Scotch Tasting @ SG&G

I can't believe that we're at the end of January already. Actually, I can. I can see the date on my iMac just about every time I look at the Dock. The point is that time flies when you're crazy busy. And, that's exactly what I've been.

In the craziness that retailers like to call O.N.D. (October, November, December), I decided to set up two spirits tastings. The first one was a Bourbon tasting the week of Thanksgiving. Since that was a huge success, I wanted to set one up for Scotch the week of Christmas and Chanukah.  Most of what I decided to put on the tasting list was Single Malt Scotch. I did have one blended Scotch, MacKinlay's Rare Old Highland Malt Scotch. This is a bottle of whisky that has a little bit of history behind it.

Prior to the doors opening on the night of the tasting, Lee Strader from Whyte & Mackay stopped by unannounced with a couple of gems to taste us on. He had some sample bottles of Dalmore 40 year old ($2800), Dalmore 1974 ($1170)  and Dalmore 1981 ($999). These prices are estimated as we don't have any of these in stock at the moment. Those bottles were amazing! The 40 year old was probably the best Scotch I have ever tasted in my entire life. It was an unexpected treat right before our crazy tasting.

As with our Bourbon event, Collyer Catering provided the food to cleanse our guests' palates. Scotch smoked salmon crostini, shrimp with Scotch BBQ sauce, beef skewers with fig and whisky sauce, smokey (using an Islay Scotch) scallop spring rolls Laphroiag 10 year were on the menu for nibbles.

Our friend, Paul, at Paul Lin Media made this little video for us:
Scotch Tasting video

The tasting list:
Dalmore 12 yr
Dalmore 15 yr
Dalmore Cigar Malt
Dalmore King Alexander III
Balvenie Double wood
Balvenie 17 yr Madeira Cask
Balvenie Single Barrel
Balvenie 21 yr Portwood
Glenfiddich 15 yr
Glenfiddich 18yr
Deanston 12 yr
Tobermory 10 yr
Bruichladdich Rocks
Bruichladdich Laddie Classic Edition_01

Bruichladdich The Organic
Bruichladdich 10 yr Laddie 10
Bruichladdich Port Charlotte PC7
Bruichladdich 12 yr
Ledaig 10 yr
Bunnahabhain 12 yr
BenRiach 15 yr Dark Rum Finish
BenRiach 17 yr Pedro Ximinez Sherry Finish
Glendronach 15 yr Oloroso Cask
Glendronach 12 yr PX & Oloroso Cask
Gordon & MacPhail Mortlach 15 yr
Gordon & MacPhail Bladnoch 16 yr
Gordon & MacPhail Glen Grant 21 yr
Gordon & MacPhail Glenrothes 30 yr
Benromach Traditional
Benromach Peat Smoke
Benromach 10 yr
Ardbeg 10 yr
MacKinlay's Rare Old Highland Malt (Shackleton's)



Homemade barrel-aged Rusty Nail (cocktail)
Alvear 1927 Solera Pedro Ximinez Sherry
Alvear Asuncion Oloroso Sherry

It was a fun tasting! Since December, I've been asked many times when the next tasting will be. As of right now, our next tasting will be in May for Cinco de Mayo. That's if I don't sneak in a Cordials-Liqueur-Aperitif-Vermouth tasting before then. We'll see.

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Decisions, Decisions

I have to admit; I believe I'm sinking into a "Cocktail Crisis". When I would get home from work, I used to crave a glass of wine. I was always the wine guy in the liquor stores where I worked. You could probably find me at a craft beer bar sipping on a pint of some obscure belgian beer on a rare occasion, but I was a wine drinker for the most part. Right now, however, I'm a little lost.

I have been drinking a lot of tequila, scotch and bourbon lately. They were always an option throughout my career. I just never paid that much attention to them. Being in the industry our distributors would flood us with knowledge and information on the products that we sold. I took that knowledge and imparted it to my customers so just being in the store would give me enough to pitch a product. Now that I own my own store with my beautiful fiancee, I have no choice but to put that knowledge into practice. Since my fiancee doesn't drink hard alcohol I've taken it upon myself to jump in head first to "specialize" in the booze.

The Dark Rum & Pedro Ximinez 

Scotch for me was always a beverage that my father drank. Blended scotch was what was always on hand. I never really "enjoyed" any of the brands that he had. What he had was what I knew and that was that. Those flavor profiles were what I what I had to work with until recently. Now I think I am looking for something new, something different and interesting. I want something that is going to knock my socks off. When it comes down to it, I might be bored. That's why I decided to bring home bottle of of BenRiach scotch.

The bottle I decided crack open was the 15 year Dark Rum Wood Finish. I was always curious about this bottle every time I came to work. It would always call to me. I just resisted the purple label. It never struck me as a serious scotch. With that said, the price tag alone would make me sad if the bottle wasn't up to par.

I drink my scotch neat. For the noobs out there, that means scotch + glass = neat. There are no ice cubes, no water, no mixers, no crutches. I feel that if the bottle is less than cask strength, they have already added the water. That's enough for me. I want to taste this the way the distiller wanted me to taste it.

I poured it in my glass and I immediately got hit with an amazing aroma of lemon peel with hints of spice, vanilla and orange. On the palate it's soft oak and gentle fruit laced with spicy rum and floral notes. In this particular scotch, the rum flavors really seem to balance everything else out. It's got a pretty long finish with the sweetness of the rum hanging in there all the way through. Don't get me wrong, this isn't  rum. It's scotch with hints of dark rum.

This bottle for me really bridges the gap between rum and scotch. I'm glad that I finally broke down and brought this baby home. It was delicious. It really hit the spot and opened my eyes to a new genre of scotch. I brought home a bottle of the 15 year Pedro Ximinez Sherry Wood Finish as well. I can assure you  that I will write about that bottle as well.