The Whisky Exchange 2019 Old & Rare Whisky Show in Glasgow

Stephen's review

What can I add to what I wrote about the Old & Rare Whisky Show in the review of my first experience of it? The answer is: quite a lot, but much of it would not impart much information that the previous review failed to deliver. So I’ll keep the written part of this review fairly brief and let the photos tell most of the story.

A stunner I came across early at David Stirk’s table

However, I did do one significant thing differently in 2019 as compared to how I approached the 2018 show: I brought a good deal more money with me this time, with the intention of splurging on more of the killer drams. Well, as it worked out, I spent more money, but I did not do as much splurging as I thought I would. Don’t get me wrong: I had a couple of old Broras, a couple of old Port Ellens, and I had to revisit my old friend, The Joker from Ichiro’s Malt, and all of those cost me.

But in general, I did not blow holes in my wallet as I feared I might. Part of that had to do with the fact that as a whisky blogger, I get to taste lots of great whisky without having to pay for it. That spoils one over time, and makes it harder to spend big bucks on whisky because one is simply not used to doing so. But perhaps a bigger part of that was that one of the great joys of the Old & Rare Whisky Show is hunting for great values. This year, it seemed like there were more of those than there were last year, and I took advantage of that fact. You can see for yourself below, though: in most cases, the prices are on the bottles.

As I said before, the Old & Rare Whisky Show is simply peerless if you’re a whisky geek. Nothing like it, not even close. Make your plans now for next year. I already have.

Colin Dunn with one of two great Millburns I had at the Show
The Whisky Auction table
Just had to go back to try this one…
One of the Show’s biggest headliners: a 1930’s non-peated Laphroaig — only £180 per dram (a very good friend let me try a bit of his)

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