Cocktail in one hand, whisky in the other: how the night works when you come as two

When two people come out together, the question is usually whether the night works for both of you — especially if one would rather have a cocktail. It does. HDF Whiskey Edition is built so that cocktails, wine and beer are served all evening alongside the whisky, and the two of you can take completely different routes through the night while staying in the same room.

Here is that route, start to finish. Vanha ylioppilastalo, Helsinki, 9 and 10 October. Read to the end — there is a two-for-one ticket deal down there.

Hour one: cocktail in hand, no barrier to entry

Start with a cocktail. It is the easiest way in, and this year it is also the biggest addition: some of Finland's best bars are pouring, among them The Bull & The Firm and American Bar. Cocktails start at 7 euros, so you can taste what two different bars do inside the same hour.

Whisky is the lead spirit, but there are cocktails built on other dark spirits too. In one evening you get to taste the things people usually cross the city for.

If one of you does not drink spirits at all, there is wine and beer all night. That works too.

Hour two: the first tasting pour, 1 cl at a time

Once there is a cocktail in your hand and the room has opened up, adding a whisky pour is easy.

A pour is 1 cl. That is deliberately small: someone who knows nothing about whisky can try many different flavours in one night, and neither of you has to buy a whole bottle to find a favourite. When there are two of you, order different pours and taste both.

You do not need to know anything in advance. Nobody is going to ask you about peat levels or cask types, and “there is something smoky in this one” is a perfectly good review.

Hour three: pick the tasting that suits you

The tastings are the real programme of the night. One hour, from 20 euros, bought separately from the entry ticket. Places are limited, so they are booked in advance.

The first three tastings are on sale now, and more are coming. These three are also three different starting points, so pick the one that fits the two of you:

Four cocktails, four whisky stories. This is the one to choose if one of you came for the cocktails. The drink is a cocktail, the story is whisky. Hosted by Mika Koivula. Fri 8.50pm, Sat 7.20pm.

Single malt basics. The first step if single malt sounds interesting but is not familiar yet. A few whiskies at a time, and you learn to recognise flavours through the stories behind them. Hosted by Mika Koivula. Fri 5.20pm, Sat 3.50pm.

Around the World Blind Challenge. A blind tasting where the more experienced one of you also has to guess. A good choice if you want to compete against each other. Hosted by Juho Pajunen. Fri 7.05pm, Sat 5.35pm.

More tastings will be announced closer to the event. The programme also includes cocktail schools, where a bartender walks you through it step by step and you make the drink yourself. No experience needed. (The cocktail school programme and on-sale date will be confirmed separately.)

All evening: Bottle of the Hour

Once an hour, one rare whisky is opened, and the quickest people get a pour. Before it is poured there is a short interview about what the bottle actually is. Three or four bottles are opened on each night.

It is a good reason to watch the clock together. One hour, one bottle, one shot at it.

Late evening: room to sit down and talk

In last year's visitor feedback (75 respondents) the two most common requests were more seating and more space. We heard it. Vanha ylioppilastalo is a bigger building, and its historic halls leave room to stop and sit.

That matters when there are two of you. A night spent shouting at each other over a shoulder is not the night you came for.

There is a DJ and there is food. On Friday the doors open at 4pm, so it is easy to come straight from work. Saturday starts at 3pm. Both nights run until closing at 11pm.

People come with friends, on dates, and on their own. In last year's feedback, plenty of visitors said they came specifically with a friend or a date — many of them for the first time.

Practical information

• When: Fri 9 Oct 4–11pm and Sat 10 Oct 3–11pm
• Where: Vanha ylioppilastalo, Mannerheimintie 3, Helsinki
• Age limit: 18+
• Tickets: Friday 16 €, Saturday 20 €, Weekend Pass for both days 32 €
• Tastings: from 20 €, bought separately from the entry ticket
• Cocktails: from 7 €, tasting pour 1 cl
• The event is card payment only, and the ticket includes the cloakroom

And then the two-for-one

Newsletter subscribers get a code for two tickets for the price of one. It is the cheapest way to come as a pair this autumn: Friday for two at 16 euros, Saturday for two at 20 euros.

The offer is capped at 100 tickets and ends in mid-September, or when they run out — whichever comes first.

Subscribe to the newsletter, grab the code, and then decide who you are bringing.