Whisky at your Wedding — Whisky Advocate

I had planned to write this story for months, but kept getting distracted and/or busy, so it took me going on vacation for it to actually get done. Planning a wedding takes a lot of effort and coordination, and I wanted to contribute in the areas I was best equipped to. That included music, dress, and whiskey. I had been at Whisky Advocate for less than a year by the time of our wedding, but had enough sense to know that the bar package offered by the venue wasn't going to cut it. While they were offering high end vodkas, the whiskeys, frankly, sucked. Dewars, Jack Daniel's, and Canadian Club are all fine whiskies for the company open bar, but given that this was supposed to be an epic day, I needed better stuff. I asked what it would take to get a single malt scotch on the bar, and the answer was $700 for Glenlivet 12, a popular scotch no doubt, but commonplace as well.

Assuming that's a $40 whiskey, the math works out to 17.5 bottles of Livet 12. Crazy. I knew I could do better myself and so I set out to assemble a whiskey experience that would impress. This story is the result of what I found, with many of the recommendations pulled straight from my wedding day. We drank Dalmore 12 ($60) while getting ready. I grabbed a 1.75 of Glenmorangie ($80) for the Tisch (a pre-ceremony toast) as well as a bottle of Balvenie Caribbean Cask ($65) which I later placed on our bride-groom table, though when I had enough, I dropped it off with close friends, whose faces and Instagrams, lit up with excitement. 

I made a few missteps and incorporated those into the piece. The Dalmore as well as a big jug of Glenfiddich 12 were nixed by the synagogue because they were partially aged in wine casks, and we couldn't be certain if that wine was kosher. So, I kept those bottles at the hotel. They were well taken care of.

One last note that I didn't put in the story. I would have loved to have a bottle of Macallan 18 or something else super spendy, but it wasn't in the budget. Or rather, I had the choice one bottle of that or keeping my selections available all night. Enjoy the piece and make sure your big toast is special.