October 2009 Meeting (29th Oct) - Brooks Hotel

[TheWhiskeyBro]

The October meeting reverts back to the normal slot on the last Thursday of the month which is the 29.10.09 and it will be the Diageo Ireland vs Scotland tasting.

The Galway branch of the society will be keeping us updated on developments here

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

I have been talking to Emmet O'Brien(Diageo Ireland) and he has kindly proposed setting up a DIageo tasting for us. His idea is an Ireland v Scotland Diageo taste off. Martin Duffy(Bushmills Embassador in Ireland) would be the Bushmills speaker and from the scottish prespective he'd invite over Gregor Cattanach who is global brand ambassador for Johnnie Walker and the Classic Malts of Scotland (Talisker, Lagavulin, oban etc)

Basically the premise for the tasting would be that Martin & Gregor would be engaged in a tasting Duel between Ireland and Scotland. So even though all Diageo products there would be a bit of a friendly edge to the proceedings at least. Emmet further tells me that Gregor has been in the whisky industry industry for a long long time and is a bit of a charachter and he reckons that it would be very entertaining for us as well as educational.

A quick google turns this up about Gregor Cattanach

"Gregor Cattanach, follows in his father’s footsteps. Originally from Speyside, Scotland, Gregor joined the Scotch whisky business in 2000, but is no stranger to the industry. Gregor grew up alongside his father at some of the great distilleries in Scotland such as Caol Ila, Cragganmore and Cardhu where Evan worked as Master Distiller producing these quality single malts.

While training in Scotland, Gregor developed a true passion for Scotch whisky, the production process, maturation, blending, and of course the great stories that were told over a “wee” dram. Gregor conducts his own nosings and tastings throughout the States and has already passed on his knowledge and passion to thousands of people who have attended his private tastings."


So hopefully a good night in prospect.

Whisk(e)y Line up is as yet unknown but there is sure to be a few winners in there somewhere.

Will update with more details as I get them.

[John]

I assume we are in Bowes for 19:30 - 20:00 as usual?
Cheers,
J.

[DavidH]

Brooks Hotel, Drury Street.

The time remains the same.

I don't think we will be going back to Bowes. Sounds like the room there is gone.

Everyone should check the Coming Events page before the next few meetings. Things are in flux at the moment.

You should all be getting the society email newsletter before each event too. If you are not on the mailing list, go to any page of the website (eg, the home page), put your email address in the box and hit "Enter".

[jcskinner]

Just some further info on this tasting.
It really will be well worth attending as we will be tasting an expanded range of whiskeys (eight in total, so do eat beforehand and drink responsibly) but also because we will be in the presence of three great champions of the drinks industry - the Bushmills brand ambassador Martin Duffy, the Johnnie Walker and Diageo Distiller's Editions ambassador Gregor Cattanach and the master brewer from St James' Gate Fergal Murray.
The room available is limited for space, so I would urge everyone to get there early as we intend to start on time. Diageo, who own Bushmills as well as a large number of highly regarded Scottish distilleries, are keen to show off their range to us, and it has been a long time since there was a Bushmills tasting in Dublin.
So given the interest in this tasting, and the likelihood that it will be a very entertaining, informative and rewarding evening, do come along on time.

[John]

Jc / David,
Many thanks - I should have read the Society e-mail more carefully the first time!!
Looking forward to it.
All the best,
J.

[Erica]

Hi,
Anyone know when those special limited edition bottles are avaliable? - That is the Grand Crew bottling

[jcskinner]

The Grand Crew bottling, do you mean?

[John]

Hi All,
Great night last night!! The format worked well, the whiskeys were delicious and the speakers were very entertaining. Great to see so many people down also! Also, very nice and comfortable venue!
Well done.
John.

[JohnM]

What did you get to taste?

[John]

Hi John,

On the Irish whiskey side we had: Bushmills Original, Black Bush, Bushmills 10yo & Bushmills 16yo.

On the Scottish whisky side we had, Johnnie Walker Black Label, Green Label, Glenkinchie 12yo and Tallisker 10yo.

JC has the breakdown on the favourites amongst the audience.

J.

[jcskinner]

Okay, the scores were as follows:
Bushmills Original: 2 votes
Black Bush: 1 vote (which was the Brazilian Ambassador, His Excellency Pedro Bastos)
Bushmills 10 yo: 4 votes
Bushmills 16 yo: 14 votes
Johnnie Walker Black: 2 votes
Johnnie Walker Green: 7 votes
Glenkinchie 12 yo: 5 votes
Talisker: 9 votes
On the basis that Bushmills 16 was favourite on the night, but that on aggregate the Scotches had more preferences, I declared it a draw.
Nights like last night don't happen by accident. A lot of thanks is due to our entertaining hosts Martin Duffy and Gregor Cattanach, and to the Master Brewer at Guinness, Fergal Murray, who moderated.
As you can see from the above numbers, we were way in excess of our 40 people capacity last night. In fact, we were over by 11.
I apologise again that we had to turn some people away from the door. But in order to accommodate all the people who were admitted, many of the committee members had to give up their own seats, and I commend them for their generosity in doing so.
Hopefully the attendance last night is a sign of things to come, and it may have to inform the committee when they consider what sort of capacity of room to seek for society tastings in 2010.
Thanks to everyone who came along, and it was great to see many new faces. I hope you all had a good night.

[varizoltan]

yes, surely a fantastic evening

Good to see that Cooley come and done a fantastic tasting for us and we were the first ones to see their new rebranded Connemara range.

We had Diageo with their Bushmills range and Johnny Walkers and other Scotch on board

I just wonder is IDL going to do us a good night like these good fellows

[jcskinner]

We can but contact them, let them know what we're about, and see what happens.
I think they are likely well aware of us, and are keeping an eye on how we progress. I suspect also that they wouldn't want us to become too appreciative of their rivals in the market, which is a definite risk if we have many more nights like Noel Sweeney's excellent Connemara tasting or the wonderful night we had this week with Martin, Gregor and Fergal.
It's another thing for the committee to discuss, perhaps. I believe we should foster good relations with all the island's distillers, and we have great relations with Diageo and with Cooley.
Some of us have visited Cooley under Ally's auspices at the Celtic Whiskey Shop, and I would be hopeful that we could visit again as the society. And it looks very promising that we might get an opportunity to visit Bushmills too in the year ahead.
I know people would like to visit Midleton as well, for example, and also would welcome the opportunity to meet and discuss whiskeys with the IDL people just as we have greatly enjoyed the chance to do so with the Diageo people and the Cooley people.
But we're still only in our first year, and I think it is fantastic that we've been able to create such great links with two of the three distillers already. Fostering a third relationship is something we can look towards in 2010, along with progressing our very warm relations with Diageo and Cooley, of course.