I love whiskey. Certainly, I’m no whiskey connoisseur, but I am a whiskey enthusiast. Last weekend was the first ever Champaign Whiskey Fest hosted by the whiskey-loving trio of Downtown Champaign establishments Watson’s Shack & Rail, Punch! Bar & Lounge, and Big Grove Tavern. When I received an invite to Saturday’s whiskey gala by Watson’s Whiskey Czar himself, of course, I said yes.
The whiskey gala was inside the old Destihl restaurant space. Entry for the Saturday event was $69 and included tastings of any of 100+ whiskeys brought by distillers and whiskey experts. My gala ticket was comped, thanks to the czar.
After an ID check, everyone over 21 years received a swag bag with a tasting guide, commemorative nosing glass, coaster, Hershey’s kisses, and an order form for whiskey by the bottle. I kind of wish they had not handed out the bags until the very end because it was a lot to hold the bag, a glass of whiskey, a cup of water, and a phone, but don’t worry, I managed just fine.
This was my first time being back in the old Desithl since before the pandemic. It was simultaneously totally different and yet exactly the same. No walls had been painted, and some booth seating remained tucked behind whiskey tables.
Instead of dining tables, the place was packed with whiskey tables, whiskey pourers, and whiskey. It was as if the whiskey aisle of a liquor store came to life. I saw brands I recognized and much more. The event had about two hundred whiskeys from bourbon to rye to scotch spread out over 33 tables. The whiskey tables were everywhere, in the front space with booths along the Neil Street windows, all around the in the main dining room, in the private side dining room, and the bar area, too.
With so many whiskeys and all available for trying, it was initially overwhelming. Every table had a number, some whiskey, a spit bucket, and somebody (or a few somebodies) who knew a lot about that particular whiskey. And they would freely pour whichever whiskey people wanted to try.
For me, the charm of the Champaign Whiskey Fest was the connection to the whiskeys. Every whiskey has a story, and each table was an opportunity to meet people behind the whiskey and learn their whiskey philosophy. It’s not something I’d experience anywhere else and not in this magnitude all at once.
I bopped around the gala and stopped whenever bottles caught my eye. This Kentucky whiskey table called Pinhook had a horse theme. Pinhook the name comes from a Kentucky horse term for buying young thoroughbreds and coaching them into champions, kind of paying homage to the similarities between horse racing and whiskey-making. The colors of each bottle mimic jockey silks, and the horses printed on the front are real Kentucky horses. I asked the guy if the horses knew they were on the bottle, and he said he didn’t think they knew, which is a little sad because I wish the horses knew.
I was enthralled by this whiskey. From a table with only two whiskeys, Cow Creek whiskey was wild! The Illinois bourbon had major grass notes on the nose before sipping, like fresh-cut clover on a late summer muggy day. But when sipped, the whiskey tasted so smooth and delicious with only a bit of matcha-esque earthiness, nothing as intense as the aroma. Made nearby in Paxton, this whiskey was poured by the farmer of the farm whiskey. He told me about the creek that runs through his backyard and how it’s where cows come hang like for a pool party. That’s where this whiskey gets its name.
Most of the tables were hosted by someone who had distilled the very bottles they poured like this duo from Nashville, Indiana. They poured their whiskey and told me about the distillery’s ATV rentals and restaurant. I tried a few great whiskeys here, but I liked the sweet mash bourbon most.
The only table with adorable teeny-tiny cup samples, Tennessee whiskey Uncle Nearest was delicious. The brand’s name is inspired by the first known African-American master distiller, Nathan “Nearest” Green and has won more than 75 awards. The complexity of the whiskeys was delicious, and I liked the booklet on the tables with a history of the company plus recommended whiskey cocktail recipes.
Another cool table was Compass Box and all their gorgeous labeled bottles. Hedonism was the first ever whisky to feature a female form on the label: an image from a late 19th century English painting. This table encouraged me to sample a lot, and I did. Every scotch I tried here was so good.
Another guest at the event told me to try a marshmallow whiskey and where exactly to find it, and so I did. From Hotel Tango brand, the ‘Shmallow whiskey was so luxurious to sip. It had both a marshmallow sweetness and a campfire smokiness, much more complex than I expected, plus it had a cool bottle.
