This year’s build-up to the FNB Whisky Live Festival has seen the innovation of the SoWhisky Academy, a series of whisky tastings that aims to teach the art of whisky connoisseurship, whisky etiquette and responsible indulgence to select groups of invited guests. To date, there have been three SoWhisky Academies held in both Sandton and Soweto at exclusive venues that embody the lifestyle associated with whisky.
A total of 90 guests have attended the SoWhisky Academies so far across Sowetan hot spots like Nex Dor and La Cadi and at the TAG Heuer Boutique store in Sandton. The tastings have given whisky lovers in Gauteng the opportunity to interact closely with brands such as The Glenlivet, The Macallan and Jack Daniels.
As this is the festival’s 11th year in Sandton but it’s inaugural year in Soweto, the SoWhisky Academies have given the FNB Whisky Live Festival the opportunity to re-invent itself by gaining insight into their target market’s behaviour ahead of the Soweto FNB Whisky Live Festival which will take place on 24 – 26 October at UJ’s Soweto campus this year.
Thabang Makwetla, the owner of Nex Dor restaurant, believes that by bringing the Festival to Soweto many of the businesses in the area will benefit from the spin-off that comes from the festival. Nex Dor is one of the restaurants that will host a Hospitality Lounge at the inaugural Soweto FNB Whisky Live Festival. We have partnered with five key restaurants who will host lounges and extend their restaurant flavour to the festival. Regular whisky patrons will now have the opportunity to enjoy whisky in an upmarket lounge environment.
“We are very excited to partner with the FNB Whisky Live Festival, for Soweto this is great as we already have a wine and beer festival. The most exciting thing about the Whisky Festival is that it has given business in Soweto the chance to be part of the biggest whisky festival in the world and by us having lounges at the Soweto event, this gives us a chance to promote our business,” says Lerato Mdluli, owner of La Cadi.
The SoWhisky Academies will run until the start of the Soweto FNB Whisky Live Festival and these intimate educational tasting sessions will help consumers better understand and appreciate the different whisky brands by providing them with a platform to engage closely with the various brand ambassadors while tasting the whiskies. Equally important, the SoWhisky Academy is all about teaching potential visitors to the Festivals whisky-tasting etiquette. Says Festival Co-founder Sian Neubert, “The SoWhisky Academy aims to teach our visitors how to get the very best from their whisky tasting experience and how to enjoy the beautiful whiskies on offer at the Festivals responsibly.”
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