Visitors to last night’s Fine Brandy Fusion gig at the Cape Town International Convention Centre were sorely disappointed not to taste Die Mas van Kakamas which was like a local version of Air Malaysia flight MH370 – disappeared without a trace. On Thursday night the SA Brandy Foundation waved people over to the corner of Oude Molen but on Friday the truth slowly emerged. Kakamas had disappeared. “And they were so excited to come” said one pourer.

Their place was taken by Porsche who obviously think that drinking and driving has marketing merit. But FBF was much the poorer for it, being instead a showcase for the three big boys: Distell, KWV and Oude Molen with the little uns like Aficionados missing like Cheeki Rafiki. Where was the diversity? The single barrels? The passion?

At the Brandy Foundation stand, where I tasted the 13 year old Elsenburg (above) which will be auctioned off for air tickets to France later this year. Meanwhile the primrose path aka the urban brandy route was booming, serving brandy cocktails. Whether slippery nipples and sex on the beach is the way to sell fine potstill brandy is still not clear to me although the Van Ryn bar (below), which looked like an exploded view of the Cheeki Rafiki upturned hull found by the US Coast Guard last night as we sipped ginger and Van Ryn 10 yo, certainly made a point.

As for the mobile bar which won the Design Indaba prize – also missing, with nobody knowing where it was. Perhaps it was so mobile, it had wandered off to look for Die Mas van Kakamas.