June 2010 'Independence Day - Almost' (24th)

[rathbeggan]

Thanks Michael.

I'm trying out Manhattans, Juleps and Whiskey Sours at home and will go for one of the three (don't want too much messing around). I'll decide this week which one.

While obviously you could try these in a bar, this'll be a little less expensive and as with the society's normal tasting it gives people the chance to see what they like without buying a bottle or dropping a tenner on one drink.

A cocktail night would be a good idea sometime. I'm not a big cocktail drinker, I normally like my whisk(e)y straight, but I thought it would be something different for the finale.

Liam

[rathbeggan]

Everyone,

I'm going for the Whiskey sour, my favourite from what I tried to do at home.

Michael,

Is pre-mixing a big problem do you think (would it affect flavour)?

Committee,

Can we ask the hotel for ice? What do we do about glasses?

Cheers

[rathbeggan]

Everyone,

My initial proposal was

1 George Dickel (brown label)
2 Maker's Mark (either 1 or 2 might be used for cocktails)
3 Rittenhouse Rye
4 McCarthy Single Malt
5 Old Portero (if available)
6 One or two from Blanton's/Eagle Rare/Elijah Craig
and cocktails to finish


We haven't got an Old Potrero so I'll have to drop that (unless someone can come up with one?).

I think I might then do all of the Blanton's, Eagle Rare and Elijah Craig, and use the Dickel or Maker's for the cocktails. I'll put the rye after those, as normally rye has a strong flavour, and I think
I'll put the McCarthy's last, as apparently that's smoky/peaty.

So the new suggested line up is:

1 Dickel/Maker's
2 Blanton's
3 Eagle Rare
4 Elijah Craig
5 Rittenhouse Rye
6 McCarthy

and cocktails to finish

Not set in stone yet but it's shaping up.

Success to Temperance,

Rathbeggan

[jcskinner]

Great line up.
And yes, the McCarthy is VERY smokey.

[DavidH]

It's all new to me. I'm really looking forward to it!

[JohnM]

Everyone,

My initial proposal was

1 George Dickel (brown label)
2 Maker's Mark (either 1 or 2 might be used for cocktails)
3 Rittenhouse Rye
4 McCarthy Single Malt
5 Old Portero (if available)
6 One or two from Blanton's/Eagle Rare/Elijah Craig
and cocktails to finish


We haven't got an Old Potrero so I'll have to drop that (unless someone can come up with one?).

I think I might then do all of the Blanton's, Eagle Rare and Elijah Craig, and use the Dickel or Maker's for the cocktails. I'll put the rye after those, as normally rye has a strong flavour, and I think
I'll put the McCarthy's last, as apparently that's smoky/peaty.

So the new suggested line up is:

1 Dickel/Maker's
2 Blanton's
3 Eagle Rare
4 Elijah Craig
5 Rittenhouse Rye
6 McCarthy

and cocktails to finish

Not set in stone yet but it's shaping up.

Success to Temperance,

Rathbeggan

That looks like a great line-up. Not suggesting you change it at all, but supposedly one of the great ryes is the Rittenhouse 25. However, it's very expensive this side of the pond, at about £170 + postage. Probably too much.

[rathbeggan]

Thanks to JCSkinner, JohnM and DavidH for the bigging up!

JohnM, I think the Rittenhouse 25 might be beyond the tasting budget, not to say it couldn't happen sometime. The 4th of July happens every year (obviously) so it could be a nice one for next year. Maybe someone could grab one on a US trip and save the society the shipping costs!

Sláinte,

Liam

[IainB]

Looking forward to this too. Which reminds me - I never booked a spot. Hope there's still some left.

I have some of these whiskeys at home but have been afraid to open them in case they join the multidude lying around for years.

I've an open Rittenhouse 21 if anyone wants a sample - just let me know. Haven't tried it in a while but seem to remember it's on the Bourbon end of the Rye spectrum. Remember both Bourbon and Rye generally contain corn, rye and some malted barley - the % in the mashbill is key to the category - but those percentages are in ranges so in the middle of the spectrum they can be quite similar.

From memory the Rittenhouse is a very very enjoyable whiskey.

[JohnM]

Thanks to JCSkinner, JohnM and DavidH for the bigging up!

JohnM, I think the Rittenhouse 25 might be beyond the tasting budget, not to say it couldn't happen sometime. The 4th of July happens every year (obviously) so it could be a nice one for next year. Maybe someone could grab one on a US trip and save the society the shipping costs!

Sláinte,

Liam

Yeah, I thought so. I just mentioned it because it look at it on the internet every other days and nearly buy it...

Actually, a bit off subject, but you can buy samples before you buy in some shops now. A useful service. Master of Malt do it anyway, as do a few other places.

