March 2007

Dear Friends,

    First of all, allow me to wish you all a happy St. Patrick's Day!

    We completed our sixth tasting this week, thus concluding our initial circumnavigation of the major regions - Speyside; Highlands; Western Islands, Skye and Islay in particular; Lowlands; and Northern Islands.  Once again we enjoyed a very pleasant evening together, a few of us learning on the morning after that it is truly wise to "beware the Ides of March."  Luckily, green is in vogue for this time of year ...even if it's the color of your skin.

    Our tasting this month was of Orkney's Highland Park 12 year old (43% ABV).  We must credit our own PK who offered that this whisky was "well balanced, but not memorable."  The rich golden color would lead you to believe that this one held a stronger flavor, but instead it was smooth and dry.  And although there were hints of peat and salt, a characteristic of most island malts, neither of these stood out from the whole.  In the end, we gave it slightly above average marks, with a result of 5.6 out of 10.  If we account for one particularly low score, it would have obtained a 6.5 -- in either case, a low-end performer.  However, the price of this whisky helps to offset its lack of luster, and I might even go so far as to say that it would pair well with a dessert or cigar that had a lot of its own character.

        We missed several members at this month's event, but we wish them all peace and health, and look forward to their attending again soon.  Although K---- was out of town, I think we all felt that her replacement behind the bar was an acceptable alternate.  We even met a few new faces there who encouraged us to start expanding the club in a more meaningful way (a subject for further conversation!).  The service was back on track at dinner, and although not all of our members are as adept with the English language as our favorite server, we all enjoyed the conversation.

    What will the future hold for our club?  Will we continue our trials of select individual brands, or will we begin comparitive tastings?  You'll have to wait until next month to learn more!

    Until then, I remain...

Sláinte,



February 2007

Gentlemen,

    Our fifth tasting is now behind us and, as always, it was a most pleasurable and memorable evening.  It's apparent that no matter the temperature, good company and a drop of the pure are all we need to feel perfectly cheery.  That said, I think all who came out will agree that we teetered on the brink of insanity as we trevailed against the wind and driving snow on Thursday night.

    Our tasting this month was of the Scottish Lowland's Glenkinchie 10 year old (43% ABV).  While it certainly wasn't much of a charmer, it wasn't so bad as a Highlander might be led to believe.  The pale amber dram was light and unobtrusive, smacking of hay and cereal, and the slightest pepper on the brief finish.  With a splash of water the scent and taste of straw and florals emerged, leading us to unanimous agreement that the water was a welcome addition.  We gave it slightly above average marks, with a result of 5.8 out of 10.  This makes Glenkinchie our lowest scoring dram to date, but perhaps we've just been a little spoiled by our recent trials.

    I hope that those of you who were able to brave the elements enjoyed, as I did, the consistently steady hand of our favorite barmaid slash ticket counter clerk slash graphic artist.  There has been some discussion about continuing to use the Korner for the purpose of our tastings, and I think the idea that we might find other accomodations more suitable is something we should discuss ere long.  And while the service at our supper is always fine, I think we can all agree that this one was probably better without the kilt.  At least the pints and puddings were spot on.

    The best thing of all was learning that it's only 20 minutes through the most horrendous twists and turns in some of the roughest weather you'll ever have to drive, 'till you find yourself in the comfort of a good friend's home for a fine nightcap and wonderful cigars.

    I'll leave you on that note and begin waiting desperately until our sixth... 

Sláinte,

January 2007

Geezers,

To be sure, there is simply too much to try to recapture from last night and I'm honestly not quite over it!  Must have been the Buttery Nipples.

A few members were absent last night as JB had to travel out of town due to a death in his family, AS stayed home due to the recent birth of his son, and GR was enjoying some vacation.  These fellows were sorely missed, and we look forward to their appearance next month.

We tasted Laphroaig 10 year old.  The golden honey colored dram held great promise ...and lived up to expectations.  Sea salt, pepper, and peat were the primary characteristics, with undertones of hay and oak.  The complexity arose only after adding a little water to open it up.  We scored it an 8.4, creating a tie with the Talisker from last month, though I am inclined to believe that if we had more tasters the score might fall to a close second place.

As for the rest of the evening, let's be sure to cheer our favorite barmaid with a hearty "up, up, and away", and make sure our favorite server doesn't continue to do the same with our dinners!  I am impressed by our ability to withstand the cold weather, too.  It must be the warmth of good friends and fine conversation over a cigar (or maybe it's just the alcohol).  In any case, we'll certainly see how well a Scot can hold his own out-of-doors in the cold next month!

I am tempted, but will not sign my letter "GG" as some of you might desire.  Instead, I'll just bid a fond farewell and rest on the assurance that the time will fly until our next meeting.

Sláinte,

December 2006

Gentlemen,

My most humble apologies for not providing a reflection of our last night out sooner. With the holiday preparations and their associated responsibilities, and a bit of recent difficulty with my electronic connectivity, I simply was not able to give you all the attention that I should have. Excuses now behind me, let's review the results of out tasting and the evening at large…

Although we sorely missed both JB and AS, we gained the company of a new member whom I am assured you will all meet in time to come and are also expectant of meeting yet another new addition to our esteemed group, an acquaintance of PK's who has expressed great interest in joining us for future outings. The heartiest welcome to our newcomers, and our regrets to those who were absent.

