Tag: Whiskey

Jersey City Whiskey Festival 2025

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On February 1st, I attended the Jersey City Whiskey Festival. The event was open to the public.

The festival was one of a series of similar events that are held in the tri state area and are run by the same company. This one was held at the Harborside event space located at 210 Hudson Street, New Jersey. The venue is just steps from the Exchange Place PATH rail station which is the first stop into New Jersey from the World Trade Center rail hub. It’s along the New Jersey waterfront so you get an exceptional view of the Manhattan skyline.

They advertised over “100 styles of whiskey and spirits” with whiskies from the U.S., Canada, Ireland, Scotland, Japan and India. For the non purists, they did have vodka, rum, tequila and cordials on hand to sample.

Most of the producers bottled more than one type of whiskey with variations depending on the mash bill, aging, proof, type of barrels, etc. I’m partial to Rye whiskey and many of the producers had a Rye or high Rye whiskey to sample.

The event was open to the consumer. In the past they had two sessions, but at this time there was only one evening session which made for a crowded venue, especially at the popular whiskey producers, though the space was large enough to get away from the crowd.

Some producers I sampled:

Asbury Park Distilling Co.Yellowstone
BardstownBulleit
Uncle NearestDoc Holliday
All Points WestSyndicate
Crown RoyalLiberties
Dead RabbitFighting 69th
GlencadamUsquaebach
Buchanan’s DeluxeTomintoul
BoondocksMartingale
Veja de CaldasBronx Bull

Whisky Advocate’s New York Whisky Fest 2024

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Last November 20th, Whisky Advocate magazine held their annual New York Whisky Fest which was held at the Marriott Marquis hotel located at 1535 Broadway in Times Square, Manhattan.

It was a night of over 280 whiskies from the United States, Canada, Ireland, Scotland, Japan and India with a couple of tables of tequila thrown in for good measure.

Simply put, whisky is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Every country has its own regulations for how its whisky is labeled.

This was a huge event taking up a whole floor in the hotel. So as usual in these mega tastings, I focused my efforts. When I have a whiskey cocktail such as a Manhattan or an Old Fashioned, I prefer Rye whisky, so I prioritized sampling rye whisky at the start of the tasting.

I’m always on the lookout for a new product so I kept my eye out for any label that I wasn’t familiar with. Since the distillers had more than one than one version of their whiskey on hand to pour, even the usual mass market distillers showed something new or rare since they experimented with different alcohol levels, mash bills and with the type of barrels that the whiskies were aged in.

With a Glencairn in hand, these were some of the brands I sampled:

Heaven HillJacob’s Pardon
WestlandBalcones
AmadorMiddlewest
Bookers Minden Mill
Little RestSagamore
Basil HaydenJefferson’s
Jim BeamKnob Creek
RedemptionOld Grand Dad
BulletRabbit Hole
PraedictumRedbreast
BuskerDrumshanbo

The WOW Tasting Experience

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On August 10th, I attended the WOW (Wonders of Whisky) tasting experience.

It was a curated, “journey around the world through spirits” tasting of over 100 whiskies and spirits.

The event was held at The Bordone event space located in an industrial section of Long Island City, New York at 43-10 9th Street. The building was a couple of blocks from the east river and the event was held on the rooftop terrace of the building which gave us a magnificent view of the Queensborough bridge and the Manhattan skyline, even more so when the sun went down, and the lights of the city turned on.

There were mostly brown spirits being poured but gin, rum and tequila were available to sample as well.

With the brown spirits, there was a strong presence of single malt Scotch on hand but there were still plenty of Bourbon and Rye as well as Irish whiskey, Japanese whisky, Cognac and brown rum to sample.

Scotch is not usually my go to spirit but if you’re pouring a Johhny Walker Blue Label or some other nicely aged single malt, I’ll give it a try. But I do like a nice cognac, so I was happy that they poured Hennessy XO to sample.

They had two sets of live music with all women musicians performing on string instruments.

Some of what I sampled:


Wyoming Whiskey Bourbon

Brother’s Bond Rye/Bourbon
Woodinville Rye/Bourbon, 8yrWhistlepig 10yr Rye, 12yr Rye
Hakata Japanese 10yrKeeper’s Hand Irish/Am Whiskey
Glenmorangie 18yrJohhny Walker Green, 18yr
Rum Clement VSOPBarcelo Rum Anejo, Imperial

Jersey City Whiskey Fest 2024

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On January 20th, I attended my first event of 2024, the Jersey City Whiskey Festival.

Similar events including wine and beer are run by the same company and are held around the New York area in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Long Island with many of the same vendors and food stalls. These are consumer-oriented events that a wine/spirit geek might find not as intensive as they would like but they’re guaranteed to have a lively crowd. They held a day and evening session, and I attended the afternoon session.

The event was held at the Harborside Atrium, an event space just steps off the Exchange Place Path railway station in Jersey City. It’s on the waterfront and as a nice bonus, you get a killer view of the lower Manhattan skyline.

