We are getting hyped up for this year’s Takao in Taiwan! In this post, we’ll give you some whisky fair tips and a peak of what we saw last year…
One of the highlights of Takao is going from booth to booth and getting a good taste of the bottles on display. We recommend bringing some sample bottles along as there is a huge selection on display, too much to appreciate in 2 days!
Aqua Vitae had a good collection – they are a Taiwanese Independent Bottler with some very special private casks from Springbank. Our favourite was a 25 Year Old Laphroaig – see in the top right corner!
Besides the booths, you also want to arrive early to get your hands on the Takao bottlings. These tend to sell out so find out which bottle is released on which day so that you get prepared in the lines early in the morning!
Next, the Masterclasses, this is the biggest highlight for me because you learn so much in these classes with some of the experts in whisky! Last year, we were at Cadenhead’s and the Mash Tun. Be sure to sign up early after you purchase your tickets as spaces are limited…
Cadenhead’s Cask Management Masterclass with Cameron McGeachy!
Cadenhead’s showcased distilleries we were familiar with BUT with tastes unexpected from the typical profile. They were demonstrating the effect of Cask Management and this Masterclass was an attempt of exaggerating how much the casks impacts the flavours one gets out of a distillery.
Cask Management tends to be year long experiments but of course the good folks at Cadenheads are masters at cask managment – rarely producing any bottles that I do not enjoy.
Masterclass with Suzuki-san – Mash Tun Tokyo!
Suzuki-san works hard speaking to distilleries to secure casks to do private bottlings for his bar – the Mash Tun in Tokyo!
Some of the distilleries have stringent bottle labeling requirements like Arran distillery and take up to 2 years of discussions for the finalized design. If permitted, Suzuki-san would include a photo of his cat Ribbon on the bottle label – just like this one – we were lucky enough to bring home this bottle…
All in all, some stunning bottles which led me to visit Suzuki-san’s bar in Tokyo, more on that in a later post!
Hope to see you at Takao Taiwan Whisky Fair! Tickets here:
Whisky Wonder 