Our tasting this month was of the Isle of Skye's Talisker 10 year old (at 45.8% ABV, our strongest dram yet). In a dramatic departure from our last two tastings, this beauty brought seaweed and spice to the nose, and a powerful mix of salt and peat and heat to the tongue. This one's sure to keep the chill out on a cold winter's night! It was such a wonderful bit of amber delight, that we gave it a well-deserved score of 8.4 …and then got another round.

For those of you who are just joining us, I will reiterate my philosophy that memories are best left in the memory, and are seldom done justice when put into writing (and, quite honestly, I'm always hard-pressed to remember all the details as well as I'd like). So I'll leave it with these two observations: First, Yorkshire, while simply outstanding as a pudding, is no where near the pleasure of Manchester. And second, a twist on the famous old adage that we'll do well to remember - "a round in the queue is outstanding after two in the hand." And if we forget, well PK has the slip to prove it.

Once again I bid you a fond farewell and the very best wishes for the holidays. Yours always,

Sláinte,

November 2006

Gents,

There was some conversation about the various "types" (not to be confused with brands, regions, &c.) of Scotch Whisky at our last event, and I just read an excellent article in this month's Cigar Aficionado that helped to explain things.  Here's my attempt to paraphrase...

• Blended Whisky - A mix of whiskies from various distilleries and grain whisky, which is a blend of grains distilled in a Column Still - the "blend" in blended whisky is the grain whisky, because it's a blend of grains (as opposed to a single malt, which comes from a single type of barley).  The grain is used as a base for the blend.
• Single Malt Whisky - Whisky from only one distillery.  A bottle of single malt may be derived from a vatting of several different casks (different distillations from the same distillery; maybe even from several different years).  The key to a single malt is the distiller, not the spirit.
• Vatted Malt Whisky or Blended-Malt Whisky - A mix of single malts from varying distilleries.  While a single malt may be considered a vatted malt, it will never be labeled as such.  The only difference between a Vatted Malt and a Blended Whiskey is the presence of grain whisky.  This type of whisky is often referred to as Blended-Malt Whisky (note the hyphen to distinguish it from the grain-based type), because "Vatted" is seen as too pejorative a term for the blokes marketing the stuff.
• Single Cask or Single Barrel - Once is a while an individual barrel from a particular batch of whisky is good enough to be bottled all alone.  These tend to either be exceptional whiskies or just really sum up the character of the distillery ...and they usually go for a pretty penny!

I could elaborate more, but that would send me careening beyond the scope of this note, so I'll leave it at that.

Right then; my work here is finished!

Sláinte,



October 2006

Gentlemen,

As a follow up to the invitation to our first expanded Third Thursday Whisky night, I wanted to share a brief recap.  In sum, and I believe I speak for everyone who attended, it was an excellent start to the monthly event!  We're already looking forward to November 19th, so please mark your calendars for it.

Our tasting was of the Speyside's Balvenie 12 year old Doublewood (43% ABV), produced by the same company that brings us Glenfiddich ~ perhaps to be tasted ere long.  Although the nose was interesting, with floral, straw, and honey-lemon notes, the taste delivered far less than was expected.  The flavor really only opened up after the spirit was drowned in water and we were drowned in spirits.  The resultant average score was a resounding 6.5 out of 10... simply not a favorite.  A tough go for TP tonight, being his first real whisky tasting, but I'm assured that the excellence of our company made up for the lack of interest in the drink.

As for the rest of the night: dinner followed by a cigar.  Let's just say Manchester's been put on my "to visit" list and PK's porch, so long as it's not snowing, is as welcome a place to light up as any.  The rest of the evening's finer points were better enjoyed live than recollected in writing, so I'll leave it at this: "having a wonderful time, wish you were here."

Until we raise our next glass together...

Sláinte,

Welcome!

<This letter was written in December 2010, but has been back-dated for reasons which will become clear as you read on...>

For those of you visiting this blog for the first time, including those of my faithful followers who are no longer able to view our 'lost' blog site, please allow me to explain what is happening and what you will find in the posts that follow.


The Third Thursday Club held its first whisky tasting event in October, 2006 anno domini.  It became my habit, after each meeting, to provide a summary recapitulation of the evening's tasting, including any related "scoring" and perhaps some personal observations.  I began to post my invitation letters as well, in hopes that those who might have accidentally stumbled upon the record of our exploits would also be advised of how they might find us in the real world, thereby enabling their attendance in person.


Due to circumstances beyond our control, we lost the http://www.thirdthursdayclub.org/ website, complete with all documentation, around November 2010.  I have recently been working with some of my more technical cohorts to redefine our online presence.  In addition to the blog, we can be found on Facebook, and on our main page at http://www.thirdthursdayclub.org/.  The series of entries which follows on my blog (you are here) includes only those letters I retained and of those, only the ones written as the result of a meeting.  I have opted not to include the invitations - except in some particular circumstances - as this information will be made available, going forward, at our main site.

I was able to arrange the postings by the month in which they occurred, so as to at least preserve the flow of our Club's lifecycle.  I hope you find the reading which follows to be informative, insightful, and at least partially entertaining.  And if I can be of any assistance, please don't hesistate to let me know.


Sláinte,