Events ideas

[varizoltan]

please, post your ideas for the upcoming events.

what would you like to taste, or have a bottle and you would like to bring it for one of the upcoming meeting

or any suggestions or comments about the past or upcoming events.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

I have a further suggestion also maybe be 2 events ahead in planning in future.

That way you can announce what is on the following month at the meeting. You'll get maximum coverage especially to those who are not active on-line.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

I had listed a good few possiblities already

here

These are only suggestions and can be chopped and changed.


Leo was talking about a Wild Geese tasting ...

they have 4 current expressions ...

Rare Irish Whiskey (Blend), Limited Edition Fourth Centennial (Blend), Single Malt & Classic Blend. See here

I also have the 2 predecessors spare ... Green label & Purple label which are now out of production.





I also had a chat with John and he had an interesting idea. You might PM him for more details

He knows Robert Mitchell of Mitchell & Son and was saying that Robert would be interested in talking to the group about Greenspot and it's history. May be nice to do something educational while supping Greenspot. It may be awkard as we don't have much scope on the tasting side but if we arranged for every one to have a full measure or more of regular Greenspot for the talk and possibly try and get a 10yo for the tasting also if the society can afford it. Worth investigating but maybe not organising straight away.


We can try and stick to 3-4 whiskies on some nights instead of going for 5 to keep costs down especially if they are dearer bottles.

[jcskinner]

We could perhaps marry two ideas into one to bulk out a Green Spot tasting?
I had a previous idea of tasting the three independent Irish pub bottlings back to back - Podhreen Mare, Henry Downes and Moondharrig.
They're all Cooley and all, I think blends. So not a lot of variety there, but they're all inexpensive, most people haven't tried them, not having been to the pubs themselves, and it would give everyone something to dram on before a Green Spot main event.
We could throw in a quick potted history on independent bottling in Ireland - how at one point every pub in Ireland was bottling their own Jameson's for example, and a few words on both the three pubs themselves and whiskey pubs worth visiting in general in Ireland.
None of this would fill out a night (especially if we went as fast as Thursday!!!), but would perhaps create a good introduction for Mitchell's and Green Spot.

[cathach]

Just on Podhreen Mare and Moondharrig, where are these to be found? I've never heard of them before.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Just on Podhreen Mare and Moondharrig, where are these to be found? I've never heard of them before.

Moondharrig or Maher,s is a pub in Waterford quite close to Downes.

Maher's

MahersSpecialWhiskey.jpg (11.69 KiB) Viewed 5216 times

And Podhreen Mare is bottled for a Pub called the Tatch in co Antrim in the north.

PodhreenMare

PodhreenMare (2).JPG (205.39 KiB) Viewed 5218 times

and of Course the Henry Downes

Henry Downes

DownesNo9.JPG (159.92 KiB) Viewed 5218 times

[cathach]

These are all Cooley whiskeys are they? One claims to be a single malt so it could be Bushmills but they don't tend to bottle for outsiders.

So if there are so many niche brands or bottlings would it be so impossible for the society to secure a pure pot still or old malt at a decent price?

[jcskinner]

Barman at the Thatch told me they asked Bushmills (only a half hour up the road from Broughshane) to supply the Podhreen Mare and were knocked back, so now they get it from Cooley, or as he put it "a wee place from Down South near the border."

[PureDrop]

I brought some Moondharrig or Maher's into one of Ally's CWS tastings a few years ago for tasting by an expert. The consensus was that it was a cheap Scotch. The bottle illustrated doesn't claim that its Irish Whiskey. I've no idea what the story is today.
Michael

[jcskinner]

One idea I had for a themed tasting: whiskey and politics.
(Don't all run for the doors at once! )
Possible lineup:

1. One of Mortlach, Johnnie Walker (with optional soda), Locke's: Churchill's favourite whiskies, Johnnie Walker also Saddam Hussein's tipple of choice
2. Jameson 15 year old pure pot still: The style of whiskey sold by Jameson when Senator Andrew Jameson, the politician, was the company chairman
3. Cutty Sark - Lyndon Johnson's favourite dram
4. Teacher's - Maggie Thatcher's dram of choice
5. Old Grandad Bourbon - President Harry Truman's favourite
6. Old Crow Bourbon - President Ulysses S. Grant's whiskey of choice - Lincoln famously asked his aides to find out what brand he drank so as to give some to his own generals!
7. White Horse - the whisky Churchill sent to Stalin
8. I.W. Harper Bourbon - the whisky Nixon shared with Kruschev
9. King of Scots blend, Douglas Laing - Idi Amin's whisky - he used to buy 200 cases at a time to dispense to his men via the infamous 'whisky run' from Kampala to Stansted weekly.
10. Michael Collins whiskey.

