WhiskyFest Weekend NYC–Stephen’s and Bill’s reviews (Part I)
This year’s WhiskyFest Weekend in New York City set up ahead of time to be something special. Bill was able to go with me this year, making it the first time two Impostors took the daunting floor of WhiskyFest at the same time. It was also going to be the first time any of us had attended the Seminars. Since the person attending them was me, I was especially stoked.
But let me get right to the Seminars, because there’s a lot to tell about them, and it’s all pretty damn glorious. First, imagine a monster ballroom set up with tables in rows so everyone can face the stage. Now imagine the room is big enough that they need jumbotrons on either side of the stage so that those in the back can see what’s going on. It’s like going to a John Mayer concert, only there’s less music and there’s more self-indulgence going on in the audience than onstage. Finally, imagine a cadre of waiters running around pouring from amazing bottles of whisky into the small forest of long-stemmed wine glasses in front of you. If you can imagine all that, you have a good sense of the setting. If you can’t, check out the pictures and work on your visualization skills on your own time.
I could run through what we tasted and who presented it, but that would be like going on and on about how lucky you were to get tabbed to exchange your nosebleed seats for front row center ones at a Bruce Springsteen concert: very quickly, your conversant will want you just to shut your freakin’ trap. With perhaps one exception, everything we tried was fantastic, and more of them than I will mention here were worth remembering in detail. But the highlights for me were the 23 year old Kininvie, the 1968 Highland Park Cask Sample, the 22 year-old Stitzel Weller, the Balvenie Offspring (a special creation by David Stewart that married casks from 1980, 1982, and 1986, the birth years of his three children), the 1973 Ardbeg ex-bourbon cask, the Parker Beam Unity bottling, the Glenmorangie Pride, and not at all surprisingly, the Balvenie Tun 1401, Batch #9. And I skipped some spectacular drams by writing that list as I did, let me assure you.
Between the bigger panel sessions were “Legends” sessions, during which someone interviewed a legend of whisk(e)y, who talked us through an amazing whisk(e)y that legend created. This year’s legends were: Jimmy Russell from Wild Turkey, Jim McEwan from Bruichladdich, and Parker Beam from Heaven Hill. Each one represented a special moment during the Seminars: Jimmy Russell pulling back the curtain a bit on how he makes Bourbon, Jim McEwan stealing the show (what a shock!), and Parker Beam and his making of the Unity bottling bringing tears to everyone’s eyes. That said, given the number of whisk(e)y luminaries on hand for the Seminars, they could’ve easily held even more Legend sessions: another possibility on that front was David Stewart, who recently celebrated the 50th year in his amazing career at Balvenie. But then again, perhaps that’s akin to noting that Woodstock could’ve featured the Beatles.
There was also a set of Scotch and gourmet chocolate pairings to whet our appetites for a Talisker lunch with Diageo’s Dr. Nick Morgan. The Scotch & Chocolate pairings were tremendous: the Compass Box Spice Tree sang alongside a lightly processed dark chocolate, the specially selected Dalmore complemented Daniel Boulud’s crème brulée bite beautifully, and the Glenmorangie Signet’s chocolate malt base was perfect with the whisky caramel (with edible wrapper) from Del Posto Restaurant. David Blackmore posing as Del Posto sous chef Roger Rodriguez (see below) was also a highlight, and one that was eerily on a par with Dr. John’s appearance in The Last Waltz. (Actually, I have no idea what that means, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t carry on the theme well).
The lunch, which featured the Talisker 10, Storm, 18 and 25, also included a filet mignon and lovely conversation with old friend Spike McClure and four new friends at the table with me. Dr. Nick Morgan and Dave Broom (or was that Dave Grohl?) did not disappoint, leading us all lovingly through the Talisker range as dessert was served. I have to say, though, that the Talisker Storm,
a new release, is wonderfully briny and bright–a great addition to the regular Talisker line.
All in all, the WhiskyFest NYC Seminars are like no whisky seminars I’ve ever taken, and I’ve taken quite a few. It’s as if John Hansell wasn’t satisfied being compared favorably to rock promoter Bill Graham, so he turned the amps up to 11: Hansell and crew clearly set out to create an event that would dwarf any other attempts at whisky seminars, both in quantity and quality of both whiskies and whisky illuminati. They succeeded. Admirably. Oh man, did they ever.
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