What Caught Our Attention at Whisky Live Manila and Bar Show 2019

You’d think that after four years, Whisky Live would be predictable, but Grand Cru Wines and Spirits surprised and delighted even the most seasoned whisky festival-goer. The 4th Whisky Live was a resounding success, attracting over 3,200 whisky enthusiasts for the two-day festival. Lovers of whisky and other spirits came in droves to sample over 180 different types of whisky from the biggest brands all over the world at the Grand Ballroom of the Grand Hyatt Manila in BGC.

What went down on the first day of the festival 

There was so much going on: bar shifts, a cocktail competition, masterclasses, main stage events, raffles, interactive booths, and so much more. Here’s what caught our attention at the two-day event: 

1) MOST EXPENSIVE BOTTLE FOR SALE AND POST WHISKY LIVE SALE

Singlemalt.ph‘s booth offered the most expensive and rare whiskies at the festival. The Macallan Masters of Photography: Magnum Edition topping the list at a whopping Php 450,000. A bottle of the closed distillery, Port Ellen 34 YO (13th Edition, 1978), was for sale at Php332,589. They had a bottle of The Balvenie Vintage1970 Singe Cask available at Php329,009. On the second day, hard to find Japanese whiskies were on display for interested buyers—Nikka Yoichi Php65,000, Yamazaki 18 limited edition Php55,000, Hakushu 18 limited edition Php55,000, and Hibiki 21 Php55,000. 

The booth also had a roulette that guests can spin once you registered. It had several prizes, including various discounts for their online store. Their website currently has a Post Whisky Live Sale until October 25, whisky lovers can get up to 40% off on bundles bottles–save Php2,250 off with three bottles of Glencadam 10 Year Old for only Php4,500, Koval Four Grain Bundle of three for only Php5,700, Kavalan Singlemalt + Kavalan Distillery Select + Kavalan Concert Master for only Php10,697, and save Php6,200 with three bottles of Kavalan Solist Ex Bourbon for only Php18,600.00. 

Click on this link to start shopping today!

2) NEW BRANDS ON THE WHISKY LIVE BLOCK

Buffalo Trace and Sazerac Rye Whiskey (bottles from the world’s most awarded distillery), who recently just launched in the Philippines, joined this year’s festival. Rye lovers got the first sip of the rye whiskeys from the maker’s of 2019 world’s best rye whiskey from Baltimore, the Sagamore Spirit (owned by sports lifestyle Under Armour’s Kevin Plank), which has not officially launched in the Philippines yet. People who wanted to order the rye whiskeys were able to get the bottles at a discounted price only for the festival. 

On the independent bottling side, That Boutique-y Whisky Company exhibited for the first time in Manila and offered limited edition bottles for tasting. Speyside Single Malt, Tamnavulin, exhibited for the first time in Whisky Live Manila, the only participant this year from Whyte and Mackay family.

Another Speyside, Glen Moray from Elgin, (from Laich of Moray, known as the ‘granary of Scotland’), also had their booth. 

3) RARE, NEW, AND SPECIAL WHISKY BOTTLES FOR TASTING

One of the exciting things about Whisky Live is getting to taste special and rare bottles. Tomintoul and Glencadam’s global brand ambassador Iain Forteath started opening rare bottles on the first night with a bottle of Glencadam 25 YO (priced at over Php 25,000, a limited release of only 1,600 bottles) and Tomintoul 36 YO 1977 (priced at over Php30,000, a limited run of 312 beautiful bottles). On the second night, Iain opened a bottle of Glencadam 35 YO 1979 (Only 135 bottles were produced, price ranges from Php30,000 to Php50,000 or higher depending on the seller). 

Apotheke Craft Spirit’s booth was a treasure trove of new and limited edition bottles. Under their umbrella, they showcased Michter’s Distillery’s Limited Toasted Barrel Finish (which will be available in the Philippines next year), and the two new bottles from the distillery released in honor to their founder, John Shenk—Shenk’s Homestead Kentucky Sour Mash Whiskey 2019 and Bomberger’s Declaration Bourbon 2019 Release. 

Apotheke also had Atom Brands’ That Boutique-y Whisky Company, an independent bottler that offers limited-run whiskies from world-renowned brands and distilleries. Atom Brand’s regional sales executive (Taiwan & South East Asia) Kevin Clark served over 15 bottles per day whilst giving the attendees interesting and quirky insights per bottling. We enjoyed the 4th batch of single grain Scotch whisky from Glasgow-based distillery, Strathclyde 31 YO, the 27 year old single grain from the closed Cambus Distillery Batch 10 (release of 999 bottles), New York Distilling Company 2 Year Old rye whisky, and peaty whiskies, Port Charlotte 13 Year Old Batch 4, Octomore 6 Year Old Batch 1, and Atom Brand’s Aerolite Lyndsay 10 YO Islay whisky (which sold out during the first day), and Darkness 8 YO sherry cask finish. They also brought in their popular advent calendars— 2019 Edition with 24 x 30ml wax-sealed drams, That Boutique-y Whisky Company’s 12 Days of Whisky, and Chinese New Year calendars. 

Highland Park gave Whisky Live Manila guests a first sip of the Highland Park Valfather, the final bottling from the Viking Legend series, and the most peated single malt scotch whisky that the distillery released to date. Dewar’s booth opened Dewar’s 25 YO Signature, a bottling made with malt and grain whiskies matured for at least 25 years, finished in Royal Brackla casks. The Singleton also offered pours of their exceptional 21 YO expression from The Singleton Dufftown that is rich, creamy with a deliciously long finish. 

Most of the festival masterclasses opened special bottles that are not available on the festival grounds, which included a special tasting of Kavalan Single Cask exclusive bottling for Whisky Live Manila 2019. The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (the world’s leading whisky club, offering an extensive selection of single cask, single malt whisky) had a private member’s only tasting with SMWS brand ambassador and Keeper of the Quaich, Kevin Tam. The special member’s only tasting was fully booked for the 2-day event and was attended by over 32 members out of the current 80 members in the Philippine market. Kevin presented six limited-edition bottles, and we enjoyed the fruity Speyside, Cask No. 7.205 The Triffle Tower (1 of 172 bottles), and peated Caol Ila 2006 French Flair Cask No. 53.254 (1 of 270 bottles).  

4) BRAND, BARS, AND BARTENDERS

The festival included a Bar Show, where cocktail enthusiasts can mingle with local bar industry giants. The addition of the Bar Show breathed dynamic energy to the festival and gave guests different choices in experiencing and tasting the featured spirits. Most brands teamed up with bars and bartenders to show off their spirits used in cocktails. The collaboration allows the brands and bartenders to shine, while also giving guests a reprieve from taking the spirits neat. Plus, considering how packed the venue became, the cocktails were refreshing to drink as options. 

5) BEST COCKTAILS

With most of the booths offering cocktails, one could spend the whole night just trying each one. Out of the many, our top picks are:

6) MASTERCLASSES & BRAND AMBASSADORS

One great thing about Whisky Live is that it gives guests a chance to learn from industry experts, including whisky connoisseurs and The Keepers of the Quaich (recognized personalities that have shown outstanding commitment to the Scotch Whisky industry).  

People were able to attend masterclasses to get a deeper understanding of a particular brand and taste drams of spirits that they only offer for tasting exclusively to the class attendees. If people didn’t sign up for the classes, they were able to chat up brand ambassadors in each booth.  

A couple of booths even had their mini-classes, with Chivas Regal offering a seated Blend Your Own Chivas quick course guided by Chivas PH Brand Ambassador Bonnar Fulton, and Remy Martin mini-masterclass with their PH brand advocate Kevin Charuel. Both brands gave festival-goers a deeper understanding of their bottlings as compared to just handing out drams of spirits. 

