Sunday 2nd June between late morning and late afternoon hours at the Hilton on Victoria Square in Adelaide, gathered a number of Whisky enthusiasts to sip and savour whiskies from beyond the sea and some from closer home.
The Great Whisky Exposition marked the 4th Malt Whisky Society Convention showcasing around 80 different whiskies from around the world including Scotland, Taiwan, New Zealand and of course Australia.
Some notable products in addition to the usual suspects were whiskies produced in Tasmania such as Sullivans Cove and Lark Single Malt Whisky and new products such as the Starwards Whisky from Essendon, Victoria.
Unusual finds at the show were single malt Whiskies from Taiwan called Kavalan. Available from the Kavalan range were the regular flagship single malt as well as the Concertmaster Port Cask and Solist Sherry Cask finished single malts.
In contrast to most tasting events where you are stuck with plastic tasting cups, we were given a proper Glencairn tasting glass to sample our whiskies from, though organising hundreds or thousands of glasses at larger events could prove to be a costly excercise unless it is incorporated in the ticket or goodiebag price.
I only attended the main tasting event on Sunday, the general entry being from 13:30 onwards to 16:20 giving you just a few minutes shy of three hours to taste and wonder. Fortunately I could squeeze in a couple of extra hours before the general hours during the trade only time. Even then I did manage to run out of time as I like to take my time talking to people while slowly enjoying the spirits.
One thing I would have hoped to see at the show were seminars and masterclasses for the general public. As I understand these presentations were reserved for people who had previously booked a separate ticket for this purpose.
Overall I thought it was an enjoyable quick afternoon event and hope to see it come back bigger and better next time they decide to throw an event like this as I think it is important to educate not only the hospitality industry but also the consumers in order to widen their horizons to all the different whiskies available globally and in Australia.
Tatu Kaarlas
Refined Vices
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