Tokyo International Bar Show + Whisky Live 2012

Whisky Live has mutated. After luring over 7,500 booze hounds to its Tokyo Midtown debut last year, the venerable drinks festival – which started life back in 2000 – is merging itself into a new event where the bartenders are the star attraction. The inaugural Tokyo International Bar Show features leading bartenders from London (Dukes Bar's Alessandro Palazzi), Paris (Hemingway Bar's Colin Field) and New York (Pegu Club's Kenta Goto) alongside some big names from Japan and other countries around Asia. But it's the opportunity to sample a dizzying variety of spirits, cocktails, beers – and, yes, lots and lots of whisky – that's guaranteed to get punters through the door.