Lots of good yarns to be told about whisky and politics. Could make for an interesting evening. And the drams aren't viciously expensive either.

[Fionnán]

on the subject of political whiskies, i hear Kim Jong Il is also rather partial to johnnie walker...

[Fionnán]

on the subject of old crow though, the modern brand is a bit of a hand me down label from financial transactions. James Crow actually operated out of what is now the woodfored reserve distillery (at the time it was named the Old Oscar Pepper Distillery) so the stuff that Grant was drinking would probably have tasted a lot closer to that. Either way, it sounds like a fun idea

[Fionnán]

although, that being said, i remember hearing that Woodford's current stills are made by Forsyths so i dont know how close even their whiskey is to James Crow's stuff

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

One should never mix whiskey and politics

I love the connection of politicians to the various whiskies though. I remember reading that Churchills was quite partial to Locke's as one of his whiskey tipples.

[rathbeggan]

How about a European whisky night?

I have the following, all unopened:

DYC 8 year old - mixture of Spanish and Scotch whisky (Jim Murray score - 90, but I bought this bottle a while ago)

Goldly's Belgian Double still - (Jim Murray score - 88)

Swissky single malt (Jim Murray score - 91)

I haven't tried any of these yet myself. Anybody who travels to Brussels regularly could get the Goldly's or another Belgian whisky called the Belgian Owl at the Duty Free.

I see the Celtic Whiskey Shop has Mackmyra from Sweden but it's behind glass and presumably priced accordingly.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Interesting Idea.

I'll be heading to Amsterdam soon so might look out for a Dutch whiskey which I'm nearly sure there is a few forms of. I remember hearing that a dutch distillery did a version of Rye even.

Even if the idea does not take off I'll have it for myself

[rathbeggan]

I was given a small sample of a Dutch whisky at an IWS event recently, not bad at all (can't remember the name though).

Another idea ...

What about doing a "nosing" evening? Certain whisk(e)ys are supposed to have particular aroma(s) - we could try the whisk(e)y and then get a little sample of the appropriate essence/aroma to see if we think the whisk(e)y does have it. Better to do whisk(e)y first, aroma second as if we got the aroma first it might overpower us or over-influence to find it in the dram.

I've never done a wine tasting or nosing course but have always been interested in it.

[DavidH]

If we are looking for an excuse to have another American tasting, 2011 (April, actually) is the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the American Civil War. I'm sure some links could be found between the locations of distilleries and events of the war.

[mawhinney]

This is called floating an idea.
Recently rediscovering the joys of Springbank (that had been lurking at the back of a cupboard) and allying this with the my love of Bushmills and the whiskies of Islay, this thought came. How about a trip that would start at Bushmills and then proceed by boat to Campbeltown and thence to Islay and back to Ballycastle, studying and
enjoying the whiskies of these famed localities? Do you know of anyone who has a boat that could accommodate a handfull of IWS types for this journey of discovery?
"Some seas unite and some divide,"said the poet: this a chance to demonstrate how - through whisk(e)y - the sea can bring about spiritual unity.
And there's probably a EU grant to assist such networking!
Slainte.

[PureDrop]

Ken,
Some are doing something similar already...
see http://www.worldcruising.com/classicmaltscruise/
and http://www.whiskysail.com/
(the colour of many of the "sailors"!)
/M

[varizoltan]

Ken,
Some are doing something similar already...
see http://www.worldcruising.com/classicmaltscruise/
and http://www.whiskysail.com/
(the colour of many of the "sailors"!)
/M

WICKED!!!