Chuck Cowdery points us to an interesting marketing tactic from Heaven Hill. In honor of the 2012 Presidential Election here in the states, Heaven Hill is releasing a bourbon for your political alignment. Meet Red State and Blue State Bourbons.

Of course, it’s all for a good cause. For every “like” each bourbon acquires on Facebook, Heaven Hill will donate $1 to the VFW Foundation. What’s more, Heaven Hill plans to track sales of each bourbon across all 50 states and use those numbers to predict the results of the upcoming election.

As Chuck Cowdery says, “the irony of both bottles containing the exact same whiskey is probably unintended.”

(FWIW - remember this isn’t the first time an American distiller has hopped on a Presidential Election to sell its whiskey. Maker’s Mark tried something similar last election cycle.

With Chicago WhiskyFest this weekend, I realized I never posted about some of the giveaways from the 2010 WhiskyFest.  Last WhiskyFest, I posted about all the SWAG (stuff we all get) I got in 2009.  And there was a LOT of really great stuff to be had.  Obviously these festivals are more about the whiskies (which I do think took the highlight this year), but it still doesn’t hurt to give away some stuff to establish a brand connection with your consumer.  For this year’s WhiskyFest, I aimed to collect SWAG again, but really wanted to do it in more of a laid back way (I do believe I drank too early and drank too often back at the 2009 event - it made me anything but laid back).  So, this year I actually got less SWAG.  Is it a sign of companies cutting back?  Or maybe it’s just a sign that I probably made a big fool of myself back in 2009.  Either way, the take from the evening is below, using the same categories from last year’s post.

The 2010 SF WhiskyFest Awards are -   1)The Most Creative Swag, 2)The Most Useful Swag and last but not least,  the highly sought after 3)The Best Swag of WhiskyFest 2010.  Now without further ado…

The Most Creative Swag of SF WhiskyFest 2010 Award Goes To…

The Nose Knows

Dalmore / Whyte and MacKay for their Fake Nose/Eyeglasses.

So, though this is a pretty useless piece of SWAG, it’s dead on with message.  Whyte and Mackay have been doing some great things lately (see Shackleton’s whisky, the Dalmore MacKenzie) and their brand at this point revolves around the charismatic Richard Paterson, or “The Nose”.  Their master blender is a force with which to be reckoned in the whisky world, and drawing attention to it while providing some levity is quite creative.  Congratulations to you on your  award for The Most Creative Swag of SF Whiskyfest 2010.  The other item pictured here is the tote bag from Malt Advocate magazine that come with entrance to the festival.

The Most Useful Swag of SF WhiskyFest 2010 Goes To…

Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em

Dewar’s for their Cigar Case, Cigar Cutter, and branded Zippo lighter.

Apparently Dewar’s wants to be known as a cigar malt.  They really want you to smoke cigars while you drink their malt.  Maybe it’s me, but I think that represents a bit of the old guard mentality as to who is actually enjoying and drinking whisky.  However, giving this out as SWAG at a festival is pretty awesome.  A real zippo lighter as a giveaway (and not even a sign your name for some marketing type giveaway) is quite generous.  I don’t even smoke and I’m psyched to have this - it went right into my camping gear bag (with, obviously some lighter fluid and extra flint).  Congratulations to you on your  award for The Most Useful Swag of SF Whiskyfest 2010.

The Runner-Up for The Best Swag of SF Whiskyfest 2010 Goes To…

What type of whisky drinker are you?

Malt Advocate for giving every registered user a Glencairn glass from which to drink (2 Years Running Award Winner)

When you’re running around trying to appreciate different whiskies, it really makes a big difference to have something appropriate from which to drink.  MaltAdvocate giving every attendee a respectable glass from which to drink really draws a stark differentiation between it and other festivals.  It’s fun that I now have a glass that says WhiskyFest 2009 and one that says WhiskyFest 2010.  I feel it helps me remember my time there and shows that the festival appreciates my attendance as much as I appreciate the festival.  MaltAdvocate should continue to be recognized for taking this step at their festivals, and that is why they are the Runner-Up to the Best Swag of SF WhiskyFest 2010.

