To say this was tough competition is an understatement. Apart from a couple of disappointments this year every festival we visited was a great time overall and the margin between winning our little award and coming second place is razor thin.

The Whisky Event is the All But Drams Festival of the Year. 

Why The Whisky Event?

We spend a lot of our time promoting small craft distilleries and smaller festivals but we’re never opposed to indulging in older malts and big shows. This year we wanted to celebrate the premium festival that’s still value for money.

The Whisky Event is organized by retailer The Whisky World and has been running in central London since 2018. The growth has been huge and it’s fair to say that among whisky fans in the capital it’s now a major date in the calendar. This is a big show too. There’s over 600 whiskies to try, cocktails, masterclasses and a big buffet with good quality dishes. You can read our full review here.

This event gets an award not just because of its size but because of the rarity of what’s on offer. Most shows operate on a Dream Dram system when you have to pay extra for the most expensive bottlings, or they’re not on offer at all. The Whisky Exchange Show sets this threshold at £500 for instance. By contrast The Whisky Event will have bottles priced £500 – £2,000 available for you to try at no extra cost. To top this off the enthusiast crowd means brands will bring the weird and wonderful as well as the old and rare. We tried whiskies finished in unusual casks like orange wine, Pinau de Charantes, ginger beer and more.

Scotch did dominate the show in 2025 but the full diversity of the category was on offer. We tried both silent distilleries and the newest operations. There were plenty of grains, old blends, peat monsters, sherry bombs and plenty of classic distillery character focused ex-bourbon. A reasonable smattering of Irish and Japanese whisky was present too but any bourbon purists should check the exhibitor list before they book.

The other reason why The Whisky Event gets our award is the improvements versus 2024. Last year we were let down with slow entry, strict cloakroom policies and long queues for food. From our point of view all of these problems were fixed with the change in venue. It took half the time to get inside (and we were further back in the line). There was no mandatory cloakroom so you could keep your coats and bags on your person. The food was better quality and the queues shorter. We’ve never had a show improve on literally everything we didn’t like about it.

Perhaps the only flaw with The Whisky Event that remains is its length. It is a large show that you just cannot see in the one evening allotted. With no dram list published in advance and such rarities on offer it becomes a frantic rush at times to see it all. However, even at a leisurely pace the £90 Early Bird ticket remains good value for money and we happily front up our own cash every year. We think many whisky lovers would love to see a longer show or a multiple day one if it worked for the brands exhibiting, of course.

We feel anyone can enjoy this show but if you’re a whisky novice then we would recommend The Whisky Exchange’s: Welcome to Whisky as an alternative that’s built for beginners. You’ll still have a great time at The Whisky Event if you’re a newbie, but it’s a lot of money to commit. For the enthusiast crowd The Whisky Event is unmissable, and it’s secured our award for this year.