The countdown is on to WhiskyFest San Francisco! If you're going, use the #wfsfo on all you social media posts! https://t.co/uyxlgHAacB pic.twitter.com/7P9N40Layo
— WhiskyFest (@WhiskyFest) September 28, 2017
Have you developed a taste for the brown liquors? Then you might want to grab a last-minute ticket to WhiskyFest, the annual bacchanal thrown by Whisky Advocate magazine where distillers from around the country (and the globe) bring their bourbons, ryes, scotches and more for the whiskey-loving masses to sample. The pours are small because, obviously, you want to taste as many things as you can before your palate is completely blown or you're completely hammered, whichever comes first. But it's always a party after the first half hour or so when everyone's tasted a bunch of booze and starts getting chatty.
Over 400 whiskeys and other spirits will be poured, and you can see the full list here.
There's food, too, catered by the Marriott the event takes place in one of their subterranean ballrooms so you can give all that whiskey a base upon which to sit.
And you can count on lines for the most sought-after cult bourbons, scotches, and Japanese whiskeys, like super-aged bottles of Pappy Van Winkle the frenzy around which inspired a whole episode of the podcast Criminal or rare bottles of Hibiki or Whistle Pig.
Typically there are also a few high-end rums and Cognacs for sampling as well, and starting at 7 PM there are a series of seminars you can attend typically centered around one type of spirit, like a tasting of varieties of Japanese whiskey.
VIP tickets, which get you in an hour early (some of the rarest stuff goes fast), are sold out. But if you're looking for something to do this evening, you can find general admission tickets here (they're $275 apiece).
The fun starts at 6:30 p.m. tonight (Friday, October 6) at the Marriott Marquis.