Turns out, trying lots of little pours adds up to full pours quickly. And because there were so many tables, there never really was a line at any table. And if there was, people seemed to mosey over to another and came back later — or not. The gala had so many whiskeys that it would have been impossible to try them all.
Realizing this, I made a plan to seek out the most expensive whiskey.
I found it: Crown Royal Green Apple. This golden bottle was selling (at a special gala discount) for $237 — outside my price range, but on Saturday, I got to try it. It tasted like crisp apples blanketed in vanilla with a little bit of fall spice. It was extremely delicious, probably the most delicious flavored whiskey I’ve ever had.
I also tried the cheapest whiskey at the gala, which was also an apple flavored whiskey: J Seeds apple cider whiskey. Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t as good as the expensive one. At a tenth of the price, it tasted exactly like I expected: syrupy sweet with a big hit of fall apple. It was fun to try both and interesting to me that out of all the whiskeys, both the most and least expensive were apple-flavored.
Champaign Whiskey Fest also offered some light bites by the three host restaurants. Once I started to feel the whiskey, I needed something to do besides keep sipping whiskey after whiskey.
The cheese curds, an app from Big Grove Tavern’s menu, were so yummy. The crispy panko exterior kept the cheese hot, so they had a great cheese pull even on the buffet. These were gone fast.
Watson’s brought their tasty pimento cheese dip appetizer with crackers and accouterments. I love Watson’s pimento cheese because it’s creamy and thick and tastes great on a cracker with a pickle. This app was a good pick for the event, but I will say that the ratio of cheese to cracker was off. By the end, there was a lot of cheese left without crackers to put it on.
Punch! brought their shareable app of pretzels, sliced to bite-size. I enjoyed the yummy pretzel bites, but I missed the smoked beer cheese or piña colada sauce that Punch! usually pairs with it.
Offering snacks was a good call with all the booze, and it was fun to have three different restaurant’s appetizers side by side.
Also at the whiskey event was Chicago’s infamous iconic Malört and its brand’s line-up of whiskey. I skipped the Malört this time, and I liked trying out the different whiskeys. It was cool to see some budget whiskey options and see more things from this brand because I definitely prefer bourbon to Malört.
More than American whiskey, the fest also had two international options. One of which was the Hibiki Japanese Harmony, a special whisky blend of malt and grain whiskies, and it tasted wonderful.
There were so many whiskeys, and I tried a lot. At this point, my notes got a little fuzzy, I’m afraid.
I will say nothing I tried was bad. Every whiskey was good.
Sure enough, the more I had, the better everything tasted.
The five-day Champaign Whiskey Fest had more to it than this grand finale Saturday gala that I attended. Tuesday through Thursday, the different bars each hosted a tasting, and on Friday, the trio came together for a VIP tasting for 42 people with special pours and hard-to-find whiskeys.
Overall, the Champaign Whiskey Fest was awesome from theme to execution. Everything was whiskey-centered and ran super smoothly. When Punch!, Watson’s, and Big Grove Tavern unite over whiskey, they come up with really cool things. Getting to taste so many different whiskeys in one day was absolutely incredible; I found so many new whiskeys to love, and I have the cutest cup to remember the event by. The organizers were walking around and checking in with the guests through the whole event. The people pouring booze knew their stuff and seemed genuinely interested in chatting with people about whiskey. I met a farmer, distillers, and I even met the guy who has a signature on the side of whiskey bottles.
I especially enjoyed the event’s relaxed go-at-your-own-pace situation. There was no formal program nor was table order important, and nobody was expected to try everything. From my perspective, it seemed like everyone was having a good time. I definitely enjoyed my time at Champaign Whiskey Fest.
At future iterations of this event, I hope to see some tables for guests to put plates or cups on. When we were eating our appetizers, it was a lot to juggle without a spot to set things down. Holding a plate, napkins, nosing glass, water cup, and swag bag at the same time was a challenge. A few high top tables would help. Or maybe set up the food on a table like the whiskeys, so guests could use the existing bar to set down cups or plates.
That said, being back in the old Destihl space was so cool, but I missed Destihl’s beer-battered bacon strips. I know we all hope something awesome will move into the empty space one day, but Saturday’s whiskey fest was a pretty rad use for it.