And The Best Swag of SF Whiskyfest 2010 Goes To…

This Doesn’t Smell Like Water

Ardbeg, for Providing Everyone Attending their Free Masterclass with Ardbeg New Make.

Should whisky really be considered SWAG at a Whisky Festival?  Well, when Ardbeg brings the goods like they did, then I would say yes.  At their workshop, they let everyone try a single cask from 1974, and some Ardbeg New Make.  New Make?!?  68.7 percent New Make right off the still?!?!?  When else would we ever be able to try something like that in America?  The fact that they freely gave it out, along with tastings of a single cask offering from 1974 really stands out.  Most other companies just taste you through their standard lineup.  Ardbeg changed it up in a very unique and generous way for the American market.  For this, they win the Best Swag of SF Whiskyfest 2010.

There were other SWAG items (pictures below) including pens and keychains (worthy repeats from the Glenrothes and newcomer Amrut), but overall less SWAG than last year.  One has to think that companies are putting their money into making better whisky, or I covered a lot more ground and got a lot more stuff when I had more to drink.

Amrut and The Glenrothes Keychains

I look forward to the next one in October.  Thanks to all the whisky companies and Malt Advocate for providing such a great event.

- StrongLikeCask

When the drums kick in

I’m not generally what one would call a “hater.”  I’m especially rather pleasant when it comes to whisk(e)y.  For instance, put me in a room with people  who like whisky, at an event which helps me learn more of said spirit, and offer me as much drink as I can handle (and maybe a smidgeon more - as Devo meant to say ”Are we not men?  We are WhiskyParty!”) and I should be the happiest camper this side of Scotland.

Yet somehow, it was not to be.  Whiskies of the World, held in San Francisco at the Hotel Nikko, managed to disappoint me.  A lot.  It obviously wasn’t all bad:  in fact there were some pretty cool highlights.  But throughout it all, especially for a festival that calls itself “The Greatest Whiskey Event”, I couldn’t help but continuously compare it to WhiskyFest, and Whiskies of the World was found wanting.

You know an event is struggling when random guests are discussing loudly, for all to hear, about how bad the event is and how after 5 years of attending he and his wife won’t come back.  You know it’s worse when an even more random server stops, looks at those guests and says “You’re right.  There’s not enough room.  This isn’t run well”.  You know it’s getting dangerously close to the cliff’s edge when a whisky icon begins ruminating to those same guests about the various reasons why the event is going the way it’s going.  And you know you should just cut your losses when an even cooler icon from a very cool distillery that we all love leans over to you and says “this place is a total clusterf*ck.”

Sigh.  The event has been written up already by DrinkHacker and a new local whiskey read The Casks.  They seemed to have noticed the issues I write about here, but it didn’t bother them as much.  Me?  Well, let’s go Positives and Negatives.

Positive:

• Maker’s 46.  A sample bottle was there.  I tried it (apparently even before John Hansell!).  By that point my palate was not as resilient as I would have liked, but I remember it being chewy, very oaky, less vanilla and more spice, satisfying in a way that regular Makers is not for me, and it was one of three drams for which I went back for seconds.
• Music Makes Me Smile.  The Bushmills Irish Pipers Band killed it.  They went around a few times, and each time just brought the energy of the event way up.
• Mackillop’s Choice Highland Park 1980.  Lovely Dara from The Whisky Shop told me I had to go back and try this (I had given up trying to elbow my way to try all the offerings) and she was right.  This was delicious.  There was spice and lots of fruit, slight vanilla, faint smoke, and an evolving decadent finish.  I know absolutely nothing of how old it was but I liked it a lot.
• Microdistilleries. It was absolutely great to have a seminar on the distilleries, learn about the trials and tribulations, and sample the wares from some heavy hitters.  At the end of the night, Anchor Steam even gave away a copy of Cocktail Boothby’s American Bar-Tender in which there’s a cocktail recipe on how to “make Scotch Whiskey”.
• People.  Lorne Mackillop was there, as was Simon Brooking from Laphroaig and Rick Edwards from The Glenlivet.  Steve Beale from Diageo represented as did Richard Paterson from Whyte and MacKay.  Folks from High West Distillery, Tuthilltown and Maker’s Mark were in full force.  I even met an awesome guy waiting in line to get in (more on that below) who had driven over 12 hours from Utah to get there.  There were some good people there.  As I state below, it’s just a shame you were meeting them under less than ideal conditions.

