March 2011

Last night was the Single Malt and Scotch Whisky Extravaganza in Atlanta. I’m not going to give you every tiny detail about the event. Most of it was consistent with prior years and you can read my thoughts on those here. What I do want to tell you about is what they changed, my brief overall thoughts on the event, some specific whiskies that stood out, and a few nuggets of interesting knowledge I picked up.

This year there were two noticeable differences that jumped out. The first was the Whisky Panel. This was a one hour session for a limited number of early birds to sit down with the brand ambassadors and get some questions answered. I wasn’t able to attend this part of the evening because registration was first come first served starting at 5:30PM. The event is on the other side of town from where I work (remember, as much as I enjoy doing Whisk(e)y Apostle, it doesn’t pay the bills) and in case you haven’t heard, traffic in Atlanta is a little heavy. Since I didn’t attend this part I’m only going to talk about it in abstract. I really think this is a great idea. Kudos to the organizers for adding this. If you’ve never been to a large tasting event I will tell you it can be difficult to get in questions with the brand ambassadors. They are pouring, joking, and teaching to throngs of people scurrying buy and the volume along can make it difficult to really speak whisky geek with them. Having some separate time set aside before the drinking commences is a nice touch that I’d like to see other event organizers think about.

My second sigh of relief came the moment I walked in the tasting room. I’ve really enjoyed almost everything about the Atlanta event for the last few years except one thing…food service. The actual food is good but the way the station was set up caused a huge traffic jam in the middle of the room. So imagine my surprise when I walked in the room and saw the food stations broken up and strategically placed around the room. It seems like a small and insignificant thing in an overall wonderful whisky event but the fact that my voice was heard is a little gratifying. Of course, I’m not actually assuming it was just my bitching on this website that drove the change. My ego isn’t that large. Regardless, it was a welcome change.

With those few changes they pushed the annual Atlanta Extravaganza from a very good event to a great event. The team behind this does a great job. I think given the food and all the whisky available to try it really is a good value. Especially, if you get the Whisk(e)y Apostle discount. 😉 If you are a seasoned connoisseur of scotch then you will really appreciate the array offered. If you’re a new or casual scotch drinker it is a great opportunity to try a wide array of things and see what you do and don’t like. I took my buddy Sam with me this year and it was his first time at one of these events. He had a blast and we both walked out with a shopping list of new stuff we want to take home. I really do recommend that everyone reading this should go if they have the opportunity.

So on to the whisky! Off the top of my head the brands represented included: Isle of Jura, Dalmore, Ardmore, Laphroaig, Highland Park, Famous Grouse, Scapa, Macallan Fine Oak, Aberlour, Glenlivet, Michael Collins, Glenfiddich, Balvenie, Yamazaki, Hibiki, Glenrothes, Glen Grant, Auchentoshan, Bowmore, Glen Garioch, Classic Malts, Douglas Laing, Glenmorangie, Ardbeg, probably a dozen more that I can’t pull out of my memory (note taking is crucial when drinking copiously). I got Sam introduced to quite a few new drams. For me I hung with a few old favorites but also tried some new stuff. Of the new(er) things I was most impressed with Aberlour and Glen Grant. I haven’t spent time with Aberlour in a while but the reintroduction of the 18 Year brought me over to the table. The whole range really grabbed my attention but the 18 Year was very nice indeed. Glen Grant has been on my short list since it showed up on U.S. shelves. The 10 Year Old and 16 Year Old are both solid drams but the 10 Year is so easy to drink that it’s scary. It’s definitely something to consider on your next trip to the store.

Aside from the actual whisky, the second big draw is information and there is plenty to be had. From the conversations we had I do have a few things to pass on. First, the Suntory Ambassador assured the masses that there are no anticipated shortages related to the recent problems in Japan. However, he did say that getting new expressions to the U.S. will be a long slow process. Having trouble finding the new Balvenie Caribbean Rum Cask 14 Year Old? You aren’t alone. They can’t keep the stuff on the shelves anywhere in the U.S. More is coming so grab if you see it. I also spent a few minutes with Gregg and Matt from Tower Wine. Lots of good stuff on the shelf over at Tower and Gregg is working on new whisky events in the near future. I’ll post them as I hear about them.

That’s all. As always, it was a great event. I hope you can make it next year.

Drink wisely my friends,

Richard