Tasting #60: Feis Ile 2020

by Saratoga Whiskey Club | Oct 7, 2020 | Tastings

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 #42: SMWS November Releases

by Saratoga Whiskey Club | Nov 15, 2019 | Tastings

Tasting #42: SMWS November Releases

On Wednesday, November 6th, the Saratoga Whiskey Club had its 42nd tasting as a club! The theme of this tasting was New November Releases from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. We will be doing similar tastings once a quarter going forward as we really enjoy tasting some of the new expressions that are being released. 25 members were in attendance for this outing!

Here is a list of the whiskies we tasted:

SMWS 1.211 – Glenfarclas – 8 YR ‘Ironing a lemon’
SMWS 64.111 – Mannochmore – 8 YR ‘Pleasing sweetness, playful heat’
SMWS 44.114 – Craigellachie – 12 YR ‘Sweet peas and toffee trees’
SMWS 9.167 – Glen Grant – 23 YR ‘Part of the furniture’
SMWS 16.39 – Glenturret – 18 YR ‘Sweetness and spice laced with mystery’
SMWS 73.114 – Aultmore – 17 YR ‘Total eclipse of oloroso’
SMWS 10.176 – Bunnahabhain – 11 YR ‘Tea-smoked salmon’
SMWS 53.276 – Caol Ila – 6 YR ‘Ein kleiner deutscher samurai’

It was a fantastic night of tasting new expressions.

Check out the scores! Scores

Slainte!

Tasting #37 Recap: SMWS Tasting

by Saratoga Whiskey Club | Jul 30, 2019 | Tastings

Tasting #37 Recap: SMWS Tasting

On Wednesday, July 24th, the Saratoga Whiskey Club welcomed Tom Smith, the USA Director of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, to Saratoga Springs. He hosted a fantastic tasting of the July Outturn releases of the SMWS. Along with the whisky, we were entertained with history of the SMWS, a variety of toasts and some discounts on membership and bottles. 35 members were in attendance for this tasting!

Here is a list of the whiskies we tasted:

Cask 93.107 – Glen Scotia – 7 Year ‘Flexing the mussels’
Cask 1.209 – Glenfarclas – 7 Year ‘Waxing a hot woodsman’
Cask 5.70 – Auchentoshan – 18 Year ‘In the absence of convention’
Cask 35.224 – Glen Moray – 23 Year ‘Fata Morgana’
Cask 52.25 – Old Pulteney – 11 Year ‘A morning at the beach’
Cask 53.287 – Caol Ila – 12 Year ‘Ye olde medisin’

It was a fantastic evening with Tom and we look forward to another visit in the future. Everyone enjoyed this special treat. Cheers!

Tasting #36 Recap: Feis Ile 2019

by Saratoga Whiskey Club | Jun 27, 2019 | Tastings

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!