How To Survive WhiskyFest Like A Pro

WhiskyFest is an event that all Whisky enthusiasts will enjoy, here are some pro tips to make the most of the event.

WhiskyFest hits 4 cities as of 2018 and I have been lucky enough to experience WhiskyFest in 3 cities in the past: Chicago, New York and San Francisco. I will add the 4th city, Washington D.C, this spring and continue to make my rounds again to the WhiskyFest’s in Chicago and New York this year.

Say hello if you see me at WhiskyFest, I am a semi-giant Irish goon-looking guy but friendly!

**I have a couple of funny stories from WhiskyFest in the links below just to give you an idea what you’re in for along with a couple laughs. **

WhiskyFest is one of those events you must be with the right people to enjoy.

You will spend 2–3 hours tasting straight whisky. Screw the splash of water to open it up, no Crown Royal & Coke, and certainly no Manhattans or Old Fashions.

Just hours of straight, neat whisky.

My kind of night.

**And complete transparency — When I started writing this, I was drinking Balvenie Tun 1509 Batch 4 and eating a KitKat. Go ahead and call me a cretin! ***

2017 was the year of big ice and whisky

Before I get to my stories of WhiskyFest, here are some pro tips.

1. You’re not driving home, so get that taken care of it!
2. You must hydrate. Pick up 4 to 6 bottles of Gatorade or similar, drink a couple during the afternoon before and after the event. Make sure you hit the hydration stations while you’re at the event. It won’t hurt to pop a couple Advil and multivitamins, we are all seasoned drinkers here, step your game up!
3. Eat a proper meal before WhiskyFest, aka tacos or something.
4. If you get to do multiple events, make sure you do the WhiskyFest VIP tasting at least once.
5. Check out the WhiskyFest seminars and learn something new.
6. My own opinion but you just dropped $300 to sample whisky, so make it a whole god damn good night. Snack at the buffet table to soak up the alcohol but after the event, have reservations somewhere ballerific and go enjoy a bad ass night out.
7. You either hit the Pappy Van Winkle booth right when the door opens or at the end the night. If you do it in the middle of the event the line is long and you waste too much time! Grab a Van Winkle photo while you’re at it and post that shit on Instagram to get mad likes.
8. You don’t have to drink everything, you can dump your glass in the bucket if you’re a lightweight. If you’re not a lightweight, just remember you’re not in a judgement free zone and wasting that golden liquid of the gods may result in verbal lashings from random strangers.
9. If you waited in line at a booth, then sample the whole damn table. Doing tastings in-like tranches is another waste of time. You’re there, sample, compare, and contrast. You can find so much variation all from one brand from peaty to smooth and light.
10. People are going to cut line, but don’t get mad, they are drunk so chill out and don’t screw up people’s vibe.
11. You don’t get want you don’t ask for. Many tables will push the 12 even if they have the 18 and 21 year olds, so just ask!
12. Get a photo holding a George Dickle Dickelade, you will thank me the next day for the good memory and it tastes good. If Dad Mode gave this to his kids he wouldn’t need a night out. (you will learn about Dad Mode later)
13. Try brands you never heard of. Yeah I am going to hit the Macallan booth… But hit all those little brands you never heard of. This is a great event to find out what it is you like before you spend $50–500+ on a bottle so try many new things.
14. Hit the John Drew booth and get the glass sticker. Plus, they have a great rye. I will have a follow up article just on this brand so keep an eye out.
15. Lastly, have fun! I will crack jokes with strangers in lines just to get conversation going. You may think WhiskyFest is full of old stuffy upper east side dudes drinking whisky and talking about their days rowing crew at Harvard but that isn’t the case

Want to read about the stories?

The WhiskyFest NYC story.

The WhiskyFest Chicago story.

The WhiskyFest San Francisco story.

Going to one of the WhiskyFest Events? Hit me up on LinkedIn.