WhiskyFest Ends The Year With A Bang in Chicago and New York

Following an action-packed event in Florida last month, WhiskyFest made its final two stops of the year in Chicago and New York. Both nights provided with top-flight drams, educational seminars, and the opportunity to meet some of the people behind their favorite brands.

Whisky in the Windy City

WhiskyFest Chicago took place on the evening of November 15, with a horde of enthusiastic whisky fans storming the Hyatt Regency Hotel. The event kicked off at 5:30 with an exclusive VIP hour—offering ticket holders an early taste of the evening’s whiskies. The VIP hour also included a slew of exclusive and highly sought-after pours, including Octomore 15.1, Compass Box Metropolis, Dewar’s Double Double 21, Heaven Hill 18 year old Heritage Collection, and Little Book among others.

One of the hot spots for VIPs was Brown-Forman’s scotch booth, which offered a smattering of single malts from Benriach, GlenDronach, and Glenglassaugh. Manning the booth was Russell Woelfel, emerging brands marketing manager, who was very impressed with the level of guest engagement. He noted that the most popular pour was Glenglassaugh Sandend, our 2023 Whisky of the Year, which he said naturally drew attention to the booth. “It was particularly gratifying to see the bourbon and American whiskey fans, who stopped by to give it a try and came away very impressed by it.”

The VIP hour ended at 6:30, and a new wave of guests poured into the room in search of great whiskies to taste from America, Scotland, Ireland, Japan, and elsewhere. One of the more far-flung offerings was a vertical of whiskies from Cardrona Distillery, a relatively new player based out of New Zealand. Global brand ambassador Pat Fraser said, “Being a young distillery from a region that isn’t well known for whisky, the experience has been great!” He said that Cardrona’s 3 year old Just Hatched single malt was the most popular one of the bunch, but that the brand’s vodka—distilled entirely from malted barley—also caught people by surprise. During our visit to the booth, we overheard a few guests remark to each other, “Are you sure this is vodka? It sure tastes like whisky to me!”

Another fresh face on the scene was Uncharted Whisky Co., an up-and-coming independent bottler from Fintry, Scotland. Director Jack Breslin was behind the table, pouring whiskies like the Thunderstruck Auchroisk 7 year old single malt, and Bat Out Of Hell 13 year old single malt from Macduff distillery. “It’s been amazing,” said Breslin of the WhiskyFest experience. “We’re practically unknown, and we want to take our whiskies to people who haven’t seen us before. The [guests] here grasp our concept really well.”

Later in the evening came a slate of five Master Class seminars, starting with a Bruichladdich portfolio tasting led by brand ambassador Jason Cousins, an Elijah Craig bourbon tasting hosted by spirits specialist Lynn House, and a deep dive into all things oak presented by Maker’s Mark diplomat Greg Buttera. Later came rye-centric Master Classes from Beam ambassador Kay Quigley and Redemption master blender Alan Kennedy.

Toasting Whisky in the Big Apple

Just five days after WhiskyFest Chicago, a new army of whisky devotees congregated in the New York Marriott Marquis hotel in anticipation of WhiskyFest New York. The VIP hour started at 5:30 with a rush VIP guests got their hands on some of the more precious whiskies—like Booker’s, Michter’s 20 year old, Redbreast 18, Glen Moray 21, Laphroaig 36 year old, and Bunnahabhain Feis Ile 2024 Release.

One of the most sought-after whiskies of the VIP hour was the ultra-aged Rosebank 31 year old, which sent droves of guests to the Ian Macleod Distillers booth. Commercial projects director Neil Boyd was responsible for pouring it, alongside other whiskies from Tamdhu and Glengoyne. “We must’ve poured about 80 or so servings,” he said with a smile. “It’s a light and vibrant Lowlands malt—there are much heavier whiskies here, but people really appreciated this one.”

As the VIP hour wound down, Dr. David Sussman and his son Adam took a break from sipping and scouting out whiskies to grab some food. David has routinely been coming to WhiskyFest for over a decade, having first attended one in 2010. His son Adam has been a regular since 2012. This time around the pair brought backup—including David’s other sons and a daughter-in-law. The group was most enamored with some of the craft whiskeys they tasted, particularly Middle West’s Ported Pumpernickel rye. “You taste these expensive bottlings, and you just know they’re going to be good,” said David. “But it’s the ones you don’t expect—those from off the beaten track—that are the really impressive whiskies.”

At 6:30 the big crowd came flooding in, hoping to try new bottlings and gain some insight from the whisky makers in attendance. One such whisky maker was Joe O’Sullivan, the recently appointed master distiller of Nevada-based Minden Mill. “The folks I’ve spoken to tonight aren’t just enthusiastic about the whiskey, they’re also asking good questions,” he said, noting that the average whisky connoisseur has gotten much sharper over the past five to ten years. On Minden’s newly launched core range, O’Sullivan said the rye was by far the fan favorite—though the single malt and bourbon also saw some love from the crowd.

Throughout the evening eight Master Classes were offered, spread across three timeslots. Those seminars included a complete tasting of the Glen Moray Warehouse 1 collection with global brand ambassador Iain Allan, an exploration of Glenturret’s evolving style by managing director Jennie Baernreuther, a guided tasting of Komoro Japanese whisky with master distiller and blender Ian Chang, and a showcase of Suntory’s art of blending with east coast brand ambassador Gardner Dunn. Other Master Classes included Bernie Lubbers on Elijah Craig, Maker’s Mark, Bruichladdich, and Redemption.

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