Living
Living: 2021 Whisky Festivals, Libby’s Version
The first time I stood in front of a crowd to talk about whisky, I knew that it definitely wasn’t going to be the last. Anyone who knows me can confirm I like to chat and by coincidence, my favourite thing about the whisky industry is the conversation.
The best place for said conversation is whisky festivals… I attended two whisky festivals towards the end of 2019, York and Manchester. This little taster definitely got me hooked, ready and raring to go for a year of festivals in 2020, which of course, got a little bit rained on.
A huge part of my role is to push our whisky through our social media channels. We receive plenty of positive feedback from our wonderful customers through comments and likes. However, face to face interaction, in my opinion, trumps all. Seeing and hearing the reaction of customers tasting our whisky, whether it is for the first time or not, really is heartwarming.
As an up and coming whisky brand, the majority of people we see at these shows have never heard of Filey Bay before. Some haven’t even heard of Filey! As the session goes on, it’s great to see how the ‘Filey Bay word’ spreads.
Liverpool
The first whisky festival we attended this year was Liverpool. It’s fair to say, the Liverpudlians didn’t disappoint. After the first hour, it was apparent that STR Finish was a favourite. We had people coming up to us on the back of a recommendation from others in the festival to ‘try the purple one’. This was really interesting to see, especially as it’s my favourite. Overall, the atmosphere was fantastic. It was especially nice to see others from the whisky industry too.
Manchester
The exciting atmosphere from Liverpool continued through to the Manchester Festival. The venue for Manchester was pretty impressive and brought a different vibe to the sessions. Again, it was great to see both new and familiar faces from both customers and the exhibitors.
York
A festival on ‘home turf’, also the last of this year’s festivals in the UK, right in the middle of ‘Storm Arwen’… Due to the winter weather, this show was a little quieter than usual. This, of course, didn’t stop the buzzing atmosphere. Being in Yorkshire, this show holds a few more people who have either been to see us or at least tasted the whisky. For this festival, we had our yet to be released STR Batch #2. Seeing as STR had been such a hit with the previous festivals, it was great to see how well Batch #2 was received.
Overall, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed being back pouring whisky. If I had to pick a favourite, I’d probably say that Liverpool was the one… (Fingers tightly crossed) Bring on 2022!
Written by Libby Barmby, Marketing Brand Ambassador.
Comments are closed.
Living