Negative:

• Operations 101.  My evening started at 5:10 PM when I arrived at the Hotel Nikko ballroom in time for the VIP entrance at 5:15PM (the regular crowd would gain entrance at 6:00PM).  Awesome, right?  Well, awesome except for the fact that I then was directed to a long meandering line that didn’t move very fast. I waited for a full 43 minutes, gaining entrance to the event room at 5:53PM.  No announcements as to what was happening occurred.  We just were told to wait.  And what did I actually wait for?  A wristband.  I waited online to exchange my ticket for….a ticket.  Though I won an Alcademics contest to get a ticket, I sure felt bad for the suckers who coughed up all that extra money for extra tasting time that didn’t occur.
• SWAG 101.  But what about the free glass?  That must have been cool, right?  Well, only “Dram Club Members” who paid an extra $60 for that honor got a glass.  The VIP ticket holders and the regular folks did not (this is apparently different than from years past).  The rest of us got to drink out of catered wine glasses (you know, the cheap ones with dishwasher stains) that I had to find on my own.  Literally - I had to find them on my own.  There were no directions or instructions given when I exchanged my ticket for the wristband ticket - I literally went inside the event, and then after asking a booth about where the glasses were, had to go back outside to a side table hidden in a corner to pick up a glass from a tray that looked like it was the discard pile of dirty dishes.
• Put Up A Stupid Sign 101. Even if you wanted to learn about whisky, you couldn’t hear when announcements were made as to the starting of the seminars.  There was no HQ inside the event at which to ask questions.  And the seminars themselves were located on another floor separate from the main event, without any signs that I could see to help direct people to them.  I wound up missing the first seminar I wanted to attend and had to ask 3 ‘helpers’ located outside of the actual event  before getting correct directions to the seminars.
• Crowd Control 101.  As has been noted elsewhere, the space allotted for all of the booths and all of the people (one of the whisky icons told me that he had heard 1200 tickets were sold) was probably only big enough for a third of the booths and people that filled it.  So, instead of being able to try a whisky and carry on somewhat meaningful conversation to learn about it, you just had to try and shove and be one of the people holding their glass out for a pour.

Overall

I drank the other 45

“The Greatest Whiskey Event”? Comparing the event to WhiskyFest almost seems laughable.  For sure, there were issues with WhiskyFest, too (i.e. whiskies being advertised that weren’t actually there).  But at least that wasn’t MaltAdvocate’s fault.

Whereas WhiskyFest gave the distilleries and the whisky the ability to shine, it seems that at this event, all the distilleries were trying to make the best out of a less than ideal situation in which they were put.

So, did I have fun?  Absolutely.  Would I pay to go again?  Eh.  The main thing that irks me about the event was that  all these negative issues made the event seem it was only a)about making money and b)about getting drunk.  The event was NOT about whisk(e)y.  It was not about the reasons that people pay to go there.  They and everyone else can get drunk on their own for less money.  Probably makes sense for the event organizers to realize that next year, and try to improve  upon their (or apparently go back to their prior) formula.  If not, there seems to be a few other festivals that are willing and able to take over.

-StrongLikeCask

Back in October, I was fortunate enough to attend WhiskyFest 2009 in San Francisco.  I went for fun - and most of the notes I took from that night demonstrate the almost too much fun I had (I believe that writing “real good”, “really good” and “really quite good”, for some Highland Parks late in the night constitute the best tasting notes I have ever written).  There were some things I really enjoyed at WhiskyFest (obviously, whisky was one of them), and some I didn’t (the price and the lack of several “VIP whiskies” that had been advertised), but everyone has to love stuff we all get (S.W.A.G.).

After living with the swag of WhiskyFest 2009 for about 3 months, I have decided to post what I have for everyone to see (mind you - this is not a complete list), and dole out 3 awards.  The 2009 SF WhiskyFest Awards are -   1)The Most Creative Swag, 2)The Most Useful Swag and last but not least,  the highly sought after 3)The Best Swag of WhiskyFest 2009.  Now without further ado…

The Most Creative Swag of SF WhiskyFest 2009 Award Goes To…

Just a wee bit of water

Glenfiddich, for their branded eyedropper.

