Tasting #75: Starward Australian Whisky

Tasting #75: Starward Australian Whisky

by | 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 #74: Irish Whiskey Dinner

Tasting #74: Irish Whiskey Dinner

by | Dec 5, 2021 | Tastings

Tasting #74: Irish Whiskey Dinner

On Tuesday, March 16th, the Saratoga Whiskey Club held its 74th tasting! It was an Irish Whiskey Paired Dinner to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day… a day late… We partnered up with a great restaurant in Glens Falls called Farmacy. Chef AJ Richards is a member of the club and came up with a great menu to-go. We all collected our dinners and joined together with the chef on Zoom to walk through the dishes and the whiskeys. Here is what we ate and tasted:

Appetizer: Blood sausage, celeriac puree, scallop chips, blood orange, onion ash
Paired with Bushmills 16 Year Irish Whiskey
Bread Course: House sourdough, raisin butter, dried fig dust
Entree: Roasted corned beef, pickled red cabbage, spiced carrot puree, duck fat fingerling potatoes, Irish soda bread
Paired with both Teeling 18 Year Renaissance (Batch 2 – Australian Shiraz Cask) and Powers John’s Lane Pot Still Irish Whiskey
Cheese Course: Mull of Kintyre Cheddar, onion pate, apple jam, pickled whole grain mustard
Paired with Teeling Blackpitts
Dessert Course: Barmbark, black tea panna cotta, smoked salted caramel, candied pecan
Paired with Blue Spot Pot Still Irish Whiskey
It was an incredible evening on Zoom with great food and drink!! Thanks to Farmacy for putting this all together for us!
Tasting #72: Michter’s Whiskey

Tasting #72: Michter’s Whiskey

by | Mar 5, 2021 | Tastings

Tasting #72: Michter’s Whiskey

On Wednesday, February 24th, the Saratoga Whiskey Club had its 72nd tasting. What a night! We had some very special guests that were brought to us by one of our member’s sons, LJ Sconzo. He started working for Michter’s a year ago and we were excited for this tasting. Joining us were both Andrea Wilson, Master of Maturation and General Manager, and Dan McKee, Master Distiller. They stayed with us for two hours and we tasted through 8 of their great expressions. It was really an incredible night of lots of information with some of the most talented people in the industry. 

Here is what we tasted.

  • Michter’s American Whiskey
  • Michter’s Sour Mash Whiskey
  • Michter’s Bourbon Whiskey
  • Michter’s Rye Whiskey
  • Shenk’s Sour Mash Limited Edition 2020 Whiskey
  • Michter’s 10 Year Bourbon Whiskey 2020 Edition
  • Michter’s 10 Year Rye Whiskey 2020 Edition
  • Bomberger’s Bourbon Limited Edition 2020 Whiskey

56 members were online for this really great tasting.

YouTube video: YouTube Video

For scores, please check here: Scores

Tasting #71: Bourbon-Paired Dinner

Tasting #71: Bourbon-Paired Dinner

by | 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

Tasting #70: Rye Whiskey

by | 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