Whiskey Advocate WhiskeyFest 10/16-10/27 In NY City

From Shanken:

Coming off of a sold-out showing at WhiskyFest San Francisco on October 5, Whisky Advocate is gearing up for its first-ever WhiskyFest Weekend, to be held at New York City’s Marriott Marquis Times Square on October 26 and 27. WhiskyFest New York 2012 will include Grand Tastings on Friday and Saturday evenings—with more than 250 of the world’s finest whiskies on offer—as well as a host of whisky seminars running from 9am to 3pm Saturday. VIP packages for the event are already sold out, but tickets remain for both Grand Tasting sessions as well as the seminars. Purchase them here.

WhiskyFest’s new Saturday seminar program replaces the whisky seminars held in prior years during the Grand Tastings themselves, allowing aficionados and newcomers alike to dig deeper into their favorite whiskies in the expert-led seminars while still maximizing their time on the Grand Tasting floor. Seminar topics and speakers will include:

•Opening remarks by Whisky Advocate editor and publisher John Hansell

•Whisky collecting and auctions- Whisky Advocate’s Jonny McCormick and Bonhams whisky specialist Martin Green describe the exploding auction and collecting scene. They will offer tips on collecting and participating in whisky auctions, highlighted by the whiskies offered for tasting; very rare bottlings that have starred on the auction block:

• Glenmorangie 1963 Vintage, presented by Dr. Bill Lumsden
• The Glenlivet Cellar Collection (1983 Vintage), presented by Ian Logan
• Gold Bowmore, presented by Iain McCallum
• Balvenie Islay Cask 17 year old, presented by Sam Simmons
• Brora 30 year old, presented by Nick Morgan

•Debut whisky #1, Scotch - John Glaser of Compass Box Whisky introduces Great King Street Limited Edition New York Blend with Whisky Advocate contributor David Wondrich

•Trending Scotch whisky - Whisky Advocate’s Dave Broom leads a discussion about current directions in Scotch whisky: brand premiumization, smoky blends, designer whiskies and single malt extremes. The panel is an A-list of master distillers and blenders, talking about the cutting edge whiskies that typify these trends:

• Richard Paterson – Dalmore Castle Leod
• Matthew Crow – Johnnie Walker Double Black
• Dr. Bill Lumsden – Glenmorangie Malaga Wood Finish 30 year
• Simon Coughlin – Bruichladdich Octomore 4.2

•Debut whiskey #2, Bourbon - Truman Cox, Master Distiller of A. Smith Bowman distillery, unveils a top-secret new Bourbon

•Understanding Irish: deciphering single pot still, single malt, and blended Irish whiskey - Take a tour of Ireland with Whisky Advocate’s Dominic Roskrow; learn—and taste—the differences between the whiskeys of Ireland: grain, single pot still, blended, and single malt. The tasting part will include some very special examples of each, presented by the master distillers who make them:

• Noel Sweeney from the Cooley distillery will be pouring a very special Grain whiskey – Greenore 8 year old
• Barry Crockett of Midleton distillery will pour Powers John's Lane and Jameson Rarest Vintage Reserve (Blend)
• Colum Egan of Bushmills distillery treats us to a very special Bushmills 21 year old single malt

•Lagavulin Lunch - Time to relax and enjoy a delicious lunch... and some more whiskies. After your meal, Dr. Nick Morgan of Diageo will lead us through a tasting comparison of three special Lagavulin whiskies: Lagavulin 16, Lagavulin Distillers Edition, and the very limited 2012 Lagavulin 21 year old Special Release.

•Debut whiskey #3, Irish - Barry Crockett from the Midleton distillery will present the U.S. debut of Barry Crockett Legacy

•Bourbon and rye innovations – Whisky Advocate’s Lew Bryson will lead a discussion of the recent profusion of innovations in Bourbon and rye. Joining him will be three legendary master distillers and one young pioneer, pouring some very special new releases:

• Harlen Wheatley - Buffalo Trace Single Oak Project, comparing two Single Oak bottlings
• Craig Beam – Parker's Heritage Collection new 2012 release
• Chris Morris - Woodford Reserve Master's Collection new 2012 release
• David Perkins – High West "Campfire" (a blend of Bourbon, rye and Scotch!)

•A tasting of select Whisky Advocate award-winning whiskies - Moderated by John Hansell, but includes the entire Whisky Advocate review team of Lew Bryson, Dave Broom, Gavin Smith, and Dominic Roskrow. Taste a representative sampling of the 18th Annual Whisky Advocate Awards winners published in the spring issue of Whisky Advocate magazine. The chosen pours, along with the Whisky Advocate contributors who will be presenting their rationale for the choices:

• Lew Bryson: Canadian Whisky of the Year - Wiser's 18 year old
• Dominic Roskrow: Blended/Blended Malt Whisky of the Year - Compass Box Great King Street
• Dave Broom: Islay Single Malt of the Year - Bruichladdich 10 year old
• Gavin Smith: Lowland/Campbeltown Single Malt of the Year - Springbank 18 year old (2nd edition)
• Dominic Roskrow: Irish Whiskey of the Year - Redbreast 12 year old Cask Strength
• John Hansell: American Whiskey of the Year - Elijah Craig 20 year old

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