| The Whisky Festival, C/o NC Connect, PO Box 12420, Die Boord, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 7613 Click here to contact the Website editor. Click here to contact the organisers of the festival. Click here to contact the Whisky Live Festival PR Team. Click here to contact us at Whisky Live Festival. |
When Karen Chaloner and Sian Neubert, two ex-Zimbabwean kindred spirits made a conscious decision to give up their careers in the whisky liquor business and the hospitality/event world "to take time out" and decided to meet for a long lunch on a beautiful Stellenbosch farm, it is not surprising that the creative juices flowed and they contemplated how best to pool their resources.
Both have a love of people, enormous energy, a passion for fine food and whisky, a desire to have fun, to create unusual innovative events and a determination to go the extra mile with the finishing touches.
NC Connect - a company specialising in "event art" evolved in October 2002. Enter an advertising guru and connoisseur of whisky, Mike Orrey of Orrey Rightford Drysdale, and the vision grew from exclusive corporate whisky dinners to the staging of the first ever Whisky Festival in South Africa!
Having spent 8 years working with Brandhouse as both J&B and Johnnie Walker Marketing Manager, and her subsequent involvement with the setting up of the College of Whisky , Karen realized that the time was right to stage a Whisky Festival in South Africa . "The idea wasn't new and we later discovered the entire whisky industry had been talking about it individually, but it needed an independent, credible team to fully conceptualise and implement it - and more importantly to convince the industry to work together to showcase their products collectively in such fiercely competitive markets! "
"So armed with Sian's creative event management and sponsorship knowledge gained in her 12 years in the hospitality/event management business, we set out to produce a unique show that would showcase the aspirational positioning of whisky and elevant the experience beyond just another tasting event" The first ever Cape Times/V&A Waterfront Whisky Festival was officially launched at Clock Tower at the Waterfront on the 8th October 2003. 3000 people attended, over 120 whiskies were showcased and unprecedented media coverage achieved". The Whisky Festival was firmly established as an annual roadshow event!
Following on from the overwhelming success of the inaugural event, Karen and Sian were invited to attend Whisky Live in London where they networked with the "Hollywood of the Whisky Industry", sampling an array of whiskies never seen in South Africa. "We are conscious that we need to build and strengthen the consumer's interest by introducing a greater range of premium whiskies to the Whisky Show.
Our aim was to form relationships with whisky writers/personalities as well as independent bottlers who may be interested in distribution opportunities in South Africa." said Sian . "The growth in the whole whisky category has grown enormously and South Africa is now viewed as one of the top whisky emerging markets, particularly in premium malts. Last year, we launched at least 8 new whiskies at the show and those brands attained their forecasted sales targets for the month in just three days of each show!"
With FNB as our title sponsor and the support of our media partners, the Cape Times and Business Day, the Whisky Live Festival has evolved tremendously and has become a benchmark for the global whisky industry. This year, consumers will experience a greater level of international participation,at least six new whisky releases as well as fabulous innovative and interactive extensions to the show to ensure that it is a "night not to be missed".
In 2005 Karen had the honour of being appointed a Keeper of the Quaich, currently the Vice Chairman of the South Africa Chapter. The Keepers of the Quaich is an exclusive internationally recognised society with members in over 74 countries worldwide. Membership, by invitation only, is granted to those with a positive record of contribution to the international success of Scotch Whisky.
NC Connect also represents Whisky Magazine in South Africa as well as conceptualise, handcraft and event manage niche corporate events..... which generally include a spash of whisky!
