Spirit of Toronto May 12, 2012

@UisgeBeatha Sorry to see you have no replies. Obviousy nobody on the site has been to the event.

I have been to a couple of tasting events, here are a couple of thoughts you might find useful, or not. If you can get a list of the whiskies on offer, make yourself a shortlist of about 6 or 7 whiskies you want to try. It is extremey easy not to keep to your list, because it's great fun and the atmosphere really gets to you. If that happens, limit yourself to one or two tiny sips and throw the rest out. Whisky is strong stuff and when you get to 8 whiskies and beyond, your nose becomes just a breathing apparatus, your tongue will be tingling, starting to go numb and if you have been swallowing everything, you'll get even more excited and loose your brakes. If that's your aim anyway, well, ok, go for it. If you are serious about enjoying the quality of the whisky, keep your head clear and look after your senses.

Also, build it up from the light and sweeter Highlanders, moving slowly to the peaty stuff and cask strength drams towards the end of your evening. Take is slow, make your tasting notes and enjoy the whiskies you have decided to try. You could go for all the old and expensive whiskies, nothing wrong with that, it's an opportunity to try them, but usually there wil be only one bottle avaiable and you must be either lucky or well connected or rich. The rest of the crowd only hears about it or read about it on the poster. Perhaps you have the opportunity to taste them and the means to afford them, well, good for you. Have fun. If not, the best is to keep it realistic, taste the stuff you are interested in buying and enjoy the atmosphere and good company and opportunity to spend a whole evening talking about whisky to guys who also enjoy doing just that.

Enjoy! Cheers, Jay.

Thanks for replying Jay. I get a bad feeling (or maybe it's a good feeling) that I'll be overwhelmed when I get there. Probably tempted as you've said to try all the whiskeys. But, I will try and stick to a plan. Do you know if the vendors are easily approachable and if the environment does allow a conversation? What I mean is, it'd be awesome to be able to talk to the representatives from each distillery and get some insight on their product but with potentially alot of people also wanting to talk to them will they generally give you a quick answer and move on?

The vendors are, firstly, there to sell their wares en secondly, because they are into whisky. Both facts make them very approachable with a lot to say. Usually some vendors are overwhelmed (Ardbeg, Springbank, the Japanese whiskies and the like) and others not so. But often the guys ask the same questions you have on your mind, so all you have to do is hold out your glass and listen in. But, it's great fun and a wonderful experience. Try to get there by taxi or get someone to drive you... believe me, it's important! Cheers, Jay

Last year was the first event I have missed in years.. Spirit of Toronto is IMO a far better event than Whisky Live (held in the fall).

The venue is nicer, the food is better, the entertainment is more entertaining and you tend to get a wider range of vendors than Whisky Live. The vendors are typically very approachable and are more than willing to spend time talking, as mentioned up the thread there are lots of people asking questions it is often worthwhile just letting someone else ask.

As far as tasting is concerned there is way too much to attempt to try and taste it all .. unless you remember that you don't have to swallow.. even then the time limit may catch you out.

I may catch flack for this but I take a bunch of small disposable plastic glasses.. you get a glencaren tasting glass when you arrive but I like to know that I'm not contaminating what I'm now tasting with what I just tasted.. I suppose I could wash my glass between tastings but that seems just a bit over the top.

Book early and try to make sure you get into the master classes.. get the early admission. If you are not local the venue is situated right down town .. lots of public transit options, and taxis everywhere..parking is stupidly expensive if you needed another reason not to try and drive.

@Andrew How fast do the Masterclasses fill up and how likely is it to attend all of them or do multiple classes run at the same time? I think I read on their FAQ that you book your Masterclasses when you buy your ticket so, say you wait a week to buy your ticket, would you still get your pick of classes or would all the good ones be gone by then?

@UisgeBeatha I would strongly recomend booking them at the time you buy your tickets and to do that pretty soon after they go on sale .. in previous years the classes were run in three sets of three classes each with one additional class run for the early admission group. The booking fees for the classes were really no more than token amounts to try and discourage people from booking classes they were not going to attend.

That being said I have attended classes that I just showed up for on the day but the event has been drawing more people every year so it probably isn't worth taking the chance.. In my experience the classes have all been good and there has been enough variety to cover most interests.

Just got the email that tickets will go on sale Monday April 2 @ 10am. Tickets can be purchased at Roy Thomson Hall's box office online, by phone or in person. Tickets are $129 taxes included. Unfortunately, not much info beyond that. But, I'm starting to get chills thinking of all the single malts I'm going to sample.

Just thought I would bump the thread as tickets went on sale this morning.. master classes are online at

www.spiritoftoronto.ca

the master class tix are $15 each this year and typically sell out the first day of ticket sales.

was not easy getting tickets this morning.... website problems coupled with a constantly busy phone line made things a bit difficult. i was finally able to get through, though. i'll be attending both the gordon & macphail and amrut masterclasses. looking forward to seeing some of you there.....

@thecyclingyogi

I'll be at both of those .. Plus "Whisky and Cheese"

Looking forward to it..

@Andrew sounds like we're bound to cross paths at some point... i'll be the blonde dude with whisky in hand and a big-ass smile on his face....

I'll be there too, thanks to @thecyclingyogi! The ticket sales were a gong show, but I'm happy to be going and hopefully putting some faces to names.

This will be my first time attending the Spirit of Toronto and I am all out stoked! Does anyone know if you can purchase bottles at the show? If so, are there "rare" finds that you normally cannot find at the LCBO? Just curious.

I was a little late ordering my ticket. I could only get into the Forty Creek masterclass. Nevertheless, it should be good times!

@StevieC - you won't be able to purchase bottles at the show - the LCBO syndicate has that in a stranglehold! I have my ticket and am looking forward to it - you will probably see me hanging out with @thecyclingyogi! I'll be attending the "Sketches of Spain" and "Canadian Whisky - For Export Only" masterclasses. I've never been before, so am looking forward to it!