You know that bottle you've been saving for a special occasion? Crack it open because today we have some good news to share. Tir Na Blog reports that the Kansas City Irish Festival (September 2-4 at Crown Center) will have an Irish whiskey lounge for the first time. Fat City caught up with Irish Fest founder Dan Regan to talk about what's in store this year.
"We've been wanting to do it for years," Regan says. "It's a huge deal because Irish whiskey is a big part of the culture."
There will be two components to the whiskey lounge. Those who purchase a ticket will be able to enter the lounge throughout the festival to sample the whiskeys on hand. In addition, there will be scheduled tastings led by a distributor or distillery representative.
The lounge will be modeled after similar setups at the Milwaukee Irish Festival and the Dublin, Ohio, Irish Festival. Festivalgoers will be delighted to see Irish whiskey represented (Regan says a lack of whiskey has been an annual gripe), but it isn't likely that whiskey will be joined by Guinness anytime soon. The official stout of the festival is Boulevard's Stout. The local brewery even creates a special batch for the annual event.
"The Kansas City part is just as important as the Irish in Irish Fest," Regan says of the decision to serve Boulevard.
As for the lounge, the festival is talking to potential sponsors and hammering out the details for the reserved tickets. Keep an eye on kcirishfest.com for more details about ticket sales this summer.
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