I was a little blown away when I received this eyedropper.  It’s a cool gift for someone who loves whisky and wants to regulate the ABV percentage  of their favorite scotch (perhaps with the help of ScotchHobbyist’s App).  It’s doubly cool because I don’t usually associate Glenfiddich with whiskies that might be really hot (i.e., I usually think of them as non-cask strength).

The representatives from the Valley of the Deer knew their game about whisky, and poured some very nice drams for yours truly.  I congratulate you on your  award for The Most Creative Swag of 2009 SF Whiskyfest.  Other items pictured here are the tote bag from Malt Advocate magazine and my ticket.

The Most Useful Swag of SF WhiskyFest 2009 Goes To…

Small Batch Bourbon Keeps me Warm

Knob Creek, for their fleece hat, ridiculously soft long-sleeved shirt, and flask (pictured below).

I know.  Knob Creek is bourbon.  It’s not ‘“whisky” but rather “whiskey”.  Deal with it.  They were there.  They brought their A-game.  And it is a useful A-game!

David Mays, Knob Creek’s whiskey professor, pulled these two little doozies out of his roller suitcase at the end of WhiskyFest, realizing that for some reason they weren’t given out during the festivities.  The shirt, an anvil brand, rivals American Apparel and Alternative Apparel in softness (and looks pretty darn cool with the embroidered design).  I wear it.  Often.  It keeps me warm.  The fleece hat is now my running hat, and serves its purpose well.  It keeps my head warm.  The knob creek flask?  Well, it holds whisky quite well and that does a darn good job of keeping me warm, too.  Long-sleeve shirt, fleece hat, flask - what else does a San Francisco native need?  Put that in your pipe and smoke it, fake Mark Twain (ed note.  Mark Twain is often incorrectly thought of as the witty individual who said that “The coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco”.  Unfortunately, whomever did say it, the bastard was right.)

The Runner-Up for The Best Swag of SF Whiskyfest 2009 Goes To…

Glassware everywhere and not a drop to drink.

Malt Advocate for giving every registered user a Glencairn glass from which to drink.

This was a great thing to have as we tasted whiskies during the festival.  This branded “San Francisco WhiskyFest 2009” glass is a really useful, valuable, and special keepsake.  It was also a great way to help people at the festival learn about nosing whisky and the different experiences you can get from a single dram.  Interestingly, neither Malt Advocate or any of the sponsors are also engraved on the glass.

Also pictured here - distillery brochures, Bulleit Bourbon glass (which served drinks from Bourbon and Branch), Makers Mark shotglass, Crown Royal glass and a Knob Creek flask.

And The Best Swag of SF Whiskyfest 2009 Goes To…

I drink scotch. I expect quality.

The Glenrothes, for their wooden, laser engraved pen and V.I.P. hour only extremely heavy mini-The Glenrothes bottle keychain.

Yeah.  I used to collect keychains as a kid.  I got over it because I realized that collecting keychains serves no purpose.  Then I got older and got keys.  Ah, there’s the purpose.  The Glenrothes laser engraved mini-bottle keychain is really heavy, really nice and in my expert, used-to-be-a-collector opinion, seems to be very high quality.  It even came in that nice suede-like pouch pictured there.  What’s even cooler, is that it was V.I.P. only, making you feel a bit better for spending so much extra moolah on the ticket.  It’s also my everyday keychain, so The Glenrothes almost took down Most Useful Swag.  The pencil is also really nice and combined with the generous both in size and variety of drams poured by The Glenrothes representatives, helped them win the Best Swag of SF Whiskyfest 2009.

Wow.  That was exciting.  Other swag present at the event which is nice to have were hats from Laphroaig and Ardmore (which, though the swag itself isn’t totally memorable, the experience that their representatives provided was and a whole lot more).

Thanks to all the whisky-related companies for providing such a fun environment.  And thanks for Malt Advocate for making it happen.  If you see someone running in San Francisco with a Knob Creek hat on, give a shout.

- StrongLikeCask