Of Johnnie Walker Journey and Fashion Night Out

September is really off to a good start. Last weekend was Electric Zoo, this week was Johnnie Walker Tasting Event and Fashion Night Out in line with Fashion Week.

I headed to the city for Johnnie Walker Tasting Event. The last time I went to a tasting event was almost a year ago so I was eager to go to this one.

The event started with a little cocktail hour where guest are treated to a cocktail made with Johnnie Walker Black Label and some hors d'oeuvres. So I tried the Old-Fashioned which had a slice of orange, lemon, cherry, sugar, bitters and water. It was a pretty interesting drink.

Afterwards, they asked the guest to go to the tasting room where a Johnnie Walker ambassadors guided us through the journey of Johnnie Walker. The last time I went to a Johnnie Walker tasting event, the video presentation and lighting effects was really phenomenal. This time around, the video is much different but still quite interesting. It was still quite an experience sniffing and tasting the various labels of Johnnie Walker.

We started off with Black, followed by Red, then Gold, Green and finally Blue. Each brought out a different taste in our palates. Black has that strong aroma while Red had a sweet aftertaste. Gold was served chilled and the ambassador highly recommends it to be chilled before serving. As for the Green, we tasted it differently, the ambassador asked the guest to pour a drop on the palm of our hands, rub them together and sniff the aroma of the Green label. It had the nature flavor to it. And finally, the Blue Label, Johnnie Walker's premium blend with every bottled serial numbered accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and its one of the most expensive scotch whiskeys in the world. I could say that I have drank a Blue Label (cross off my bucket list).



Then came Fashion Night Out...

Fashion Night Out is an event that happens during NY Fashion Week. For one night, stores had special promos and discounts - not to mention celebrities and parties galore - to lure shoppers back and revive the fashion industry. For me though, the lure was DJ Fedde Le Grand playing a set at the Armani Exchange Flagship store in Soho.

So we made our way to Soho and the place was already getting crowded with fashionistas, fanatic fans and bargain hunters. Not to mention food and fashion trucks plying the streets of Broadway, Prince, and Mercer. We stood in line outside Armani Exchange and was awarded with a iTunes gift card which I could use to buy the new A|X Music mixed by Le Grand himself and VIP tickets to Pacha, NYC. He started his set with Back and Forth ("Put Your Hands Up for New York") to get the crowd rocking and kept the momentum with a mixture of House music. A|X store employees were probably surprised while shoppers were mesmerized by the fistpumping crowd  singing and chanting while Fedde played tunes from A|X Music as well as his own tunes. The crowd dissipated after his set was done.

Soho was surely packed and I was surprised that some of the side streets were not closed during the event. I passed by 3.1 Phillip Lim store and the crowd outside was having a great time with the street party and music was blasting from inside the store. While the Piperlime store had the crowd spilling towards the street that traffic was on a standstill. The crowd was apparently there to catch a glimpse of Rachel Zoe. I think that Fashion Night Out was a success this year and cannot wait for next year.

Of course the night didn't ended without having some food, stopping by Bar 89 and had the 89 Club with Chicken and Avocado. It was delicious.

Links: Johnnie Walker | Fashion Night Out | Bar 89 | SoHo | Armani Exchange

Thats was.. Electric Zoo

Electric Zoo, the largest EDM festival in New York City was just held last weekend and it sure was a great experience. The 2 day - 12 hour festival produced by Made Event brings together some of the biggest name in the EDM business such as Armin van Buuren, Chemical Brothers, Markus Schulz, Afrojack, Gareth Emery, Victor Calderone, Cosmic Gate, Above and Beyond, Axwell, Benny Benassi, Rusko, ATB, Laidback Luke, Steve Aoki and many more.

Sure was packed when I got to Randall's Island Park on Saturday. Luckily, hurricane Earl decided to not visit New York that day but it sure was windy. There was a long line just to get through the first checkpoint. After that, there was another checkpoint for security purposes. I wouldn't mind such security as long as there are no troubles within the festival especially after what has happen at Electric Daisy and the Love Parade. I had a chance to see Glenn Morrison, Gareth Emery, Markus Schulz, Afrojack, Chuckie, Benny Bennasi, Boris, ATB, Kaskade, Axwell, and The Chemical Brothers. I would say the best set that night was Gareth Emery. He just had the crowd pumped up from the beginning to the end even during a short lull when the equipment died on him during the time he was playing Stranger to Stability. ATB's set was a bit weird especially when he had a Rage Against the Machine tune within his set. Afrojack, Chuckie and Axwell just wowed the crowd while Chemical Brothers got the crowd going with their unique set and lighting.

Sunday felt so different. The weather was really gorgeous with the sun shining and wasn't as windy as Saturday. I got there and surprisingly there were no lines and seems like everyone was still resting their sore legs from Saturday. But the crowd sure got bigger as the day progresses that by 12:30pm the place was getting packed. I had a chance to catch D. Ramirez, Cosmic Gate, Laidback Luke, Moby, Above and Beyond, Sander Van Doorn, Fedde Le Grand, Diplo, and of course, Armin van Buuren. The best set would go to Armin van Buuren and Cosmic Gate while I was really surprised with Moby's and Fedde Le Grand's set. And I had a chance to meet Nic and Bossi of Cosmic Gate.

Great weather, great music, good food, great crowd and awesome friends make up a really awesome festival.  Can't wait for Electric Zoo 2011.

Electric Zoo website

Electric Zoo Reviews	DJ's Live Set	Photos
Moby's Electric Zoo BlackBook Mag Sputnik Music NY Times Dont Forget to Go Home Dancing Astronaut TGRIonline Big Shot Day 1 | Day 2	Glenn Morrison Dirty South	The Culture of Me Nicky Digital - Day 1 Nicky Digital - Day 2 Metromix Gallery Dirty South Pic Joachim Garraud Pic Brooklyn Vegan Day 1 | Day 2