The UK’s biggest whisky festival is its own beast. Our beginner festival tips and our advanced tips are always worth looking at, but they don’t all stand the test of this festival. So here’s our guide to getting the most out of this London-based mega show.

Book Now!

We know these articles skew towards newer folks so let’s get the key message out. If you want to go to The Whisky Exchange Show – book now! Until the show moves away from Billingsgate it will always sell out far in advance on Fridays and Saturdays.

If you’re not sure what day to book then Friday is always the cheapest but shortest. The bonus is that nothing will be out of stock. Saturday is the main day that always sells out first and Sunday often doesn’t sell out until the last minute. Multi-day tickets are expensive but if you have the cash then spreading the show out over two days is better for your body and mind. Plus you’ll get to see more overall.

Sunday tickets linger on sale largely because most attendees don’t want to attend work with a festival-grade hangover. There will be things that run out before Sunday but for newcomers who aren’t chasing special drams there’s really nothing to stress about here, go ahead and book whatever day works best.

Consider Arriving Early

A mix of dedicated fans and whisky flippers will show up hours before the show.  You don’t have to be standing in the Autumn drizzle but if you want to be inside within 5 minutes of the doors opening then I recommend arriving at least 30 minutes before. The queue grows rapidly from then onwards. The Whisky Exchange Team will get you in fast, so if you’ve got fifteen minutes to spare, feel free to show up at opening.

Try Upstairs First

Unless you have a dream brand or limited tasting downstairs we always recommend heading upstairs first. Here you’ll find the smaller distilleries and bottlers and it’s a much more social space. The corridor shape means that later when the crowds arrive you’ll be a lot more jostled and have to wait longer to be served vs the big spread out stands below.

Go Beyond Whisky

This non-whisky Flavour Zone can harbour some real surprises from rum and mezcal to sake and beer. It’s good to have a break from whisky flavours and you may also find some upcoming distilleries who don’t have a whisky yet showing off their new make in here. Many folks will pass it up entirely.

The Dream Dram Decision

There are two schools of thought on what to do with the Dream Dram you get at The Whisky Exchange Show:

1. Enjoy it towards the start of the show but risk the things you try afterwards just not measuring up.

2. Enjoy it towards the end but risk your palate being impaired by many previous drams and inebriation too. 

I lean towards having it at the start to ensure I can fully appreciate what I am trying. There is always a queue of hardcore enthusiasts at the Whisky Auction stand at the start of the show trying to get a taste of the rarest things so I know I’m not alone in this thinking. However, I believe it is more likely that what you’ll learn by trying the most expensive things first is that big price tags aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.

Don’t feel pressured into a Dream Dram either. It’s rare but it can happen that someone ends up feeling like they have to spend it with a particular distiller because they’re having a nice time or they’re just feeling drunk and awkward. If you’re just unsure what to do then here’s a failsafe strategy: take your token to the Whisky Auction stand, tell them what sort of things you like and enjoy one of their 2-4-1 recommendations of old and rare whiskies. Finally, all of this is made moot if you forget you have your token so make sure you set an alarm 15-30 minutes before last pour time to ensure you don’t miss out. Tokens can’t be kept and used in future shows.

That’s all the tips we have. Have fun at the festival and drop your thoughts below on what you’d recommend.