At TGIFguide, we love a good margarita, mojito, glass of wine, a nice old fashioned, even scotch on the rocks. In fact, there has rarely been a libation that hasn’t floated our thirsty boat. We’ve been lucky enough to have received invitations to a few different tastings around the city lately, for Johnnie Walker, Herradura, and The MaCallan, and we wanted to share our experience with each liquor!
On Thursday, March 21st, the TGIFguide team headed to The House of Walker. We’ll go right off the bat and say we’re happy to stay at the House of Walker any time! The Johnnie team showed us the ultimate in hospitality from the minute they picked us up in their branded shuttle and whisked us away to a house in the Hollywood Hills. Upon entering we were greeted with friendly (and not to mention beautiful) faces of House of Walker hostesses and escorted into the facade where we received our first taste of the new Johnnie Walker Double Black. Smooth and smokey, we all enjoyed our first taste of their new spirit followed by an experiment featuring the classic Johnnie Walker Black. It’s amazing how the flavors changed through sipping it neat, adding a few drops of water, and then a few ice cubes – so complex and perfectly simple at the same time.
Johnnie Walker brand video.
That was only the beginning! After our Double Black and Black experience, we were invited to climb the stairs of the mansion and enjoy specialty Manhattans featuring Johnnie Walker Red Label, and a sophisticated sip of Johnnie Walker Blue outside by the pool. If they had been selling bottles at the event, we would have stocked up for the next 100 years. Cheers to the best whiskey on the planet!
TGIFguide team at the Herradura event
Herradura tequila was a similar experience, however it was more like a party, and there’s nothing better than a tequila party! Hosted at Siren Studios in Hollywood, guests were invited to enjoy hand-crafted cocktails created by some of LA’s top mixologists. The food was great and the ambiance was even better. Live art was being performed by painters featuring avant-garde chalk drawings on the wall and live nude models being splattered with paint! Not to mention the fab crowd Herradura brought together. Like we said… there ain’t no party like a tequila party! From now on the only tequila we order is Herradura!
Now for The Macallan. We love the liquor, yes, but believe the brand reps could have shown us a bit more hospitality. We were escorted into a large room in Culver City (which happened to be next to a crack house) and were invited to sip on a small sample of The Macallan and snack on hor dourves. The host gave a nice and to the point presentation as we sampled 4 selections of The Macallan. We were rushed out rudely after the last sip from the presentation had hardly touched our tounges, and were forced to walk around the entire block (alone next to a crack house) because they had closed off all entrances. When we asked for help to avoid walking an entire city block back to our car, we were laughed at. From now on, the only scotch we buy is JW!! Sorry Macallan, we may give you another chance in the future, and we love the fact that they own 90% of the cherry oak beryls on the planet, but in the end that isn’t what matters. What matters is how you treat your people – especially people that you want to be your customers.
The Macallan brand presentation
Written by Jacqueline Chambers
Jacqueline Chambers is the founder of TGIFguide. She uses her innate skills as a natural “connector” to serve businesses, brands and individuals in the LA area and beyond.
