Entering its 16th year of serving Melbourne the best of the spirit world, Whisky & Alement and its owner-operator-led team has always sought to challenge the whisky connoisseur and welcome the curious drinker. Their 2026 Melbourne Food & Wine Festival event Can You Spot a 30-Year-Old Scotch? sold out across five sessions with a singular proposition. Here’s co-owner Julian White on how they made it fly.
How did you come up with the idea for your event?
Brooke [Hayman, Whisky & Alement co-owner] and I were talking about an event that inspired us years ago at Armadale Cellars. We never actually went to the event but maybe it’s why we weren’t scared to give it a go. The Penfolds Grange challenge was essentially the same, where guests were presented a series of wines ranging in price and prestige with one being Penfolds’ renowned Grange. We thought to ourselves that this could totally be interchangeable with whisky.
Potentially defrocking a big brand isn’t the premise of the event; it’s more for guests to understand what we perceive the flavours of a 30-year-old Scotch are and whether that lives up to our expectation. One of the biggest takeaways for a lot of the 125-odd guests that attended was that a 30-year-old Scotch is actually the outcome of trends, economic sentiment and the supply landscape from the year that it was produced. Once all of these factors were explained throughout the course of the tasting, peoples expectations of flavour is altered and they build a narrative around what this whisky has actually been through, bringing it to life.
What did you serve on the day?
We served six whiskies on the day, varying in price and flavour profile. From 12-year-old classics, a couple of big names and then some heavily cask-influenced bottlings which showed guests just how quickly flavour can be packed into a whisky. What seemed to strike people about the 30-year-old was that it wasn’t the most flavour-packed whisky on the tasting. The 30-year-old was nuanced and integrated.
Looking back now, what was the highlight of the whole thing?
The biggest highlight for me was leading all these people through what happens to a whisky over time in a cask, describing how these flavours develop and what to look out for. Then watching around 25 per cent of people get it right across all the sessions. This amazing result showed me that despite how different 30-year-old whiskies can be, they can be pinpointed blind by their attributes.
Is there anything you’d do differently if you were to run a similar event in the future?
Given the cost per person of pouring a $1,300 whisky plus five others meant that adding an element of food would have bumped up the ticket price dramatically. Food would have completed an awesome day out but there was plenty to chew on without it.
What did you find was the best way to sell the tickets or otherwise get the word out?
We run about 30 to 40 unique events at the bar each year so there’s a bit of a recipe to selling events like this: a key word of recognition, like Scotch in the title. A big number or claim and then give the customer a sense of challenge, learning something or their own involvement in the event. MFWF does a great job of exposure so a catchy title and a few extra prongs of awareness did the trick.
What’s the best event you’ve been to lately at another venue? What made it so great?
I attended a great event with Dr Bill Lumsden, master blender for Moët Hennessey’s whisky brands. It was an event for industry that was designed to be less of a performance and more about the professional development within the industry. Speaking with what felt like his peers gave a personal feeling to the event and this is what made it special.
Any advice for anyone thinking of doing an event for the first time?
The 2027 Festival will be the 10th or 11th time now. We like to challenge ourselves to go and learn something new that we can bring to the customer. Whether it’s a new technique, a new joining of the dots or a new approach to something old, lending your specialty to another discipline or brand is often a great way to get creative juices flowing. Unlikely candidates sometimes carry the best ideas.
Whisky & Alement, 270 Russell St, Melbourne, whiskyandale.com.au, @whiskyandalement