December 2008

<This month marks the first to use the new e-zine format.  This will persist until I catch this site up, and then I will return to the normal blog format.  I will continue direct communication using the e-zine...>

October 2008

To My Steadfast Concomitants, Greetings!

I must start my letter this month with a hearfelt thank you to those of you who attended the first meeting of our third year as a club.  And to our newest - though by no means least experienced - companion, the warmest of welcomes!  I realize, with the chill weather now ardently upon us, how difficult it is to make one's way out into th ecold, but what better time can there be to enjoy the invigorating warmth that only a drop of the finest can bring?

So as not to bore you with my ramblings, let me proceed to the results of our first tasting of the '08-'09 year.  You will, I am certain, recall that we have designed to tour around the country (again), comparing members of the Classic Malts line to other specimens of the related regions.  In October, our comparison was between to twelve year old Speysiders: Cragganmore and Macallan.

We began with The Macallan, a deep red-gold whisky evocative of the Nibelungian Hoard.  Caramel, sherry and spice were first to the nose.  ...was there a bit of bubble gum as well?  Unfortunately, the nose misled the tongue, the whisky providing a somewhat hollow flavor.  Burned toast, fruit jams, and an earthiness characterized the medium-legged glass.  More clover and caramel came with water, and more cereal notes as well, but it was noted that this dram might actually be better undiluted.  Pair this one with baked goods.  Overall, we scored The Macallan a 5.8.

Cragganmore, the Diageo brand, was on deck.  This pale golden, seemingly unassuming glass was sweeter all around, with honey and cream on the nose; a bit of solvent as well, apparently thrown in to remind us that it was, after all, a whisky.  There was something in the flavor that none of us could evoke.  The standard vanillas and honey, but also baked yams.  It was warm without being smokey, but there was something else we couldn't put our finger on.  This one finished nicely, and we all agreed it was definitive of the region.  The Macallan earned a solid 7.0.

We finished our evening at supper with the folks at the Old Toad, and it is apparent that, although the talent has not yet returned to our desired level, the service certainly has.  And between the two, I'd pick the generous German who has had Scotch (even if it's just a story) over the copious Cuban who has cigars to spare (especially when they don't smoke that well).

Until next time, I remain faithfully yours,

Sláinte,

October 2008 - An Invitation

<I include the below, contrary to my Welcome message, in an attempt to set a context for the series of tastings that follow>

Gentlemen and Friends,

As much as I desire to be well prepared in advance of the occasion, I continue to find myself at the last minute with little more than a good intention gone awry.  I must admit though, that the wee Caol Isla upon which I sip is doing more than its share, on this chill Autumn evening, to help ease my anguish.

Before you blink, our October 16th meeting will be upon us.  The forecast is crisp chill with only a hint of a chance for precipitation, making it the perfect evening for a nip of the pure and the warm camaraderie of fine friends!

As promised, I've had several conversations regarding our upcoming program of events.  The general agreement is to spend the next five months touring Scotland in an attempt to pitch one Classic Malt against one contender of the same region whose style is somewhat different from the expected.  Here's the outline, though I must warn you that there is still the possibility of a bug in my ear leading us in a slightly different way by the time we get to a region...

• We start in Speyside, in an attempt to counter the recent lingering we've had on Islay.  The first comparison (October's, in fact) is Cragganmore versus Macallan.  In processing the choices, I was amazed that we hadn't already scored either of these!
• We linger in the region, but begin making our way North along the shore to pit Clynelish against The Dalmore.
• Then it's over the mountains to see how Dalwhinnie (one of our top 5) stands up to Aberfeldy.  I'm interested in putting the effect of order into play, to see if trying the Aberfeldy second makes any difference in our scorings.
• Next is a bit of the East Coast versus West Coast thing, as we sail out with Old Poultney and into Oban.
• And finally, we end up on Islay again, where we'll stand Bunnahabain up against Caol Isla.  Here, in particular, is a place where I might be swayed to take a more heavily peated malt instead of the most complex one, in going against what is generally accepted as the most unpeated of the Islay malts.
• And this will end us up in Founder's Month where we can re-try whatever is our heart's content.