7) WHISKY LIVE MENTORSHIP PROGRAM AND COCKTAIL COMPETITION

Ten teams comprised of a mentor bartender and mentee student from one of the five participating schools duked it out on the first day of the festival. The top three teams moved forward to the finals the next day. They were only given the theme (sustainability) after they were announced and had half a day to come up with a winning cocktail.

Third place went to Ian James Osillo from Mandalay and Bella Naguiat from College of St. Benilde for their drink The Magic Carpet Ride (Chivas Regal 12, red wine, homemade limoncello, and maraschino amaro blend). Their cocktail is a take on the classic sangria, and they used wine from the day before as their slant on the sustainability theme.

Vannesa Rabadon of Nokal and her mentee Rose Amor de Guzman from Enderun Colleges placed second, with their tribute to farmers, Corn Rose (Buffalo Trace Bourbon, burnt coconut husk infused corn syrup, Averna, ipinakurat vinegar, and Angostura bitters, garnished with coconut cream and concentrated corn stock foam, toasted desiccated coconut and dehydrated coconut fruit sprinkled with sugar, and served with corn and coconut clusters bound by marshmallows and salted with Pangasinan salt). ‘We wanted to use a lot of local ingredients,” Vanessa shares. “Since Buffalo Trace is made out of 51% corn, we used it as our main ingredient and added coconut to complement the flavors and aromas. We were able to recycle or reuse all of the ingredients, so it was a zero-waste cocktail,” she continues. “We dedicate this cocktail drink to our hardworking farmers.”

The winning team of this year’s cocktail competition went to Shinichi Itoh of OTO and Ophelie Bueno Lopez from Enderun Colleges, for their cocktail named Parisian Breakfast (Buffalo Trace Bourbon, cold brew coffee, brown butter fat-washed dry vermouth, cascara tea syrup, and used coffee grounds tincture, garnished with crepes with cascara marmalade on top). Their winning cocktail incorporated the theme of sustainability with the five senses: a cold towel with floral scent for touch, bistro cafe Parisian music for the sound, the aroma from the crepe and marmalade for scent, the look of the cocktail for sight, and the cocktail itself for taste.

“Our inspiration came from breakfast in Paris because Ophelie was born and raised in France,” Shinichi shares. “Mostly, they have coffee and crepes for breakfast, so we used cold brew and used coffee grounds as a tincture for our cocktail. The sustainability approach, apart from the used coffee grounds, we used cascara (coffee skin) into a syrup, extracted the flavors, and used it again as the marmalade garnish. We used the butter from fat-washing to cook the crepes. We wanted to make sure nothing is wasted.”

On mentoring Ophelie, Shinichi shares, “Having chemistry between you and your mentee is the best way, because you are working as one in a competition. Allowing your mentee to have ideas, making sure they know everything about the drink, and guiding them on the proper execution is good for them. Being a mentor for Ophelie was an amazing experience. She is amazing. She has so many ideas about what she wants to make and knows what she is drinking. She has a big personality. That’s why we blend together!” 

8) OTHER SPIRITS

Apart from the drams of liquid gold, guests were also able to partake in different kinds of spirits and liqueurs. Gin is still in, with Apotheke Craft Spirits bringing in their brands like Chase, Gin Sul, Four Pillars, and Martin Miller’s and That Boutique-y Gin Company had over ten bottles on the tasting including their Moonshot Gin that uses botanicals that have been sent to space including a moon rock from a lunar meteorite! We also saw some new and exciting bitter liqueurs Doragrossa Torino, from Piedmont, Italy. 

Japanese Gin Roku, Hendrick’s Gin, and craft gin The Botanist also catered to those thirsting for some gin. Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin, an oriental-inspired spirit from The Shed Distillery was also present for tasting during the festival. The Booze Online has craft bottles available for sale during the event like their Etsu Gin and Ramsbury Gin among others. 

A couple of our current favorites, Chase Vodka and Japanese Haku Vodka were also available. 

