Three-Day-Whisky-Festival in Berlin: Finest Whisky Dx
Last
weekend the second edition of the Finest Whisky Dx Festival took place in
Berlin. The three-day whisky event was one of the highlights in my whisky year.
And one of the best-kept secrets of the capital.
When people talk about the important whisky centers in Germany, Berlin is not necessarily the first thing which comes to their mind. Frankfurt probably. Limburg. Munich. The Pott. But Berlin is getting ready for take-off. With four whisky fairs this year, Berlin is clamoring for the timpani.
The Finest Whisky Dx is undoubtedly the absolute cream pie among the fair cakes. For three days I was floating happily between legendary bottlings, unparalleled tastings, and exciting new discoveries, feeling like Alice in Wonderland.
And there was a lot to admire: whiskys from the 1950s, 60s or 80s were just as much to try as a Highland Park 28 by Cadenhead, a Brora 20 or an ancient Strathisla. Even a 50 year old Karuizawa was there. Best of all: the prices were surprisingly moderate.
What surprised me most, however, is the hesitant response that the fair has experienced in the second year of its existence. The reasons for this may be manifold, but they can be neither the supply nor the price-performance ratio. Because both are absolutely superb.
Accordingly, the fair was a veritable insider meeting. Those who came knew exactly what to expect. And none of them got disappointed. Those who didn't come, missed out a lot.
I always wander through the whisky world with my eyes wide open. And in Berlin, my eyes did see a lot. So let's take a closer look at the amazing things that are happening in Berlin, and let's sneak a peek behind the scenes:
Program:
On Thursday, the big event started with the "Finest Whisky Night", which really put me in a party mood. In addition to plenty of whisky, there were also delicious cocktails, gin and cool music, and at the exquisite stand of Diageo most standards were served free of charge that night.
I thought that was nice and took advantage of this opportunity to drink my way through the range. The Singleton of Dufftown 18 and I will definitely not become friends, but the new Mortlach 20 (4 Euro per Dram) was very enjoyable.
There was also a chance to try a variety of Diageo’s Special Releases, and the dram prices were surprisingly low and affordable. If you were after one of the closed distilleries, you had to dig a little deeper into your pockets, but where else do you have the opportunity to try an old Pittyvaich, Brora or Port Ellen?
There is no good party without good music: Wiljalba, great-great-great-grandson of a famous magician and son of GDR music star Monika Herz, enchanted the audience musically with his band during the evening.
By the way, Wiljalba, whose real name is David Frikell, is also a big whiskey fan, and many of you know him as the second half of the blogger duo "Whisky-and-Vinyl" from Berlin.
After this merry and relaxed prelude, the next day started with the actual fair, and now the other exhibitors were also there. The supply of old whiskies and old bottlings was impressive, and many dram prices were quite affordable.
I'm not a rich person, but there was no reason to despair: there were plenty of beautiful, old and rare whiskies available within the range of 2 to 8 euros.
Like last year, the Eggert brothers offered their unusual menu for culinary delights, and I feasted through juicy and savoury salmon and beef on both days and finished my 3-course-menue at the booth of KiezEis with a delicious Talisker ice cream. I was delighted, but the guys from Sweden thought the portions were a bit too small. Well, that's men,....
And of course there were also fantastic tastings during the fair, with fantastic whiskies such as a Balvenie TUN 1401 or a Balvenie from 1963, a Talisker from 1947, a Glen Albyn from 1976 or even a Glenury Royal from 1984.
Fair Bottling
The highlight on Sunday was the raffle of this year's trade fair bottling, which was a single bottling of a 40 year old Speysider. To make the bottling really special,: each of the 193 bottles adorns its own label drawn by the British artist Ronnie Cruwys.
And if you wanted to be particularly chic, you could have your own label created by Ronnie on request, because the artist was actually there in person.
Sneak Peek behind the scenes:
As much as the sheer amount of old and rare bottlings amazed me, however, the real amazement were the people who stood behind the stands. The upper crust of the noble drops were gathered at the fair. Let's finally turn our attention to the nitty-gritty of this event: the exhibitors and the people behind the stalls.