To avoid any undue rambling, I'll leave it at that, and provide the standard agenda:

• 6:30 PM ~ Monty's for our tasting.
• 8:00 PM(-ish) ~ The Old Toad again, unless anyone feels strongly about moving elsewhere.
• Afterwards ~ Light up your preferred after-dinner smoke on the street and chat it up...

Croí follain agus gob fliuch!

(the Gaelic toast "A healthy heart and a wet mouth!")

Sláinte,

September 2008

Gentlemen and Ladies,

It's been just over a week since our September "business" meeting, and I wanted to pass along the results of our discussion and invite any further feedback.

First things first, of course, I would be a poor host not to thank all of you who attended and provided your earnest opinions.

The salient points of the conversation were:

• On the matter of continuing to use the forums versus a static website and communicate by regular email, there was near unanimous agreement that  communication by email is the simplest and most familiar means available.  Members want to be notified by email, and have access to the results list, and potentially the overall calendar, online.  In addition to this being perceived the easiest communication mechanism, an added benefit we could worry less about managing those allowed to contribute and not have to monitor for potentially offensive content.  I will communicate the concept discussed, with JB, our ardent Web Master.
• On the matter of forming a Program Committee: PK, the Big Yin, and yours truly, will meet as soon as possible to plan the next series of events.  Pierce may attend, and will certainly help develop some signage once we line up our events.  One of our members has offered to put us in contact with a graphic design friend, so it may be that some good artwork if forthcoming. For those who may have forgotten, or who were not around during the formative time, we do have a logo and "club colors"; accepted by vote in December of 2006.  I have included these as background to this email, and have sent some samples along to our friend, separately.
• We discussed, largely as a sidebar, the vision of our organization, and the directive to "turn Rochester into Scotchester" was adopted whole-heartedly.  World domination may come after ...all in due time my friends, all in due time...
• On a closing note, C---- generated the bright idea to have jerseys/T-shirts made up that would include, on the back: our name / nickname and favorite number, and, on the front: the club's, and perhaps a sponsor's, logo.  I would appreciate feedback on this idea.  If there is widespread interest, I'd like to move quickly to start the process.  If you are interested, please reply and let me know how much you might be willing to pay for something like this, or if you have another idea for the "Club Store".

So much for promptly distributing the minutes of the business meeting, but there they are never-the-less.  You'll be hearing from me again before too much longer, so without further delay...

Sláinte,

A Missing Year

My Faithful Readers,

My letters for the year commencing August 2007 and completing August 2008 appear to be lost to the mists of time.  I am, however, able to report that my own memories are not so degraded, and especially as I am prompted by a copy of all our scores I keep here in my office at home.  I beg your patience as I summarize these months.

The summer of 2007 proved to be the first challenging period for the Club.  Attendance was spotty at best, and it wasn't clear that the Club would survive much longer.  It, of course, has...

September 2007 was our first official business meeting.  As with any growing enterprise, the early years held little in the way of business, and we spent this time primarily in the revelry of our cups and company.  The two orders of business we did conduct were the collection of the subscription to pay for the awards the Club procured for our favored server and waitress; and the presentation of the awards to their recipients.

October found us sampling Aberfeldy and Dewar's White Label.  Aberfeldy is the primary malt used in the Dewar's blend, and our intent was to see if we could find the malt's character in the blend.  Neither performed very well.  November pitted the same Dewar's White Label against Johnny Wlaker Black Label.  An undoubtedly interesting match, though both paled in comparison to the scores we generally provide to our singles.  In December we sipped Caol Ila for the first time.

In January 2008 it was the Nectar D'Or.  In February we held our "Battle of the Glens", pitting Glenfiddich Solera Reserve against Glenlivet French Oak Reserve, both 15 year old single malts.  The Glenlivet inched out the win with a score half a point greater than that of the Glenfiddich.  March was our first official Founder's Month, and there was no 'proper' tasting held.  April found us on Islay, tasting Laphroaig and Talisker; Lagavulin and Ardbeg followed in May.  On an interesting note, the Talisker performed very poorly relative to the Laphroaig.  Of the entire 'lost' period, this Lagavulin tasting scored the highest overall.  We took an aside in June, to taste the newly available Buchanan's Special Reserve.  This event was "sponsored" by our local distributer, and included a host of informative materials.  Although not a bad whisky, the Buchanan's did not score very well, though this may be attributable to the fact that there were very few members in attendance this month.  The attendance was so poor in July that we did not "officially" score any whisky.  I suppose very little has changed over the years, and I'm prompted to consider whether summer time tastings should become something much lighter than those of the rest of the year.  We conclude the lost year with a tasting of the Singleton of Glendullan.  This dram scored rather well, ending the year on a positive note!

