Hi Everyone,
I attended the Riedel Glassware/wood finish tasting on Thursday night in Against the Grain. It was a great success. The whiskey was presented knowledegbly and entertainingly as always by Michael Lawlor from the Celtic Whiskey Shop. The Riedel Glassware was presented by John Hinckley who flew over from England especially to present the talk. The whiskies sampled on the night were as follows, Tyrconnell single malt, Tyrconnell Port Cask, Tyrconnell Anima Negra, Royal Lochnagar single malt, Royal Lochnagar distillers edition (muscat cask), Clynelish single malt, Clynelish distillers edition and Greenspot. The aim of the night was to compare and contrast the way whiskey tastes from the Riedel Glassware in comparison to the Glencairn glass we normally taste from. The three glasses featured were a port glass, a funnel top wine glass and a single malt glass. It was absolutely astounding the different nose, flavours and finishes that came through from the different glasses. Example, Tyrconnell Anima Negra was amazing from the wine glass. The wine finish really came through with all the lovely spicy dark fruits but became much sweeter and sugary in the malt glass. Under Johns instruction we poured the whiskies into each glass in turn in order to establish which glass suited each whiskey. The Royal Lochnagar distillers edition was beautiful in the port glass, really rich and caramel. All in all it was a highly informative and entertaining evening. If an opportunity should arise in the future to attend an evening with John I would highly recommend it. It has made me look at glassware in a whole new light. Slainte, Rachel.