Manchester Whisky Fest! 2012

@JonMarriage Alas, my Wife has Vetoed this one. LOL Sounds like it would be a great warm up to the London event. Please let us know how it goes!

Im considering it, just need to check Im not working and that its not too expensive to travel. Worth going you think though?

@Sroberts86 , Yes, do think it would be worth going. If I could find a ride over and back that day from Lincoln, I would definitely go. But Wife says that since I'm going to The Whisky Show in London I am grounded from any others. LOL

I went last year for the Kavalan masterclass and thoroughly enjoyed myself (and the random wandering I did around town due to arriving for the early session despite having tickets for the late one). I'll hopefully pop up if there's an interesting masterclasses that takes my fancy - it's worth the trip.

@Sroberts86 Hi, it's been good fun every time I've been so far. If you've not been to a festival before they're a great way of tasting a lot of different whiskies. We try and stick together and share the sample drams as even with the smaller 10-15 mL shots, by the time you've got to 40+ whiskies the taste buds are a bit worse for wear among other things!

I am a relatively young whisky friend and never have been to such an event, but my worry would be that it's quite a rush. You are paying for the day and can test as much as you want? Aren't some guys just going to get drunk there really badly? For now I need to take my time, sit down and relax while tasting whisky. By the way 40+ whiskies at one session? Guess my palate and liver couldn't stand this. OK, maybe the liver could if you're just nipping ;)

@Wills Hi, there's always someone who needs a bit of a sit down but I haven't felt rushed so far and the key thing is to have very small sips! Try and share the shots between 3 people, just enough to get an idea of the nose and flavour and follow it up with plenty of water. It's a bit of a surprise but by the end of the session it's the spare water that everyone is trying to get their hands on more than the whisky!

@JonMarriage Thx. Laughed at the last part :)

One big thing to remember is, and this is almost blasphemy so stick with me, you don't have to finish each glass of whisky.

Taste it, pass it around your mates if you want, any left over when you get to the next stand just pour it out, rinse you glass and start again. Ever since I realised the whisky makers aren't precious about people finishing all of a dram I've managed to walk out of whisky shows sober enough to go for a beer :) If you pace yourself you can happily try enough whiskies to make your ticket good value for money without getting too drunk. At the same time, it's not about quantity - take your time to speak to the folks on each stand, try a couple of drams and learn about what you're drinking, that's what it's about.

I pinged the Whisky Lounge folks on twitter the other day and they haven't finalised any masterclasses yet, but they should have them up on their website soon.

Just like to say thanks to Eddie Ludlow and the rest of the Whisky Lounge team that put on a great event on Saturday. Thanks also to the exhibitors who once again were warm and friendly, not to mention generous and informative. Cheers!