Tasting #60: Feis Ile 2020

Tasting #60: Feis Ile 2020

Tasting #60: Feis Ile 2020

On Wednesday, September 30th, the Saratoga Whiskey Club had its 60th tasting! This was a very special one. We were able to get our hands on a number of the Festival bottles from this year’s Feis Ile 2020 which was canceled due to the Coronavirus. Most of the Islay distilleries still released Festival Bottles so we did our best. We also added some hard to get Scotch Malt Whisky Society Festival bottles.

Here is what we tasted:

  • Bunnahabhain 10 Year by Douglas Laing Old Particular – pre-tasting dram
  • Caol Ila 16 Year Festival Release
  • Lagavulin 20 Year Festival Release
  • SMWS 3.314 ‘Loungecare stave exoticism’ Bowmore 15 Year Festival Bottle
  • SMWS 29.270 ‘Collateral drammage’ Laphroaig 8 Year Festival Bottle
  • Laphroaig Cairdeas 2020 Festival Release
  • Port Charlotte 16 Year Festival Release

32 members were online using Zoom for this really fun and rare tasting!!

For scores, please visit our Scores page.

Tasting #36 Recap: Feis Ile 2019

Tasting #36 Recap: Feis Ile 2019

Tasting #36 Recap: Feis Ile 2019

On Wednesday, June 26th, the Saratoga Whiskey Club had a really special & unique tasting that focused on bottles recently brought back from the Feis Ile Music & Whisky Festival on Islay. This was a first for the club and probably one of our best tastings to date! It was a packed house and there were 20 members in attendance.

Here is a list of the whiskies we tasted:

  • Bunnahabhain 17 Year Sauternes Finish – Feis Ile 2019
  • Bowmore 15 Year Ex-Bourbon – Feis Ile 2019
  • Laphroaig Cairdeas Triple Wood Cask Strength – Feis Ile 2019
  • Lagavulin 19 Year – Feis Ile 2019
  • Caol Ila 22 Year – Feis Ile 2019
  • Octomore Event Horizon – Feis Ile 2019

For scores from the tasting, please go to Scores.

It was a fantastic evening recapping the Feis Ile and tasting some of the superb whiskies that we brought home to New York. Everyone enjoyed this special treat. Cheers!

Tasting #13 Recap: Blended Scotch Whiskies and Blending Workshop

Tasting #13 Recap: Blended Scotch Whiskies and Blending Workshop

Tasting #13 Recap: Blended Scotch Whiskies and Blending Workshop

The Saratoga Whisk(e)y Club had Tasting #13 on December 13, 2017 and January 3, 2018 .  The purpose of this tasting was to explore and learn about the world of blended scotches.  We had four Premium Blended Whiskies to taste and then we did our own Blending Workshop using four Single Malt Scotches and one Single Grain.  It was a lot of fun tasting the premium whiskies and then trying to match their flavors or blended profiles using the single malts and single grain.  It was definitely not an easy job, but someone had to do it!

Here is a list of the Premium Blends we tasted:

  • Chivas Regal 18 Year Signature Gold
  • Johnnie Walker Director’s Cut Blade Runner Edition
  • Compass Box ‘The Lost Blend’
  • Exclusive Blends 1991 Edition

Here are the Single Malts and Single Grain that we used for our blending workshop:

  • Ancnoc 12
  • Glenfiddich 12
  • Caol Ila 12
  • Auchentoshan 12
  • The Exclusive Regions Single Grain 12

Overall it was a very educational tasting and a lot of fun!

Please sign up for our quarterly newsletter if you are interested in learning about future tastings. Sometimes there are extra spaces available for non-members.

Here are some photos from the tasting.

Tasting #11 Recap: Islay Exclusives From Our Trip

Tasting #11 Recap: Islay Exclusives From Our Trip

Tasting #11 Recap: Islay Exclusives From Our Trip

The Saratoga Whisk(e)y Club had Tasting #11 on two nights, October 11 and October 25, 2017. The focus of the evening was bottles that we hauled back from Islay on the first Saratoga Whiskey Club trip to Scotland. These were very special bottles as most were distillery exclusives and not easy to find.  We had a great turnout of 30 people, both members and non-members. We had eight different whiskies at our tasting, one from each of the eight distilleries on Islay.  Here is a list of what we tasted:

  • We started with a Charlie Wells Dry Hopped Lager from England
  • Lagavulin Jazz Festival Bottling 2017
  • Ardbeg An Oa
  • Caol Ila Distillery Exclusive 2017
  • Laphroaig Brodir
  • Bunnahabhain Feis Ile 2017 Moine Port Pipe
  • Kilchoman Distillery Exclusive 2017 – Rum Finish
  • Bowmore Warehousemen’s Distillery Exclusive
  • Port Charlotte Valinches Cask Explorations 16 & 17

Overall it was a fantastic tasting with lots of special whiskies!  It is always great bringing back bottles that are not available locally.

Please sign up for our quarterly newsletter if you are interested in learning about future tastings. Sometimes there are extra spaces available for non-members.

Here are some photos from the tasting.