I now return you to our regularly documented events.

Sláinte,

July 2007

Gentlemen,

    As a result of the height of summer's other recreations, July's Third Thursday was not held.  Not to be completely undone however, I enjoyed my own dram, burned my own cigar, and took the wife to the Toad for supper (she was a very good sport about the whole thing).  It wasn't quite the same without you all, but I've never complained about my own company and my stock includes Talisker 10 yr and Hoyo Excaliber 1066.  Yes, it'll do.

    I look forward to next month's event all the more now, and to improve upon it as much as is possible, am asking you to subscribe to the presentation of two "first annual" awards.  It is traditional in Scotland to give engraved quaichs (a quaich, pronounced "quake", is a small, two-handled drinking vessel.  see picture below) as trophies and, given our penchant for the golden water of that region, I thought it fitting that we do the same.

    After careful consideration, PK and I arrived at two awards, roughly "Favorite Bartender 2007" and "Favorite Waitress 2007".  The exact wording for the engraving to be determined based on cost, and we should expect to produce a suitable trophy for between $50 and $60 a piece (I have already procured the quaichs for $42 each).  The cost per person for two awards then would be $20, with any moneys left over after paying for the awards being applied to our supper bill.

    As for recipients, I don't think there will be any argument with our proposition that Katie at Monte's get the Bartender award and Chloe at Old Toad getting the Waitress award.  Please advise if you greatly dissent.

    Until next month then, at which time we will present the awards.  And just to make things more interesting, I hereby swear to wear my kilt on that auspicious occasion!  ...and how can anyone not be moved by such a show of passion for the cause?

    Sláinte,

 

   

May 2007

Dear Friends,

    Our evening now behind us, I sit to write my usual reflection.  This was something an unusual month, with us not having met at our customary starting point and with having had our cigar before we dined rather than afterward, but all in all I believe those who attended had an excellent time (myself certainly included).

    My thanks go out to PK for providing the starting point, and to all of you who so generously paid into the bottle for the evening.  Our friend TP must also be congratulated on successfully bringing a new acquaintance to our meeting.  It's been a while since we've had "new blood" added to the old crew.  I have to pass along my apologies to JB for my failure to adequately inform him of the night's agenda.  I'll strive to make it up to you the next time out.  To all those who could not make it for one reason or another, we continue to miss your presence and hope you will join us soon.

    Our whisky was the Lagavulin 16 year old.  We've tried several times to have this made available to us, but it is generally not procurable for us by our usual watering hole and therefore has continued to elude us all this while.  It was a difficult call to make, but I believe well worth the rather late-to-be-communicated, clandestine assembly.  By all accounts this is one of those whiskies full of character.  When poured into the glass, one immediately recognizes the red-gold color and long legs.  In the mouth it is smooth and slightly oily.  It is a generally smoky, meaty drink, with a briny sting early on, and a long finish containing an anise-like sweetness.  A little water seems to really open this one up, cutting some of the influence of the sherry cask and bringing out the oak.  We scored this one at 7.8, significantly lower than some of the other brands in the "Islands group" (e.g., Laphroaig, Talisker) and even lower than the Dalwhinnie, all of which scored 8.0 or better.  At least a few of us who enjoy this dram on a semi-regular basis would tell you that this seems low for Lagavulin - and in fact we missed the fullness of smoke that the glass usually contains.

    I personally enjoyed the opportunity to start out at a more personal location this month, the warmer weather making it more enjoyable to sit outside and the opportunity to explore a drink beyond what the bar has to offer just seems a better way to go.  I'm not sure how everyone felt, but having our cigar before dinner isn't my most preferred approach.  It did however allow for a more controlled evening's enjoyment.  I'd really like to hear your thoughts on this month's agenda, to help set the course for our next few Summer-time meetings.

    My final thought put simply: A middling dram, when taken with such good company as this, is far more often the basis for fond memories than a great one taken with mere acquaintances.  And the parting ponder: which is greater, a plate of Yorkshire beef or a shot of Irish whiskey?

Slainte,