The Whisky Live Celebration takes place at Suncoast Casino from May 12-14 before heading off to Pretoria from June 2-4. We spoke to Emily Stockden, COO of Whisky Live.How big is the whisky market in South Africa?Very big. South Africa is the world's seventh-biggest export market for Scotch whisky - in 2014 we consumed £156-million worth of Scotch.What trends are we seeing locally?A rising interest in bourbons. At the Cape Town show, Bulleit bourbon and Wild Turkey were the most sampled whiskies.Who's drinking whisky and why?According to our stats, whisky drinkers are 70% male: 50% of them white, 38% black and 12% Indian and coloured; 43% of whisky drinkers spend R300 plus on whisky a month and 22% spend between R250 and R300. Whisky drinkers are a high status, aspirational market.Advice for a new whisky drinker who visits the show?Try the Irish whiskies first - they're smooth and easy to drink. Visit Black Bottle, they're offering a whisky cocktail. Cocktails show how diverse the drink is and that's a nice way to ease in.For the more experienced drinker?There is a peated whisky section with whiskies that aren't commonly known. Don't miss the opportunity to taste the Wolfburn single malt, from a distillery that's not produced for 150 years. It sold like hot cakes in Cape Town. Scottish Cousins are a new blend launching at the show.Are there rules about how to drink whisky?The event is all about breaking those barriers. The drink is diverse; there's no right way or wrong way. The very fact we're serving whisky cocktails shows there are no rules. The experts can teach you how to best taste a whisky but you're not doing a tasting every time you drink so if you want to add a mixer that's fine - a lot of the experts do. ..