Tasting #75: Starward Australian Whisky

by Saratoga Whiskey Club | Dec 5, 2021 | Tastings

Tasting #75: Starward Australian Whisky

On Wednesday, March 31st, the Saratoga Whiskey Club held Tasting #75! The focus of this tasting was Starward Australian Single Malt Whisky. We were joined by David Vitale, the founder who now lives in Seattle. We had a big group on Zoom to learn all about Starward whiskies and we also did a virtual tour of the Distillery with the distillery manager who joined us online from Melbourne. Pretty awesome stuff!

Here is what we tasted:

Starward Nova
Starward Two Fold
Starward Solera 3 Year
Starward Single Cask from Astor Wines
Starward Single Cask from Park Ave
Starward Single Cask from Wally’s
Starward Single Cask from Chicago’s Women Who Whisky Club

It was a great night of whisky and conversation with the great group of people at Starward.

Tasting #71: Bourbon-Paired Dinner

by Saratoga Whiskey Club | Mar 5, 2021 | Tastings

Tasting #71: Bourbon-Paired Dinner

On Thursday, February 17th, the Saratoga Whiskey Club had its 71st tasting! We worked again with Hamlet & Ghost in Saratoga Springs to put together another really great To-Go Dinner, this time food paired with Bourbon. The talented crew at Hamlet & Ghost created a Korean-inspired meal to pair with our Bourbon selection, mostly obtained during a recent trip to Kentucky. It was a great evening and thank you so much for the work and time that the restaurant devoted to making this evening so special.

Here is the menu and what was paired with it:

Bourbon Cocktail to start using Weller Special Reserve
Pan Fried Chicken Dumplings – XO sauce – Paired with a single cask of Woodinville Straight Bourbon Whiskey – Westport Whiskey & Wine Store Pick
Momofuku Style Bossam – Caramel Roast Pork Shoulder, Lettuce Cups, Fixin’s, Sticky Rice – Paired with New Riff Maltster, Ezra Brooks Straight Bourbon Single Barrel Pick from Westport Whiskey & Wine, Old 55 Single Barrel Bourbon – Total Wine Store Pick
Vanilla Panna Cotta – Bourbon sour cherries, Cinnamon-Oat Lace Cookies – Paired with Starlight Carl T Huber’s Single Barrel Bourbon Port Finish

28 members were online for this really great dinner and whisky tasting.

Tasting #70: Rye Whiskey

by Saratoga Whiskey Club | Mar 5, 2021 | Tastings

Tasting #70: Rye Whiskey

On Wednesday, February 10th, the Saratoga Whiskey Club had its 70th tasting. The focus of the tasting was Rye Whiskey. We hadn’t done a focused Rye tasting since very early on in the club’s history. So it was great to go back to this ever-evolving category of whiskey. Most of the bottles came from a recent trip to Kentucky when we picked up our New Riff barrel for the club. The others were sourced locally and the last one from Tom at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society.

Here is what we tasted.

Castle & Key Restoration Rye – Batch 1
MB Roland Single Barrel Rye
Pinhook 4 Year Rye – Westport Whiskey & Wine Store Pick
Nulu 7 Year Rye – Party Source Store Pick
Alberta Premium Cask Strength Rye
SMWS RW3.1 ‘Big, bold, fruity and spicy’ 7 Year Rye – NY Distilling

32 members were online for this really great tasting.

YouTube video: YouTube Video

For scores, please check here: Scores

Tasting #69: Westland American Single Malt

by Saratoga Whiskey Club | Feb 4, 2021 | Tastings

Tasting #69: Westland American Single Malt

On Wednesday, January 27th, the Saratoga Whiskey Club had its 69th tasting. The focus of this tasting was Westland American Single Malt Whiskey out of Seattle. We were joined by Jeff Greenstein who walked us through the core line expression followed by three limited edition Westland bottlings. We were fortunate to get our hands on two Garryanas from 2019 and 2020 and an exclusive single cask for the NY market. It was a fantastic tasting and thanks so much for Jeff for joining us and co-hosting such a fun evening.

Here is what we tasted.

Westland American Single Malt – American Oak
Westland American Single Malt – Sherry Wood
Westland American Single Malt – The Peated
Westland Garryana 2019 – Edition 4/1 – Limited Edition
Westland Garryana 2020 – Edition 5/1 – Limited Edition
Westland Single Cask #2781 – NY Exclusive Market Release

52 members were online for this really great tasting.

YouTube video: YouTube Video

For scores, please check here: Scores

Tasting #68: A Campbeltown Celebration

by Saratoga Whiskey Club | Feb 4, 2021 | Tastings

Tasting #68: A Campbeltown Celebration

On Wednesday, January 20th, the Saratoga Whiskey Club had its 68th tasting. The focus of this tasting was Campbeltown. It was a true Celebration of some really fantastic whiskies that were collected by the club over the last year. From Festival bottles to a very special Scotch Malt Whisky Society gift, this tasting was one of the best we have had as a club. We were joined by both Tom Smith and Ben Diedrich from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society to go through some of their casks, but also just to be with us to enjoy this really fun evening.

Here is what we tasted.