Whisky Live Dublin: Saturday 14th of May

[Michael Foggarty]

Follow the link....

http://www.whiskylive.com/ireland/31/dublin-2011

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Excellent news Michael ... when can we expect full information?

i.e. Date, Exhibitors, Masterclasses and possible Whisky Live Bottlings (to include an Irish one hopefully)


Ideally we'd like to see all Irish distilleries and major brands represented first and fore most.

Some US brands as well as plenty of the scotch brands/distillers

[TheWhiskeyBro]

The Society must put it on the agenda to discuss a small info stand at the event, space & cost permitting.

[Stephen]

Has anyone here ever gone to one of these events before and are they good value?

Looking at the forthcoming London event (http://www.whiskylive.com/england/1/london-2011) the daily cost is £38 which seems to give the following:

Entrance to Whisky Live London, Live tasting glass, show guide, standard dinning and 8 sample vouchers

It will be interesting to see what level it's pitched at for Dublin.

It would be a good event for the society to have a presence at, would certainly boost awareness within Ireland

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

I was at Whiskey Live London 2009,

It was £20 or £25 a ticket (Full Day) so £38 seems quite high only 2 years on for what looks like the same deal.

Master Classes were £13 each and did represent good value.

My ticket incluced 5 whiskey vouchers, a specially engraved Glencairn glass and a voucher for a basic meal (Large filled roll, Prepacked desert and Bottle or water or Mineral). Extra vouchers were available in books of 5 for a £5 each (i.e. £1 per voucher)

Regular drams upto circa the 16yo bracket were around 1 voucher for 1-2cl depending how generous the poured was but in all fairness you don't want much more as your tasting a lot of whisk(e)y on the day. However a lot of the stands did not even take the vouchers and I did not need to replensih and got to taste over 20 different whiskies and did not even get through half the stands. But I think they are trying to tighten up on giving them out for free just to prevent drunkeness. Also more expensive whiskies commanded higher voucher prices with some being 2 or 3 vouchers per taste.

It was a very enjoyable day with a chill out room and live music. There was also a Fullers stand so maybe we could have one or 2 of the Irish Breweries there. Also there were 2 specially bottle whisky live whiskies for the event available to buy.

My only concern about Whisky Live is that it seems to be turning more into a business rather than an event to sample whisk(e)y. There has been a bit of a back lash against WHisky Live in Scotland with more reasonable independent events cropping up. So the pricing of this will tell alot.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Whisky Live Dublin is now Pencil marked for Saturday 14th of May, which is great news.

However there is a bit of bitter sweet taste to this as I must say I'm slightly disappointed at the price point. I see this as fairly bad value for money but more worryingly a barrier to attracting the casual punter. The Glasgow price (£27.50/€33) is substantially cheaper which begs the question where the price point is coming from. In saying that at least it is comparable to the London price (£38) but I'm skeptical.

I really want this to be a success but for somewhere like Ireland where we don't have a readily available catchment of whiskey aficionados it cannot be stressed that price should be at a minimum. People are not necessarily looking for a free gig but they are looking for value. We've seen whole scale rejection of high prices and this could be an own goal.

Any others comments on this.

Do people think access to whisky live + 8 1-2cl samples + plus filled roll, desert & drink + tasting glass for €45 represents value?

Also how much for extra sample vouchers???

However as a Society if we buy 20tickets or more we can get the 20% discount this would make the tickets €36 which is still no bargain in my books but much better. So this is the way we should look at this. Just to let you all know you really need the full day ticket to get around but that depends on the Exhibitor list and how many will be there. So I think I'll wait for some firm numbers on that before I commit to going to this.

[John]

It's a bit pricey alright and this definitely takes the biscuit:
Ticket Price, Saturday, Designated Driver Full Day - €35.00 !!
You volunteer to drive your mates, you can't have a drink and you have to pay nearly as much as the full ticket price. What genius came up with that idea?! No promotions expert I'm guessing.

In fairness, I haven't seen the likely line-up in terms of samples, stands, etc, but I think they could have done a better job of laying the foundations for this event.

I see Brooks Hotel got a bit of an advert in, any referral fees due to the Society for that?!

[jcskinner]

I don't want to knock it, as I've always wanted to see a whiskey show in Ireland. After all, they could charge 200 quid and it would still be cheaper for me to attend than going to London, Glasgow or Paris.

But yeah, it would be nice if people didn't treat the Republic of Ireland as somewhere to automatically hike up the prices all the time.

[Stephen]

Don't forget the extra 2euro booking fee .... Why do they bother with this, just call the price 47 and be done with it ....

Will probably still go though!

[TheWhiskeyBro]

A bit pricey alright which is a little worrying, may be down to the fixed costs in Ireland which have been sticky, venue costs, insurance, catering.

After the Rugby fiasco recently I think the price point is a bit of a gamble,it certainly doesn't look like people will be any better off after the next budget.

On a positive note, agree great to see Whisky Live in Dublin, hope it is a success.

Working up a proposal at the moment for the December committee meeting which will include a bulk buy for members. We will do our best to keep costs down.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

A bit pricey alright which is a little worrying, may be down to the fixed costs in Ireland which have been sticky, venue costs, insurance, catering.

From an Insider I know that there is very little difference between Insurance costs for such public functions between the UK & Ireland ... food can be shopped around for especially in these times ... Venue may be different but again in these times there surely is scope to manuver.

I'm trying not to be too negative but at the end of the day it is a platfom for distilleries to gain new customers and the customer should not be expected to pay through the nose for the pleasure.

To put into prespective for a similar event ... but for food eventhough you may find IDL & Cooley there too.

Taste of Christmas, which is being held in the state of the art The Convention Centre, Spencer Dock is €19.50.

There is the possiblity of having to pay for a licence but the above would need one also.


There has been a very negative back lash towards Whisky Live in general as it's prices have more than doubled in the last 3 years yet there are many other Whisky festivals in the UK for less than half the price. Makes you think what the purpose of these exhibits are for. Is it to promote whisk(e)y or is it a money making racket.

[TheWhiskeyBro]

If anyone has any suggestions on how the society would be best represented at this event, please put your ideas on this thread, all suggestions will be considered in a formal proposal to the society at the December committee meeting.

Suggestions under the following categories:

Display

Tasting

Promotion

Merchandising

Group Buy

Thanks TWB

[Michael Foggarty]

I see Brooks Hotel got a bit of an advert in, any referral fees due to the Society for that?!

Surely i would claim that as the former bar manger there who built the whisky collection

The pricing is structured to the same level of other European Whisky Live events, this weekend in Leiden for instance it was also €45. i Have no idea why Glasgow is cheaper and why London has gone through the roof, my concern is the Dublin event, and given that an average whiskey tasting in Dublin for 6 x 1.5 cl samples is €20 i still think it represents good value, at all the Whisky Lives i have attended i had approx 30+ whiskies, okay i spit a few out though!

As for the 1-2cl samples lets be honest, the distillers can be very liberal on the pouring.

As for venue costs, i do believe Zoltan priced a few venues in the city previously so he can guide you on that!

As for out sourcing food etc, thats just not possible eg if i let a party into my bar would i let them bring their own food when i sell food?

For me it is another big step in promoting Irish Whiskey, which sadly needs a lot more done to get it on the map, shame that its a Scotman who has had to instigate it again though

[TheWhiskeyBro]

Hi Michael.

Thanks for responding and I for one wish you every success in this venture, I'm sure it will be well supported,