Events

[DRINK] Earlier this year, Bobby Finan helped launch a whiskey festival in Buffalo. It was a success, despite a cease-and-desist letter from another popular whiskey festival with a similar name—so much so that his team, which includes his sister Margaret, who works on the festival full-time, and event organizers Step Out Buffalo, has decided to do it again less than a year later. This time the festival has been re-branded—it’s now called Whiskey Riot Festival—and it takes place not just in Buffalo but in Rochester and Albany, too, with the goal of moving into even more cities next year. Finan is founder and head distiller at Tommyrotter Distillery, a Buffalo-based distillery which opened in 2015. The brand is known mostly for their award-winning American Gin, but they’re now trying to break into the world of whiskey and are hoping that their new Whiskey Riot Festival will be their jumping-off point. If you’re here in Buffalo, you can head to Whiskey Riot Festival at the Adam’s Mark Hotel, where they’ll be holding two sessions—1-4pm and 6-9pm—on Saturday, September 29. But if you’re planning to go, here’s a word to the wise: Buy tickets ahead of time, even if it’s the day of the festival, because due to regulations, they can’t sell tickets at the door. Finan is founder and head distiller at Tommyrotter Distillery, a Buffalo-based distillery which opened in 2015. The brand is known mostly for their award-winning American Gin, but they’re now trying to break into the world of whiskey and are hoping that their new Whiskey Riot Festival will be their jumping-off point.