Please mark your calendars and start saving your farthings.

There is usually a discount for ticket sales before a certain date, so keep your eyes peeled for more information in the future, and sign up at the website listed below to receive updates.

WhiskyFest 2014 Dates are as Follows:

•        WhiskyFest Chicago: April 25

•        WhiskyFest San Francisco: October 3

•        WhiskyFest New York: October 29

Unfortunately, WhiskyFest New York will be happening on only one day this coming year, and it’s a Wednesday. So, plan on burning a vacation day or sick day that Thursday!

And they are scrapping the current format, which had the exclusive seminars scheduled during the day, and returning to the original format where the seminars happen at the same time of the grand tasting.

I had determined I would actually pay the extra ransom to attend the seminars in 2014 – but not if it means abandoning my friends and missing one second of the grand tasting. Ah well.

The official press release does imply the separated format may return in 2015.

Press Release:

New York returns to original format in 2014

Whisky Advocate magazine’s WhiskyFest New York will take place in 2014 on Wednesday,

October 29th, at the Marriott Marquis Times Square. The event will return to its

original format: an evening grand tasting with seminars occurring simultaneously in

adjacent breakout rooms. This original format will also continue at the WhiskyFests

held in Chicago and San Francisco.

John Hansell, Whisky Advocate Editor and Publisher, explains:

“We are taking a break from the more recent two-day program of grand tastings on two

evenings and all-day seminars on the second day in New York City. Our primary reason

for waiting is that we want the New York seminar day to be the best whisky event

anywhere. To achieve this, we need to have substantial quantities of incredibly rare

whiskies procured for an audience of several hundred whisky enthusiasts; this is

extremely difficult to accomplish on an annual basis. Rather than hold an event that

doesn’t live up to the standards we’ve set, with whiskies that aren’t the best and

rarest, we prefer to take a break in 2014 so we can properly plan our next seminar

day and source the appropriate whiskies.”

[This begs the question. Why can’t they return to a one-day event, but still have the seminars earlier in day? – ed.]

For more information on the 2014 events, contact Amy Westlake, WhiskyFest Events Director, at amy@whiskyadvocate.com.

WhiskyFest 2014 Tickets – sign up here to be notified of their availability

For a description of this year’s WhiskyFest, click HERE