Can you have too much whisky? Probably yes, and we certainly had a good attempt at the Whisky Fringe on Saturday.
The idea is that various whisky producers/bottlers/resellers set up stall in the Mansfield Traquair Centre — well worth a visit just to see the building — and give away samples in an attempt to convince people it’s worth shelling out for a bottle. When you arrive you get a welcome pack with a glass, a list of the exhibitors, a pen and an order form in case you want to make a purchase. I’d imagine that a good chunk of people there have no intention of buying anything, and the majority are only going to buy something if it really takes their fancy but I guess the organisers think it’s worth it since they keep doing it every year.
Having said that this year seemed quieter, both in the number of stalls there and in the amount of punters. There’s always big multi-brand distillers showing off whatever brand they’re pushing at the time but normally there are a few stalls for smaller distilleries. The smaller stalls seemed in very short supply this year which is a shame as they’re always more interesting and it meant there was very little on offer that I hadn’t tasted before. In the end there was plenty of good whisky there, but nothing that grabbed me enough to make me want to buy it. I’ve a couple of good bottles in the cupboard already and they’ll do me for the moment.
I think I won some sort of dubious moral victory by managing to remain out drinking longer than anyone else after it all wound up, although my memory of the time gets progressively more foggy as the night wears on. Hmmm, that’s probably why they slip a drinkaware leaflet into the welcome pack at the start of the day.