The event space itself was big and airy which made it feel less crowded than it was. Usually at these things, I concentrate on the brown spirits followed by rum, with an occasional stab at tequila/mezcal.

Surprisingly, I began the tasting with a shot of pickle juice infused vodka from the Original Pickle Shot brand which wasn’t half bad. American whiskey was well represented with Balcones, Penelope, Yellowstone and Uncle Nearest.

I had some interesting single malt Irish Whisky from Waterford which also poured their Agricole style rum from their Grenada distilled Renegade brand. Natterjack and Dead Rabbit were additional Irish Whisky being poured.

The most interesting bottle had the be the guitar shaped bottle of mango infused tequila from Rock n Roll.

I attended a seminar hosted by Old Line whiskey company based out of Baltimore. They poured their Double Oak Series, Flagship 95°, Navy Strength 114°, American Single Malt and a 7-year Caribbean rum.

Brooklyn Whiskey Fest 2023

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On October 7th, I attended the Brooklyn Whiskey Festival which was held in the Brooklyn Navy Yard at 141 Flushing Avenue, Brooklyn.

It was a consumer event with an afternoon and an evening session, I attended the evening session.

It was mostly Whiskey from the United States but there were a few from Ireland and India as well as some vodka, gin and tequila.

As far as whiskey events go, this event wasn’t very comprehensive in the selection that was available. Many of the well-known whiskey producers that usually go to these events were not on hand, I’m not sure if they were around during the afternoon session or just didn’t attend.

I had some nice whiskey from Yellowstone, Remus, Boondocks and Hudson Whiskey. Barrel Smith poured a trio of premixed cocktails, Manhattan, Boulevardier and Negroni. Mendel poured a vodka made from garden peas.

Indie Spirits Expo New York 2023

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The Independent Spirits Expo was held in New York City on June 12th and was held at the Penn Club, an old school Ivy League club located at 30 West 44th Street in midtown Manhattan.

It was a gathering of “small, independent, family-owned hand-crafted spirits and the distillers, importers, bottlers, distributors and representatives” for a walk around tasting of the products that they were selling.

For the most part they were small, off the radar producers, with a couple of familiar names thrown in but for the most part small, not widely distributed producers. There was a good selection of white and brown spirits, cordials and a nice selection of artisanal Amaros.

A couple of interesting outliers that were poured included Trä-KáL, a clear spirit from Patagonia and Myris, a nutmeg liquor (better than it sounds) from Zanzibar.

I decided to focus my time on brown spirits and sampled some very nice French brandies, American whiskies and dark rums.

Amaros, Bitters and Vermouths from Fred Jerbis, Chiot, Cocchi and Cappelletti.

Cognac, Armagnac and Calvados from Cloque Pepin, Dartigalongue and Chateau di Kontambere.

Whiskey from Koval, Garrison Brothers, Few and Dad’s Hat.

Dark Rum from Chairman’s Reserve and Holme’s Cay.

Irish Whiskey Fest NYC 2023

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On March 11th I attended the third annual New York Irish Whiskey Festival. The festival was established back in 2019 and after a two-year pandemic break, returned to New York City in 2022.

At one time, Irish Whiskey was the most popular style of whiskey in this country, Prohibition and politics brought that all to a halt and for decades less than a handful of distilleries remained in the country. In the past couple of decades, the industry in Ireland has been infused with innovators and new startups that has expanded the industry greatly making it a one of the fastest growing categories in the U.S. with sales of $1.3 billion in 2021.

The basic regulations for Irish Whiskey are that the spirit has to be distilled in Ireland from a mash of malt and cereals, triple distilled and aged for a minimum of three years. Most (90%) are blended whiskeys, but they also produce single malt, single grain, single pot still and potcheen (unaged) whiskeys that have been aged different types of barrels. There is much more diversity than the usual Bushmills/Jameson pours available at the local pub.

At the well-attended event I, and the rest of the crowd was able to try a wide range of over 25 Irish whiskeys, The blended whiskeys in general were smooth and drinkable while I found the aged single malts the most interesting.

The event was held at The View at the Battery, an event space at 1 Battery Place at the southern tip of Manhattan overlooking New York Harbor.

Some of what I sampled:

Keeper’s Heart American and Irish blendBushmills 10, 12, 16, 21, 25, 30yr old single malt
Powers Irish ryeRedBreast 12yr single pot still
Croithli single maltTeeling single pot still
J J Corry The GaelThe Quiet Man blended
Roe & Co blendedProper Twelve blended
Proclamation blendedDrumshanbro single malt
The Tyrconnell blendedNaterjack blended
UAIS blended

The Whisky X

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The Whisky X is a Whisky “experience” promoting “whisky, music, food and style”. It’s a traveling whiskey and concert event stopping in Chicago, Austin, Denver and Las Vegas.