From France, Madelaine Leon had come. She is La Maison du Whisky's specialist for old and rare bottlings and one of the world's most renowned experts in this field. From Taiwan Eric Huang had arrived, who owns the very last barrels of Karuizawa and introduced the new range of his label "Spirit Shop' Selection" and from Tokyo the people of Shinanoya had made their way to Berlin to offer old bottlings and to present their own new range of exclusives.
From Belgium, Geert Bero had come, who owns one of the most complete Ardbeg collections in the world. Whisky collector Magnus Fagerström had come from Sweden and the Scottish SMWS was also present with a stand.
In addition, the German bottlers Sansibar, Jack Wiebers and Finest Whisky were present, Kirsch Whisky presented glamorous drops from the old warehouses of Gordon & MacPhail.
From Berlin the Whisky Kanzler impressed with his incomparable Laphroaig collection and Klaus Pinkernell offered besides rare bottlings also the new bottlings from Claxton. Birgit Bornemeier from Reisekultouren and Nils Greese from Whiskybarrel complemented the range of exhibitors with their offer on trips to Scotland or original Scottish barrels. Catawiki was also present with a stand.
The really special thing about the Finest Whisky Dx for me was not so much the old bottlings, although they were presented at an incredible density. The real special thing was the concentration of people who, as independent bottlers, nowadays have the best contacts into the Scottish whisky world and are still able to bring fantastic old whiskies into the bottle, despite rising prices.
As much as I admire the old bottlings of the past decades, they are not the end of the whisky world. In the coming years, many new bottlings of old whiskies that have a great quality will reach the markets. And Berlin will be one of the world's few hubs where many threads come together. And that's the really exciting thing.
My conclusion:
Prices for old whisky have gone up substantially in recent years. There is nothing that Berlin can do about that. The Scots have become more efficient in dealing with their old barrels and no longer open their best warehouses to everyone. Good relationships have become more important today than ever. And Berlin has the right strings in its hands.
All the more I was pleased that I was able to discover many old bottlings here in a very relaxed atmosphere and in the end, despite all the exclusivity, I did not spend more than on a long night's hearty pub tour.
The fair also clearly showed me a trend that has been going on for quite some time: the centers of the Scottish whisky world have slipped further east. Worldwide, but also within Germany. Welcome Taipei. Welcome Tokyo. Welcome Berlin.
Finally, here are a few photo impressions of the Finest Whisky Dx.
When people talk about the important whisky centers in Germany, Berlin is not necessarily the first thing which comes to their mind. Frankfurt probably. Limburg. Munich. The Pott. But Berlin is getting ready for take-off. With four whisky fairs this year, Berlin is clamoring for the timpani.
The Finest Whisky Dx is undoubtedly the absolute cream pie among the fair cakes. For three days I was floating happily between legendary bottlings, unparalleled tastings, and exciting new discoveries, feeling like Alice in Wonderland.
And there was a lot to admire: whiskys from the 1950s, 60s or 80s were just as much to try as a Highland Park 28 by Cadenhead, a Brora 20 or an ancient Strathisla. Even a 50 year old Karuizawa was there. Best of all: the prices were surprisingly moderate.
What surprised me most, however, is the hesitant response that the fair has experienced in the second year of its existence. The reasons for this may be manifold, but they can be neither the supply nor the price-performance ratio. Because both are absolutely superb.
Accordingly, the fair was a veritable insider meeting. Those who came knew exactly what to expect. And none of them got disappointed. Those who didn't come, missed out a lot.
I always wander through the whisky world with my eyes wide open. And in Berlin, my eyes did see a lot. So let's take a closer look at the amazing things that are happening in Berlin, and let's sneak a peek behind the scenes:
Program:
On Thursday, the big event started with the "Finest Whisky Night", which really put me in a party mood. In addition to plenty of whisky, there were also delicious cocktails, gin and cool music, and at the exquisite stand of Diageo most standards were served free of charge that night.
I thought that was nice and took advantage of this opportunity to drink my way through the range. The Singleton of Dufftown 18 and I will definitely not become friends, but the new Mortlach 20 (4 Euro per Dram) was very enjoyable.
There was also a chance to try a variety of Diageo’s Special Releases, and the dram prices were surprisingly low and affordable. If you were after one of the closed distilleries, you had to dig a little deeper into your pockets, but where else do you have the opportunity to try an old Pittyvaich, Brora or Port Ellen?