Apotheke also offered the Plantation Single Cask rums limited releases of double-aged Haute Couture rums. Each of the bottle identifies rum-producing country by the specific traditions and production techniques of its terroir such as Trinidad, Barbados, Panama, among others. 

Famed cognac brands Remy Martin and Camus held their own against the whiskies. Tequila and mezcal featured prominently this year, with Apotheke bringing in their tequila and mezcal line. Jose Cuervo’s tequila line had their booth that featured cocktails and shots.

Don Papa’s most recent release, Sevillana (limited-edition rum inspired by the oranges of Seville, Spain), was only available to a select few as only two bottles were opened for the event. Still, attendees of their masterclass with Don Papa brand ambassador Lloyd Misagal had their sips of the liquid. 

Compadre Craft Brewery offered beer on tap (include IPA and stout) to guests who wanted to ease up on the drinking or maybe do the customary Pinoy banlaw (to wash) with beer at the end of a spirit drinking session.

9) BOOTH DESIGNS, ACTIVITIES, AND SOUVENIRS

Booths featured cool designs and interactive activities to draw in the crowd. The Hendrick’s gin booth is always well-designed, it’s one of the few places you can sit in at the venue featuring a garden theme and their photo-worthy bathtub. They bagged the People’s Choice for Best Booth from the festival, a non-whisky entry.  

Monkey Shoulder’s booth is always fun, and this year featured a claw machine that had small, branded, dry bags perfect for the outdoors that everyone wanted. They also had an interactive dance game, where people busted out moves to knock the top players off the board. 

Jameson had an optical illusion picture-taking area where they had props nailed to the wall that made it seem you’re floating and even had a photographer to capture the moment.

Someone has taken the crown of Balvenie for most in-demand souvenirs this year. The Chivas booth offered a choice of personalized leather key chains and cardholders, which was so sought-after that they ran out before day two was over. 

Sagamore Spirit Rye gave away phone pop sockets, and for those in the know, or were friendly enough to ask, Michter’s and That Boutique-y Whisky Company gave away cute pins. We also raided Bacardi Brand Ambassador Mitchell Kai Lum’s stash of pins from his Cocktail Critters collection.

Sustainability was a theme throughout the event. Apart from the cocktail competition’s sustainability theme for the finals, each goodie bag included a rice straw from Kanin. Made from 70% rice and 30% tapioca, these organic straws biodegrade after 90 days, and last longer in hot and cold drinks as compared to paper straws, making them a perfect alternative to plastic straws.

10) FOOD AND RAFFLE

Tickets for this year’s festival included dinner stubs so revelers could grab some food in between rounds of booze. Guests had three options: fish and chips, chicken rice bowl, and burger and fries. There was a long line for food the first night, and they were able to manage the crowd better the next night, making the dinner experience flow more smoothly.

Every so often, guests were treated to a raffle, where entrants had to scan a QR code into their phones to be able to join. Prizes included bottles from vendors and even an overnight stay at the Grand Hyatt.

Once the crowd had had their fill, and all chips had been tallied, several brands and booths stood out among the rest. This year’s best booth award went to Hendrick’s, finally breaking Balvenie’s winning streak. Best Whisky was awarded to Glenmorangie/Ardbeg for the second year in a row. And the Best Spirit – Non-Whisky award went to Camus Cognac.

Whisky Live was exciting and is definitely one of the drinking highlights of the year. There was something for everyone to enjoy. 

“We want to expand the bar show section. We feature more local restaurants, bars, local personalities, bartenders. That’s the general direction, long term wise,” says Johnssen Li, one of the owners of Grand Cru Wines and Spirits, the company that brought Whisky Live to Manila. 

“This year, there were a lot of female visitors — a lot of younger crowds and very, very diverse crowd. The event became more about friendship, and sharing the knowledge on whisky,” he ends.  

We can’t wait to see what the next one has in store for everyone.