Back-to-back wine and spirits jamborees
Not surprisingly, both liquor-related events were organized by close-knit families involved in the wine and spirits trade, the Li and the Joseph brothers.
THIS MAY be the first time in Metro Manila history that two massive liquor-related events took place within one week of each other. I am referring to the first staging of Whisky Live Manila and the 16th edition of the Grand Wine Experience. Not surprisingly, both were organized by close-knit families involved in the wine and spirits trade, one by the Li brothers of Grand Cru Wine & Spirits, composed of Calvin, Johnssen, and Matthew, and the other by the Joseph brothers of Philippine Wine Merchants, made up of Bobby, Ralph, Ronnie, and Raymond.
WHISKY IS VERY MUCH ALIVE!
Whisky sales have been extremely good in the country since the liberalization of alcohol importation in the late 1980s. The business was initially more geared towards the Scotch blended whiskies led by huge commercial brands like Johnny Walker, Chivas Regal, J&B and the like. At the start of the new millennium, American whiskeys, build around the strength of Tennessee’s proudest, Jack Daniels, joined the whisky craze. It was however only in the last five to six years that the single malt whisky became a new contending whisky category, and it has been growing phenomenally too all over the world. Johnssen Li is easily one of the most knowledgeable and passionate whisky lovers in the country. When I first heard that Whisky Live — the world’s premier whisky tasting show — would be coming to Manila, its 22nd country and 25th city, I knew somehow that Johnssen would be involved. And true enough, Johnssen and the rest of Grand Cru Wine & Spirits pulled this one off. The Philippines became the fifth country in Asia after Taiwan, China, India, and Singapore to stage Whisky Live.
Whisky Live Manila took place on Oct. 28 and 29, held at one of the ballrooms of the new Shangri-La The Fort. Admittedly, the timing was not all that great, as this was the long weekend leading to the All Saints Day holidays, and Filipinos are known not only to visit cemeteries but to travel both abroad and to the provinces for short family R&R. I went to the first day of the show, and the dreaded Friday traffic was in full display, yet among the attendees at Whisky Live, the complaints on traffic were barely audible. The people I knew whom I saw at the show were all praises at the depth and breadth of the whisky selection. The best gauge of success to me was when I chanced upon new faces in the Whisky Live crowd. I have been in the liquor industry for over a decade now, and I usually encountered the same people and their respective cliques in wine and spirits events, but this time around, many new personalities surfaced, and this proved that there are indeed many whisky enthusiasts in our country. Whisky Live Manila’s inaugural foray was a huge success with over 2,000 people recorded in the two-day show.
Aside from 100 whiskies from over 25 branded booths, mostly from Scotland ( but also from Japan, Ireland, and even Taiwan), there were also other premium spirits present, including rum, gin, tequila, and the Philippines’ own lambanog. To add further glamour to the show, the organizers flew in two of the most recognized whisky personalities to not only grace this Manila leg, but also do their highly anticipated whisky classes. No other than the most renowned whisky guru Jim Murray, and the editor of Great Britain’s biggest whisky magazine, Whiskeria, Dominic Roskrow were in town for Whisky Live Manila. There was also a unique “social responsibility” check being implemented at the show that I have never seen before in events of this nature, both locally and internationally. There was a booth created with a breathalyzer testing machine complete with medical staff. Part of the brilliant gimmicky of Whisky Live Manila was that upon registration, attendees were given a loot bag containing among others, eight token chips. These chips were to be used in exchange for whisky shots or other alcoholic drinks ( like gin tonic). Once the eight chips were exhausted, the attendee had to visit the breathalyzer booth to check on his or her BAC ( blood-alcohol content) percentage and see his or her state of sobriety to know whether to continue drinking or not. If the test showed a BAC of below 0.1%, then the attendee would get another eight chips to drink some more. But if the test showed 0.1% BAC or higher, no more chips would be given, and the drinking would stop. The Philippines legal BAC% if you would be driving is, however, only 0.05%.
The best news of all is that Whisky Live Manila will be back again next year, expectedly bigger and even more popular.
GRAND WINE EXPERIENCE ‘NOBLE GRAPE’
Exactly a week after our inebriation from Whisky Live Manila, the Philippines longest running wine event, the Grand Wine Experience was back on Nov. 4, at the Marriot Convention Center in Newport City, Manila. On its 16th edition, subtitled “Noble Grape,” for the first time in Grand Wine Experience history, it was also made into a two-day event. The day before the actual gala event, the organizers — Philippine Wine Merchants — set up several wine seminars/master classes conducted by visiting wine principals at the different Marriott Hotel function rooms. This year’s Grand Wine Experience was also staged at its earliest time of the year, as normally this celebratory event would be held in the second half of November — closer to Beaujolais Nouveau Day or the US Thanksgiving Day.
I have covered the Grand Wine Experience for over a decade and a half now, and it is still the ultimate wine event in the country, bar none. Other than just showcasing new wines, new vintages, and new wine regions, to me personally, the Grand Wine Experience is more like an extended family reunion, where genuine wine lovers come together for one long evening, to just dine, wine, and socialize like there is no tomorrow. This year I left the event at past 1 a.m. (of Nov. 5), but there were still several people staying at the venue drinking and laughing... the hours of Grand Wine Experience seemed to be extending annually too.
Congratulations to both the Li and Joseph brothers for bringing us these two amazing events. Now, it is time for all of us to recoup and nurture our livers before the next drinking spree comes along. ----------The author has been a member of the Federation Internationale des Journalists et Ecrivains du Vin et des Spiritueux or FIJEV since 2010. For comments, inquiries, wine event coverage, and other wine-related concerns, e-mail the author at protegeinc@ yahoo.com. He is also on Twitter at www. twitter.com/sherwinlao.