There is no good party without good music: Wiljalba, great-great-great-grandson of a famous magician and son of GDR music star Monika Herz, enchanted the audience musically with his band during the evening.
By the way, Wiljalba, whose real name is David Frikell, is also a big whiskey fan, and many of you know him as the second half of the blogger duo "Whisky-and-Vinyl" from Berlin.
After this merry and relaxed prelude, the next day started with the actual fair, and now the other exhibitors were also there. The supply of old whiskies and old bottlings was impressive, and many dram prices were quite affordable.
I'm not a rich person, but there was no reason to despair: there were plenty of beautiful, old and rare whiskies available within the range of 2 to 8 euros.
Like last year, the Eggert brothers offered their unusual menu for culinary delights, and I feasted through juicy and savoury salmon and beef on both days and finished my 3-course-menue at the booth of KiezEis with a delicious Talisker ice cream. I was delighted, but the guys from Sweden thought the portions were a bit too small. Well, that's men,....
And of course there were also fantastic tastings during the fair, with fantastic whiskies such as a Balvenie TUN 1401 or a Balvenie from 1963, a Talisker from 1947, a Glen Albyn from 1976 or even a Glenury Royal from 1984.
Fair Bottling
The highlight on Sunday was the raffle of this year's trade fair bottling, which was a single bottling of a 40 year old Speysider. To make the bottling really special,: each of the 193 bottles adorns its own label drawn by the British artist Ronnie Cruwys.
And if you wanted to be particularly chic, you could have your own label created by Ronnie on request, because the artist was actually there in person.
Sneak Peek behind the scenes:
As much as the sheer amount of old and rare bottlings amazed me, however, the real amazement were the people who stood behind the stands. The upper crust of the noble drops were gathered at the fair. Let's finally turn our attention to the nitty-gritty of this event: the exhibitors and the people behind the stalls.
From France, Madelaine Leon had come. She is La Maison du Whisky's specialist for old and rare bottlings and one of the world's most renowned experts in this field. From Taiwan Eric Huang had arrived, who owns the very last barrels of Karuizawa and introduced the new range of his label "Spirit Shop' Selection" and from Tokyo the people of Shinanoya had made their way to Berlin to offer old bottlings and to present their own new range of exclusives.
From Belgium, Geert Bero had come, who owns one of the most complete Ardbeg collections in the world. Whisky collector Magnus Fagerström had come from Sweden and the Scottish SMWS was also present with a stand.
In addition, the German bottlers Sansibar, Jack Wiebers and Finest Whisky were present, Kirsch Whisky presented glamorous drops from the old warehouses of Gordon & MacPhail.
From Berlin the Whisky Kanzler impressed with his incomparable Laphroaig collection and Klaus Pinkernell offered besides rare bottlings also the new bottlings from Claxton. Birgit Bornemeier from Reisekultouren and Nils Greese from Whiskybarrel complemented the range of exhibitors with their offer on trips to Scotland or original Scottish barrels. Catawiki was also present with a stand.
The really special thing about the Finest Whisky Dx for me was not so much the old bottlings, although they were presented at an incredible density. The real special thing was the concentration of people who, as independent bottlers, nowadays have the best contacts into the Scottish whisky world and are still able to bring fantastic old whiskies into the bottle, despite rising prices.
As much as I admire the old bottlings of the past decades, they are not the end of the whisky world. In the coming years, many new bottlings of old whiskies that have a great quality will reach the markets. And Berlin will be one of the world's few hubs where many threads come together. And that's the really exciting thing.
My conclusion:
Prices for old whisky have gone up substantially in recent years. There is nothing that Berlin can do about that. The Scots have become more efficient in dealing with their old barrels and no longer open their best warehouses to everyone. Good relationships have become more important today than ever. And Berlin has the right strings in its hands.
All the more I was pleased that I was able to discover many old bottlings here in a very relaxed atmosphere and in the end, despite all the exclusivity, I did not spend more than on a long night's hearty pub tour.
The fair also clearly showed me a trend that has been going on for quite some time: the centers of the Scottish whisky world have slipped further east. Worldwide, but also within Germany. Welcome Taipei. Welcome Tokyo. Welcome Berlin.
Finally, here are a few photo impressions of the Finest Whisky Dx.
Kommentare
Kommentar veröffentlichen