternoon, for ordinary, "old" or special drams, so that seems to have been a bit of a storm in a teacup.

Great to chat with Frances at the Loch Ewe Distillery stand - she's a fund of great stories.

[BruceCrichton]

I was there on Friday, left at 9pm and jumped on the bus and got off at Queen street.

All went like clockwork which is more than can be said for me.

[Deactivated Member]

. And I wasn't asked for a voucher all afternoon, for ordinary, "old" or special drams, so that seems to have been a bit of a storm in a teacup.

Now that simply doesn't ring true - I'd suggest that if this was the case, you must have been picking your stalls very carefully indeed. Disagree with me by all means on the transport issue but don't pretend that the vouchers were not being requested.

As for the 21:00 bus on Friday - perhaps it did run. But the 20:30 bus didn't. Neither did the 15:00 bus from Buchanan. Neither did the Saturday 12:00 bus from Buchanan. Neither did the 16:00 bus from the SECC on Saturday. And there was no signage at all in Buchanan. It took me three people before they admitted that the buses were supposed to exist but in fact some services were not running. Now that's no good if people are relying on the buses for travel to fixed time masterclasses. I was left with no options, bth days, but to get taxis to SECC and pay for trains back - when free travel was advertised. That leaves a nasty taste. As does being told I couldn't get a low level train ticket at Sraid na Banrighinn.

But no great surprises - the last time I was at the SECC I had to bribe a taximan £20 to take me back to the city centre. Turn a blind eye if you like, but that venue has real problems. I know colleagues who refuse to use it on principle.

[Iain]

Did anyone else have transport difficulties apart from Nick?

As for vouchers - I did see folks handing over vouchers at some stalls. But I had seven pleasant drams in the main hall, including two 25 year olds, and didn't get asked for a voucher even once. And I visited a few well-known names, as well as a couple of the smaller outfits. Everyone I met on the stalls was very friendly and hospitable.

[mattbuty]

Just logging in now after an amazing weekend in Glasgow.

First of all, it was great to put a face to some names, like Matt and Dave Broom, amongst others. My Girlfriend and I were made to feel extremely welcome.

Vouchers were not a problem, as many times once you got chatting, a second expression would come out, then a third, all as a way of saying thank you for your support...

The stalls were great. Glenmorangie had a fun roulette game, Remy Martin had a couple of Godesses and everyone was very proud of their offerings, and rightly so...

My favourite tipples were from Glengoyne (Jimmy's Choice)...superb distillery great flavours, and loads of Pedro Jiminez sherry in the whisky. Great!!!!

This was closely followed by the Bunnahabhain 14yr old 1992. I simply must get hold of one of these...

Kudos also to the guys at Arran. I can see this becoming a hugely respected whisky in the next few years, it is already a fine whisky

The diagio tasting was great, although we had to wait 20 extra minutes to get in, but it was worth it for the chance to sample the Lagavulin 30, and the Glenbury Royal 50 amongst others. Dave Broom is such a relaxed speaker, and a pleasure to listen to.

So a great time was had by all, and I will be going to London in February, and back to Glasgow in October for more of the same.

Thanks to all for helping to put together such a memorabe weekend...especially to HP for a stunning bottle of 18 yr old. Not bad for the cost of a bottle of bathtub gin