Happy World Whisky Day! For this wonderful day, here’s something a bit different than our usual material.
Whisky Live, the British Whisky Magazine’s International Whisky exhibition, landed here in Tel Aviv for the fifth year, and being an avid whisky nerd (currently back home in Israel for a short while), I couldn’t resist stopping by. The exhibition was here on Wednesday and Thursday (May 15-16), as part of the Eurovision 2019 celebration, and so on Thursday afternoon my dad and I (the only drinkers in the house) took the car and made the way to central Tel Aviv to enjoy the show.
Admittedly, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was the first time I’d ever heard of the show (how could I not know it? Especially as I was still living in London in March when it was there?), and I had absolutely no idea it was an international thing, sponsored by the British Whisky Magazine. Over the past couple of years I’ve become a bit of a scotch snob (Highland/Speyside Scotch are my preferred types, though I have the occasional other-area favourites), so it tends to be difficult to grab my attention if you’re a non-Scotch whisky. Whisky is a Scottish thing, after all, so when it comes to whisky, Scotland knows best.
But back to Whisky Live. I wasn’t sure what to expect – other than good whisky, hopefully – and maybe it’s for the best, because that meant I was pleasantly surprised as we walked outside to the rooftop of Azrieli Mall. It needs to be said – I despise Tel Aviv (and am quite possibly the only young person in the country who does), but that nightmare of a city was worth going into for this exhibition.
We collected our tickets (a bit of an overstatement, but never mind), which included four drinks per person and a gift cup, and then took the time to walk around and see which brands are present. To me, the first half hour was about categorising the different brands by their origins – the five areas of Scotland (the Lowlands, the Highlands, Speyside, Campbeltown and Islay; my Scotch Whisky Experience visit two years ago left a lasting impression), Scottish Islands brands (listed separately because as said, I still think according to what I’ve been taught in the Scotch Whisky Experience), American whiskys, and curiously, our very own Israeli whisky, which we hadn’t a clue even existed. Unsurprisingly, most of the whisky was Scotch, and particularly Highlands and Speyside Scotch, although American whisky certainly had a presence as well. Once I finished categorising the whisky, we made a more-or-less informed decision which ones to try (sadly we didn’t have enough drink coupons to try them all, though I’d have loved to).
Starting with the Islands – which I think was also the first thing we tried – there were two options to choose from in the exhibition: Jura and Talisker. Since Talisker offered a taste of each of the four types they brought – 10 Year Old, Talisker Storm, Distillery Edition (distilled in 2003 and bottled in 2014) and 18 Year Old – for two drink coupons, we tried their scotch (four shots for the price of two? Who wouldn’t take it?). The Talisker stand also offered a “complete” experience – along with the whisky we’ve been given raw fish made by their chef. I don’t eat raw fish so I can’t tell how it was, but it seemed like a cool concept worth mentioning. As we drank each type we were told a bit about it, as well as about the brand in general (I would never have thought to put scotch in the sea while it’s maturing), and while the sea-salty taste isn’t quite my type. Still, it was cool to try, and it was interesting to see the difference between the different types. It would’ve been brilliant if more of the stands offered a “tasting” option; it really lets you experience the brand to the fullest.
Despite their very particular and different taste (not really my cup of tea for the most part, but I know some people love them), there was only one brand representing Islay – Ardbeg. We tried their 10 Year Old (there were also An Oa, Corryvreckan and Uigeadail, but knowing I’m not a fan of Islay Scotch and my dad hasn’t the faintest idea what to expect, I decided to go for the basics). It’s a good scotch, and you can certainly feel the smokiness that’s the trademark of Islay scotch. It makes for an interesting aftertaste – a guy we met at the stand (as I was explaining about Islay whisky, much to the amusement of the employee) stated he loves it because that aftertaste makes it “not boring”. As said, I’m not a fan of the smoky taste, but each to their own, right?
Campbeltown was also fairly underrepresented; Glen Scotia was the only Campbeltown scotch I saw. They brought their 18 Year Old, 25 Year Old and the Victoriana to the exhibition, and after a bit of questioning as to what we drink, we’ve been given a glass of the Victoriana, which I immediately added to my favourites list (yes, I have a scotch list). With its sweeter, more fruity taste it was exactly my type of scotch, and an excellent way to start exploring a new area.
Auchentoshan was there as the only representative of the Lowland scotch, again with several different types of single malts – the American Oak, the Three Wood and the 12 Year Old, which is the one we tried. I liked the taste, but it didn’t feel as sharp as other types of Scotch we’ve tried. Maybe it’s because I’m generally a strong-Scotch drinker, or because we’ve tried stronger types beforehand. It seems like a good introduction to the world of Scotch, though.
As said, the Speyside and Highland scotches very much dominated the exhibition. From the Highland area we had Loch Lomond (a beautiful are and a really good scotch), Glenmorangie (one of my personal favourites), Balblair, AnCnoc and Old Pulteney. From the Speyside area we had Glenfiddich (a very familiar brand; they brought numbers 1, 2 and 4 of their Experimental Series), Tamdhu, The Macallan, Glenlivet (also a familiar brand), and Speyburn. Since Balblair, AnCnoc, Speyburn and Old Pulteney shared a stand, we let the employee there choose a scotch for us to try, and based on my love for strong Highland scotch, he brought us the 24 Year Old anCnoc Single Malt. Needless to say, I loved it. It was actually the first time I’ve tried something that old (I usually stick to the 10-12-maybe 16 year olds, strictly due to financial reasons), and you could really feel the difference. Strong, good Highland scotch. Exactly the perfect way to finish the exhibition as far as I was concerned.
The biggest surprise of the exhibition was the Israeli whisky. Up until Thursday, I had no idea Israel had its own whisky, let alone that we have two distilleries. The Milk & Honey Distillery had one stand (with some cool barrels and other props they brought), while Golani Distillery had another, smaller one. We ended up trying Golani (where we left two coupons) and were surprised to find that it’s actually good whisky. I mentioned before that I’d become somewhat of a scotch snob, so this much coming from me really says a lot. The distillery is still relatively new, but thanks to the fairly extreme weather conditions here, the whisky matures much faster; even six months make a massive difference (seeing that I know my whisky, I’d been given a taste of the 3.5 Year Old after we tried the 3 Year Old). They also make a fascinating whisky mixed with honey, which is more of a liquor but is delicious regardless – Golani Honey. Finding we have our own whisky was a surprise; finding it was a good one was a very pleasant surprise indeed.
American whisky companies Jack Daniel’s, Compass Box, Bulleit Bourbon, and Michter’s also had their own stands. On top of that, blended scotches Hazelwood and Hankey Bannister made appearances; the latter joined by the Scottish gin Caorunn at the Balblair-AnCnoc-Speyburn-Old Pulteney stand.
On other fronts, Harley-Davidson had their own bike exhibit (not sure how it’s connected to whisky but sure); a cigar stand was present; there were food stands (with excellent, although a tad expensive food); and there were a couple of cocktail stands. Despite the exhibition seeming a bit small when we first walked around, it certainly had quite a bit, and we spent an enjoyable two hours there, learning and tasting. It would’ve been cool to see more international brands, perhaps, but as a scotch drinker, I wasn’t at all disappointed or annoyed by the amount of Scottish brands present.
After all, it really doesn’t get much better than good old Scotch whisky, right?
Overall Impression: An enjoyable time. Would’ve been better to do it indoors or in cooler weather, and it would’ve been nice to see more types of whisky, but I’d definitely love to come back based on these two hours we had there.
