Haslemere Hall was another new venue for us, and we loved it so much that we re-booked for next year before the first session was over! We had new staff on board this event and a new brand showcasing with us (more on them later), so there were new faces everywhere to mingle with- but we’d not all seen each other since November so it was a fantastic chance to catch up.
Our masterclass this time was provided by our own Steve from Shine London. He gave a talk on some key features of moonshine, the history of it and delighted participants with various samples. We had phenomenal feedback from those attending, we’ll be organising a repeat performance with Steve again now we know he’s so capable of multitasking!
A new addition to the festival was Dave from That Boutique-y Whisky Company who came to showcase some of the range, give away samples and discuss the brand with interested punters. The company fits in perfectly with our ethos and sense of humour (puns!) so we were delighted to meet them properly and put a face (and a healthy beard) to the name.
Prints Charming was busy both sessions, often having people dressing up with the new props and laughing raucously across the hall as they made themselves look ever-more ludicrous. Are you in the photos? Check them out here: Prints Charming photos.
A new favourite was L&M Fusion Foods who put on a tremendous spread for everyone to eat in both sessions. The food was phenomenally delicious and the caterers were just a delight to work with. We’ll be taking them to our next events wherever we are allowed outside caterers because we can’t get enough of their tasty meals and hard work. They work in the Camberley area and do take-aways https://premier-pharmacy.com/product-category/diabetes/ too, so well worth checking out if you’d like to sample some more of their menu: L&M Fusion Foods.
What was the most popular then? What made Southampton keep going back to the bar for more?
SCOTCH The smoke and peat-based scotches were hugely popular this time. Smokehead sold out by the end of the second session and Big Peat had a huge amount of interest too!
BOURBON Four Roses Small Batch and Eagle Rare were both very popular from the bourbon bar this festival, proving that America has more than just a one-trick pony to offer fans of the liquor.
WHISKEY The Dutch Discovery Road topped the choices for Haslemere again, closely followed by Nomad and Nikka. It’s always hard to pinpoint what people will gravitate towards each event, but you can guarantee that a Japanese whiskey will pop up at some point!
COCKTAILS Lemon Meringue Pie and Indian Espresso Martini were both very popular, making the room smell delicious whichever was being made!
We actively get social with attendees and invited them to share their experience of the night with us. We’re delighted that we did because the photos and posts coming in were fantastic! Prizes of free tickets are to be chosen at the end of this week, so if you have some to share then do so via Twitter, Instagram or Facebook using #whiskeyaffair and we’ll find it and choose our favourites. Thank you for all the participation so far, we’ve loved seeing the night from your side.
All the photos from the night done by the excellent Hana Laurie are here: Whiskey Affair, Haslemere Gallery
Next we have Alton on 15th April. Come and join us- we already have tons lined up to entertain you with and we’d love to see you!
The Whiskey Affair team