On September 10th the tour stopped in Brooklyn. It was held at Industry City which is a huge arts and entertainment center near the waterfront in Sunset Park featuring “eats, drinks and play”.

There were 60+ whiskies and cocktails to sample at the outdoor courtyard and indoors with a good selection of American whiskies, Irish whiskies, Scotch whiskies and for some reason, a table of rum. If you were in the mood for haircut with your whisky, there were a couple of barbers on hand to give you one.

Unlike most of these events there was a live band performing later in the evening. That band that evening was “Guster” and while I didn’t stick around for the concert, they did have an impressive collection of musical instruments on stage.

Some whiskies (and an outlier rum) that I sampled:

Calumet: small batch blend, straight bourbon, 15yr bourbonHudson Whiskey NY: Do the rye thing, bright lights big bourbon
Blackened: Kentucky straight rye, whisky blendWoodinville: 100% Rye, straight bourbon
Roe & Co: Irish whiskeyThe Irishman: Single malt
Busker: Single grain Irish whiskeyTeeling: Single batch Irish whiskey
McConnel“s: Irish WhiskeyJim Beam: Kentucky straight bourbon
Basi Hayden’s: Kentucky straight bourbonKnob Creek: Kentucky straight bourbon
Whistle Pig: Piggy back 6yrClyde May’s: Straight rye, straight bourbon
Gosling’s: Old rum, papa sealLegent: Bourbon

Beer, Bourbon & BBQ Fest 2021

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On July 31st and August 1st, the 11th annual Beer, Bourbon and BBQ festival was held in Brooklyn at the Expo Center, a venue space located at 72 Noble Street in Greenpoint.

It’s a year long traveling BBQ festival with tour dates in Virginia, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland and of course, Brooklyn, New York.

It’s a big party with pitmasters cooking up their specialties with an abundance of whiskey, beer, cider and a lot of hard seltzer which seems to be the new spirit trend in the country this year.

The even was held on Saturday afternoon and evening and on Sunday afternoon. I attended the Saturday afternoon session because the afternoon sessions are usually less crowded and more manageable than the evening sessions and at that time they haven’t run out of any particular spirit.

There was an outdoor seating area with vendors, games and a DJ that quickly filled up with people relaxing with their whisky and cigars.

I did attend a seminar for Garrison Brothers whiskey from Texas. At the event there was a nice selection of American whiskey and local beers and as I mentioned, a larger than usual selection of hard seltzer.

If one thing stood out for me at the event was that I was a little disappointed in the food served compare to the last time I went to this event in January of 2020. Maybe some of the pitmasters were still jittery about traveling

Some of the Whiskey I sampled:

George Dickel: 8yr sour mash, 12yr sour mash

Four Roses: Small Batch, Single Barrell

Virginia Distilling Co.: Single Malt Whisky

Balcone’s: Texas 100°, True Blue 100°, Lineage

Evan Williams: 1783

Markers Mark: Cask Strength, 46, 101 Limited Release

Basil Hayden’s: Straight Bourbon

Knob Creek: 15yr Bourbon, Kentucky Straight Rye

Excelsior: NY Straight Rye

Coppersea: NY Straight Rye Malt Whisky

Whiskey & Barrel Nite 2021

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The Covid restrictions in New York were finally lifted on June 16th which meant the return of in-person wine and spirit events.

The Whiskey & Barrel Nite tasting event was held on June 17th. It was a night to sample from a choice of dozens of worldwide whiskey though most were American Whiskey which included Rye, Bourbon and blended whiskey. The countries of Scotland, Ireland, France, Australia, Japan and India were represented as well and a handful of brandy, rum, gin and vodka were on hand for those who got tired of whiskey.

The event was held at the Metropolitan Pavilion, a well known event space located at 125 West 18th Street in Manhattan.

To keep people busy while they were sipping on spirits a live Jazz Band was in hand and a buffet to feed the hungry. There was also a separate “VIP Experience” room for VIP ticket holders that poured some extra special spirits.

It was a great night to finally experience a pre pandemic event and the event space was so large that the room never became overcrowded though I have to think that the organizers might have limited thicket sales to keep the crowd down or that many people were still skittish about attending a public event. Probably a little of both.

There was an excellent selection of spirits to try, I’m not a fan of Scotch so I didn’t sample very many of those but I am a fan of Rye so I did sample quite a few of those.

I was able to sample a couple of wheated Bourbon from the cult status Weller, their Full Proof and their Special Reserve which I thought was quite smooth.

Another interesting whisky was a trio of single farm origin Irish whisky from Waterford, Dunmore, Rathclogh and Organic Gaia. They all had uncharacteristic notes of the terroir of where they were produced.

There was a nice limited release Bourbon from Booker’s, some interesting Rye’s from Dad’s Hat, the nice Private Select from Maker’s Mark, and Whistle Pig’s 18 year which were just a few of the whiskey I sampled this evening.