Photo by Zak Bennett
The first WhiskyFest of the fall took place over the weekend in Hollywood, Florida at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The evening’s festivities kicked off at 5:30 p.m. with a VIP hour, during which VIP ticket holders were treated to a variety of rarefied drams. Among the exclusive whiskies being poured were such international labels as Lagavulin Distillers Edition, Loch Lomond 24 year old Royal Troon Edition, Johnnie Walker Blue, Redbreast 18 year old, Crown Royal 18 year old, and Fuji 50th Anniversary Edition Single Malt, as well as a selection of American whiskeys, including Jefferson’s Reserve bourbon, Sagamore Spirit 9 year old rye, and Heaven Hill Heritage Collection 18 year old bourbon.
Manning the booth at Heaven Hill was its artisanal distiller Jodie Filiatreau, who said the Heritage Collection was wildly popular. “The 18 was a big hit,” he said. Of course, there was plenty more to enjoy from Heaven Hill, for both VIP guests and general admission ticket holders, with Filiatreau touting the distillery’s newest whiskeys: Grain-to-Glass wheated bourbon, straight bourbon, and rye.
Before the VIP hour came to a close, single malt scotch lovers Aaron Cure and Paul Schroeder were over at the Westland Distillery booth trying their very first tastes of the American single malt. “We’ve been to WhiskyFests in New York, San Francisco, Chicago—everywhere,” said Schroeder. “The event is a great way to taste whiskies you wouldn’t necessarily buy a full bottle of. Ten years ago, for instance, I tried a bottle of rum cask-finished bourbon that I never would have tasted elsewhere, and ran out and bought a bottle of it the next day.” The pair enjoyed Westland’s Garryana 9 (the newest edition of its garryana oak-finished American single malt, notably the No.-3 whisky on our Top 20 Whiskies of 2023), as well as Oban 18 year old.
The VIP hour ended at 6:30, and a wave of new guests entered the floor, eager to get their hands on the many whiskies throughout the ballroom, as well as bespoke cocktails from Maker’s Mark, Knob Creek, Basil Hayden, Jim Beam, and others, and a slew of tequilas. For Cheryl Cleveland, a stop at Borchetta Bourbon was first in line. “I live in Alabama but I’m just 25 miles from the Borchetta distillery [Big Machine Distillery] in Tennessee, so I visited the place earlier this year and had the best time,” she said of the distillery, which opened to the public in 2021. This was Borchetta Bourbon’s first time at WhiskyFest, and master blender Mark Borchetta loved the opportunity to get his heirloom corn-based bourbons in front of more whiskey lovers. “It’s crazy how effective this is—we just don’t get this type of connection with customers in Nashville,” he said. At the booth, Borchetta was pouring its Small Batch bourbon, as well as 2022, 2023, and 2024 Cask Strength Limited Release bourbons.
There were also four Master Classes presented throughout the night, kicking off with an Elijah Craig tasting with Filiatreau and a discussion regarding whiskey innovation from farm to bottle with Middle West Spirits’ founder, head distiller, and CEO Ryan Lang. Later in the evening, Bruichladdich global ambassador Abi Clephane headed up a talk on the distillery’s history, as Maker’s Mark diplomat DeNiro Fisher led a deep dive into the distillery’s Private Selection single barrel program.
The WhiskyFest fall events lineup is just getting started—it returns to Chicago on November 15 and will be in New York the week after, on November 20. Tickets are available here. We look forward to seeing you there with a dram in hand.
