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When sponsors of WhiskyFest in New York suddenly moved the tasting festival last year from Tuesday to Friday and Saturday, many regulars were unable to attend.

An alternative arrived in the form of a one-night event, held on the eve of WhiskyFest. Despite little time to advertise, it drew a crowd of 250 to its unlikely Manhattan location: the West Side Institutional Synagogue.

These whiskey devotees were Jews shut out of the big event because they observe the Sabbath. And to drive home the point of the tasting, its founder, the fledgling Jewish Whisky Company, called it Whisky Jewbilee.

Few whiskey fans are more devoted than Jews, particularly observant Jews. Synagogues are increasingly organizing events around whiskey, and whiskey makers are reaching out to the Jewish market.

Retailers have long recognized Jews as valuable customers. "Jewish men are very interested in the selection of whiskey available at a wedding or bar/bat mitzvah," said Jonathan Goldstein, of Park Avenue Liquor Shop, a Manhattan store. "They very often will pick up a special bottle to offer close friends or relatives."

Part of the spirit's appeal is that most whiskey is naturally kosher. In contrast, wine, owing to its long connection to Jewish tradition, must satisfy many regulations to earn a hechsher, the symbol of kosher certification.

Even so, Scotch producers like Glenrothes, Glenmorangie, Ardbeg, Bowmore and Auchentoshan are courting the Jewish consumer by obtaining official kosher certification for certain bottlings.

Bourbon producers have less to worry about, because by law their spirits must be aged in new casks, rather than in the wine barrels that some whiskey distillers use, and that give some kosher drinkers pause because of their exposure to wine. Yet the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Kentucky recently enlisted the help of the Chicago Rabbinical Council in laying down more than 1,000 barrels of three styles of whiskey, all certified kosher.

"Now we have many whiskeys that we know are kosher," said Rabbi Aaron Raskin of Congregation B'nai Avraham in Brooklyn, whose preferred whiskey is the smoky Laphroaig, a single malt from Islay. "It is used to add to our joy." He added, "And it helps attendance at synagogues."

The extent of a congregation's embrace of whiskey can vary. "It all depends on what rabbi you hold by," Rabbi Arian said. Some are content with whiskeys that are kosher by nature; others like the extra insurance of a hechsher. Aging in wine barrels will disqualify a bottle for one drinker, while another isn't troubled by the distinction.

Whisky Jewbilee will return this fall, at a larger site. "There were a couple distillers that we didn't reach out to" last fall, said Jason Johnstone-Yellin, a founder of the Jewish Whisky Company. "They said, 'You will have us be part, won't you?' They're smart people. They know who's not going to be standing at their table on Friday and Saturday night."

The New York Times

(China Daily 06/16/2013 page10)