Craft Distilling Expo hits five-year milestone

London trade fair the Craft Distilling Expo is set to return to the city for its fifth year next month, with a comprehensive events schedule spanning workshops, talks and masterclasses.

The Craft Distilling Expo is set to return to east London for its fifth year next month

Featuring more than 30 exhibitors, including still manufacturers and bottle and closure suppliers, the main Expo will take place at The Boiler House in the Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane from Wednesday 4 October to Thursday 5 October.

Highlights of the event include a UK whisky panel discussion chaired by author Jim Murray, a session exploring the differences between pot and vapour-distilled gin, and a seminar titled Nosing for Faults, led by Julia Nourney and The Aroma Academy. Alexandre Gabriel of Cognac Ferrand has been named as keynote speaker.

The week’s festivities kick off with a whisky distilling workshop at East London Liquor Company on Tuesday 3 October, and close with a gin distilling workshop at the distillery on Friday 7 October.

Speaking about the schedule of talks and seminars, conference director David T Smith said: “Whilst gin is an ever popular subject, there is a growing interest in whisky, especially as some of the post-2008 distilleries come of age, hence our discussion panel on UK whisky.

“A subject we’re seeing an increased demand for this year is vodka, and our Back to Bases talk – looking at the raw materials used to make vodka with Veronika Karlova – is proving to be a big hit.”

The Craft Distilling Expo will also see the launch of the Crafdi Directory of European Distilleries, which boasts more than 360 entries from across Europe and includes information on the spirits made at each site.