Good luck with the tasting.

John

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

I like my odd bourbon and would love to get to this years Americana tasting but I'm unfortunately away on the date in particular.

Looks like a great line up though.

[IainB]

Now here's something to think about - most of the time people attending these tasting have a drink beforehand in the bar - usually either pints of stout or some of the extensive whiskey collection. But what to do this time? From my own experience bourbon doesn't easily sit well with most Irish and Scotches, nor with stout.

So what would be an appropriate pre tasting drink do you think?

[Michael Foggarty]

How about some tasteless yellow fizz, Hieneken, Carlsberg or Budwiesser should leave youre taste buds intact.

[rathbeggan]

I think a good lager or a wheat beer might work. Brooks has Paulaner. I don't know what lagers Brooks has, but I wouldn't recommend what made Milwaukee famous (except that it won't affect your tastebuds because it tastes of nothing!)

As an update, I've decided to use the Maker's Mark for the cocktails and drop it from the tasting. I'm sorry to do that but it's the only one widely available in Ireland so it's easy for people to try it.

[DavidH]

How about bourbon?

[IainB]

Are you mad? That would never work!

[IainB]

We should all give a big thanks to Liam for thursday's tasting - probably one of the more unusual for the society. We all got to try whiskeys most of us wouldn't usually get around to and like 'em or not we all now have an expanded knowledge. I think the Rye was the clear winner on the night - I wasn't hugely surprised - it's a very individual style with a lot going on in the glass.

The McCarthy's really needs to be considered differently from the others - it's very much a scotch style made in the US as opposed to a tradtional US whiskey. Lovely whiskey though. Interesting also that such a Scotch DNA whiskey would have a real Cork name!

[jcskinner]

Yup, Liam gave us a great tasting altogether.
I feel I finally have a working knowledge of American whiskey at long last.
Thanks for that!

[rathbeggan]

Very kind of you, jc and Iain. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thanks to both of you and to whiskeybro (Leo) for supplying bottles, and thanks also to Gary, Leo, Martin and Zoltan for the setting up, a lot of work goes into that every month and is much appreciated.

Even if you found out you know what you don't like that's something you learned, and if you found something you did like all the better.

I was thinking ahead a bit if we want to do it next year, we could go for more of the higher strength small batches (Wild Turkey Rare Breed, Booker's) which are a bit stronger in flavour, and maybe Georgia Moon, the corn whiskey sold in a jamjar if someone can get one (fairly easy to find in New York). It would be tricky to pour the samples out of the jamjar though.

[IainB]

Just put a jam jar on each table with 6 straws!

[Mothrae]

Coming in late, but you might like this for future tastings:

Jack Daniel's is not quite bourbon, which you are probably aware of. Often treated sometimes like a generic whiskey (shot-and-beer mentality).

Daniel's also makes a premium whiskey called "Gentleman Jack". Not too pricey, not quite twice what Jack Daniel's goes for, and a lot smoother and less "jaw bite" than just plain Jack.

I find it sweet, but that's from an Irish and Scotch preference. It is a nice whiskey.

Slainte'!

[jcskinner]

Oh, I had a bottle of that before.
I have to say, I wasn't wildly impressed. It was, as you say, incredibly sweet. Sugary, sticky, syrupy - you get my drift. HUGE vanilla kick off it, even moreso than the standard issue Jack, which I find is pretty, erm, vanillan.
I don't have the palate or knowledge to talk with any confidence about American whiskeys, though I did enjoy pretty much all of the ones we tried in Liam's excellent tasting.
But I can't say I thought Gentleman Jack was up to much, except maybe as providing a palate benchmark for what vanilla in spirit tastes like. Maybe there are nuances and subtleties I missed in it, but it seemed pretty one-note to me.
I'd be interested in trying some of their single barrel versions, though.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

The Gentleman Jack, Single Barrel and silver seal are all fairly readily accessible in Ireland in decent off-licences as I've seen all regularly.

Maybe the single barrel (45%) or the silver seal (50%) would be better options as regular JD & Gentleman are both only 40%. The only one that would rempt me would be the Silver seal I think but I have not been tempted as of yet.

[DavidH]

I've added a link to the presentation at the end of the event page, for anyone who wants to revisit that famous night.

Liam, I tried to get it to display on the page itself but I couldn't convert it to Google Docs format for some unknown reason, which is a prerequisite. It works well enough this way anyway.

[PureDrop]

Sadly, you need a google ID to retrieve the presentation. Should it not be open to all?
/M

[DavidH]

Sadly, you need a google ID to retrieve the presentation. Should it not be open to all?

Really? I set it to be available "to the world". I'll look into that later. First time I've tried this so I appreciate the feedback.