Tasting #54: Speyside Tasting

by Saratoga Whiskey Club | Jul 22, 2020 | Tastings

Tasting #54: Speyside Tasting

On Wednesday, June 24th, the Saratoga Whiskey Club had its 54th tasting. The focus of this tasting was whisky from the Speyside region of Scotland. We had bottles from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society as well as others to round out this great tasting.

Here is what we tasted:

Aberlour A’Bunadh Alba
SMWS 54.80 ‘Banana Mexicana’ – Aberlour
Cadenheads Miltonduff 11 Year
SMWS 1.217 ‘Mezzalunas at dawn’ – Glenfarclas
SMWS 44.118 ‘Get your castanets clacking’ – Craigellachie
SMWS 44.117 ‘Happiness is a warm bung’ – Craigellachie
SMWS 36.171 ‘A smooth ride’ – Festival Bottling of Benrinnes

35 members were online using Zoom for this really fun 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 #40: Coastal Scotland Tour

by Saratoga Whiskey Club | Oct 1, 2019 | Tastings

Tasting #40: Coastal Scotland Tour

On Wednesday, September 11th, the Saratoga Whiskey Club had its 40th tasting as a club! We had a special tasting of bottles that were recently brought back from a recent Rascal + Thorn whisky tour of Scotland. 20 members were in attendance for this outing!

Here is a list of the whiskies we tasted:

Talisker Distillery Exclusive
Wolfburn From The Stills
Ardnamurchan 2 Year Warehouse Release
Longmorn 13 Year Single Cask
Highland Park 18 Year Cask Strength
Ledaig 21 Year Port Pipe Finish

It was a fantastic tasting and night overall. Cheers!

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 #29 Recap: Bacardi Single Malt Scotch Portfolio

by Saratoga Whiskey Club | Mar 11, 2019 | Tastings

Tasting #29 Recap: Bacardi Single Malt Scotch Portfolio

On Thursday, February 28th, the Saratoga Whiskey Club had a great evening tasting Single Malt Scotch whiskies from the Bacardi portfolio. Our tasting was led by Holly Seidewand, the US Brand Ambassador for Bacardi’s single malts. Holly walked us through the history of each distillery, what makes them unique and added tasting notes to all of the whiskies tasted.

The event took place at Bailey’s Tavern in Saratoga Springs, NY, and we had 36 members in attendance.

Here is a list of the whiskies we tasted: