Goeth the Way of the Dodo? BY AARON KROUSE Don’t get us wrong we think the Dodo was a beautiful majestic bird, but our newest (and maybe wisest), Aaron brings up a very good point since three key factors led to its extinction: Invasion and competition from other animals, slow evolution and fast environmental changes so… Is today’s whisky festival about to suffer the same fate?
A long time ago in faraway lands, whisky festivals were celebrated events across the globe. Yes, the globe! They had all kinds of names like WhiskyFest, the Festival of Whisky, Whisky Extravaganza, blah blah blah. They ranged from hoity-toity affairs requiring jacket and tie (eek!) to breezy events which felt like big dinner parties with all the drama of who to talk to or avoid. However, most had the same template: Tabletop trade show where consumers sampled whisky (and bland buffet nibbles). Brand Awareness 101: Get the whisky to the lips of the peeps so they buy it. Samples work. Ever been to Costco? These festivals put consumers F2F (that’s face to face) with people making and selling whisky. What better way to teach people really? However the times they are a-changing and the whisky show you may remember may be facing extinction like our friend the Dodo. See, there’s a little secret Big Whisky doesn’t say out loud too much but I will: Most of us are old. Ok, I’m old, and what do old folks do - not drink or buy whisky as much as they used to. Distilleries and their corporate home offices need new and younger imbibers especially since their warehouses are bursting at the seams with barrels around… the globe…and someone has to buy it in the future. It’s not going to be us Baby Boomers happily sans children, with gobs of retirement money and a bucket list of things to do before the hourglass comes up empty up. The future is the kids! Well not actual kids, but younger than me kids and these people don’t want their parents’ whisky festivals. Unlike my generation that was raised on Woodstock,
MySpace and cable bundling, these (ahem) adults, were raised on Coachella, TikTok, and streaming services.
with costumed folks hosting various stations to let attendees have a pour, while visualizing the novel come to life off the pages. There was a team of cartoonists making drawings to order, a temporary tattoo station, a “spice trader” tent to smell the common aromas of Ardbeg whisky, and a nibbles table to taste Ardbeggian flavors. And, yes, there were cocktail stations in the final great room which pulsed from a live DJ. Me, well I was just happy getting a taste of the Corryvrechan, but wow! Forget the four-color marketing pamphlet with the middle-aged man, dram in hand, looking wistfully out to the sea past golden stalks of barley. My fair guess, most attendees were mostly under the age of 35 and were comic and graphic novel fans. Creators, influencers, gamers, a few from the entertainment industry but most seemed to be the everyday walks of lifers simply wanting an “experience”. This is the demographic the whisky industry is trying to hit. (Pretty sure there wasn’t a single senior partner attorney from the San Fernando Valley in the bunch). Shauna Der (@theminty), a long time LA based Cocktail and Spirits Writer, sees this new wave of whisky shows as a fight for entertainment dollars while being a cool thing to do as a consumer. “There are a ton of things to do all the time. So to get someone to your festival, what can you give people that’s different from any other festival?… People want to be
Case in point = The tagline for Los Angeles WhiskyX is “The Whisky Experience. Discover. Music. Food. Style”. The 2023 event was a night of food trucks, minimal and dim lighting, loud music with nary a necktie in sight. Sophisticated set-ups were far beyond a folding table and a branded tablecloth. It had a mobile barber shop, a full saloon and a new age-y chillax area with lounging sofas. Oh, there was whisky too. Folks younger than…me…standing in queues for brand ambassadors and higher-ups pouring in a few “booths” but that didn’t seem to be important to the crowd. Whisky and Comics? In 2022, Ardbeg partnered with L.A. Comic-Con? Sure… why not! The distillery hosted an immersive experience highlighting their core range of single malts that inspired a 40-page graphic novel - Planet Ardbeg - created by actual cartoonists. As Ardbeg stated, “The experience takes guests through halls and inlet rooms based on the graphic novel…Using…Ardbeg’s Core Range as their creative launch pad” Let that set in for a moment…three bottles of whisky were the basis for everything in a stunning comic book. This event had attendees “traversing the triptych of fantastical tales of the Quantum Distiller, who journeys across time and space gathering ingredients and inspiration to concoct the ultimate dream through the three stories influenced by Ardbeg expressions.” It was like a Disney-like ride wandering the halls of the tented make-believe world
where other cool people are and if you’re marketing the fest as fun or cool (or both) then it’s already winning against the old school consumer.” Brands are also realizing there has to be more to a $50- $100 ticket. Cocktails are part of that with the culture that blossomed at home during the pandemic. Now distilleries are happy to show off what their whisky can do in simple and not-so-simple recipes. As the whole globe (last time, I promise) of consumerism is wrapping its head around an aging population, enter stage left, the 66 million GenX-ers who are ripe for the serving. Whisky, that is. Your dad’s (or my) whisky festival isn’t going to cut it anymore. The new bold, fun, and a little bit loud whisky experiences are coming and they are going to knock your argyle socks right off, Dodo.
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the whisky explorer magazine
the whisky explorer magazine
SUMMER 2024
SUMMER 2024
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