Tasting #31 Recap: Luxury SMWS Vertical Tasting

by Saratoga Whiskey Club | Apr 1, 2019 | Tastings

Tasting #31 Recap: Luxury SMWS Vertical Tasting

On Wednesday, March 27, the Saratoga Whiskey Club had its first Luxury tasting of 2019. The focus of the tasting was a SMWS Vertical Tasting of Glen Grant whiskies. It was an incredible evening and all of the whiskies were special in their own way. It was amazing to see how three of the bottles that were distilled on the same day in 1996 were so different from each other. There were 18 members in attendance.

Here is a list of the whiskies we tasted:

SMWS 9.147 ‘Cocktails in a coalmine’ – Glen Grant 21 Year
SMWS 9.148 ‘Mustard, custard and musk’ – Glen Grant 21 Year
SMWS 9.155 ‘Witches’ night’ – Glen Grant 22 Year
SMWS 9.152 ‘Mindful savouring’ – Glen Grant 25 Year
SMWS 9.150 ‘Thyme well spent’ – Glen Grant 30 Year

For scores from the tasting, please go to Scores.

An extraordinary evening of Scotch. Cheers!

Tasting #27 Recap: Great Bourbons

by Saratoga Whiskey Club | Jan 28, 2019 | Tastings

Tasting #27 Recap: Great Bourbons

On Wednesdays, January 9 & 23, the Saratoga Whiskey Club had its first tasting of 2019. The focus of the tasting was Great Bourbons. These were bottles that were collected over the last year by the club. It was a great way to start off the new year! There were 36 members in attendance.

Here is a list of the whiskies we tasted:

Weller 12 Year
Old Ezra 7 Year Barrel Strength
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Batch 11, Spring ’16
SMWS B5.1 – Dickel 13 Year
Wild Turkey ‘Revival’

For scores from the tasting, please go to Scores.

Two wonderful evenings of Bourbon. Can’t go wrong with that to start the year! Cheers.

Bourbon selection for Great Bourbon Tasting

Tasting #23 Recap: Blind SMWS Tasting

by Saratoga Whiskey Club | Dec 7, 2018 | Tastings

Tasting #23 Recap: Blind SMWS Tasting

On Wednesdays September 5th and 12th, 2018, the Saratoga Whiskey Club had its first Blind Scotch Malt Whisky Society tasting. We had six different single malt whiskies to taste from and it was an interesting evening to see how close the members came to a consensus.

Here is a list of the whiskies we tasted:

SMWS 73.98 – Layers of harmony – Aultmore 17 Year
SMWS 112.27 – Tarry lapsang souchong – Loch Lomond 13 Year
SMWS 100.14 – Boozy basil Blueberry – Strathmill 12 Year
SMWS 39.130 – Zing like the ping of a musical string – Linkwood 26 Year
SMWS 36.145 – Nice day for cricket – Benrinnes 20 Year
SMWS 26.121 – A real ‘pick-me-up’ – Clynelish 13 Year

For scores from the tasting, please go to Scores.

It was a great tasting and one we will definitely do again.

Tasting #12 Recap: Scotch Malt Whisky Society House Tastings – November 2017

by Saratoga Whiskey Club | Dec 5, 2017 | Tastings

Tasting #12 Recap: Scotch Malt Whisky Society House Tastings – November 2017

The Saratoga Whisk(e)y Club had Tasting #12 on various nights throughout November, 2017. It was the first time we tried doing more informal tastings at people’s houses. This was also a different tasting in that we did it as a blind tasting. None of the guests knew from what distillery any of the bottlings came from. They also did not know how old each whisky was or the price. It was very interesting to see what happened when the bias was removed, the pre-conceived notion that a whisky has to be good because it is from a certain distillery or because of its price. We had a good turnout of 22 people over the course of four different nights, both members and non-members. We had eight different whiskies at our tasting. Here is a list of what we tasted:

We started with a beer and this varied from house to house
SMWS 41.89 ‘Tarte Flambe’ Dailuaine 12 Year
SMWS 37.83 ‘An odyssey of flavor’ Cragganmore 12 Year
SMWS 55.31 ‘Sparkling, lively and playful’ Royal Brackla 17 Year
SMWS 36.114 ‘Tap-dancing tongue teaser’ Benrinnes 13 Year
SMWS 54.42 ‘A washing day in Spring’ Aberlour 9 Year
SMWS 46.45 ‘A two-way street’ Glenlossie 23 Year
SMWS 48.74 ‘Coffee kisses and lucky tatties’ Balmenach 10 Year
SMWS 73.79 ‘Hopped-Up!’ Aultmore 16 Year

Overall it was a fun tasting and it made you think! It’s amazing how much more difficult it is not knowing what you are tasting.

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 #8 Recap: SMWS – Scotch Malt Whisky Society

by Saratoga Whiskey Club | May 30, 2017 | Tastings

Tasting #8 Recap: SMWS – Scotch Malt Whisky Society

The Saratoga Whisk(e)y Club had Tasting #8 on two nights, May 10 and May 24, 2017. The focus of the evening was a special selection of bottles from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. It was a great turnout of 23 members. We had four different whiskies at our tasting, three from the Speyside region and one from Arran. Here is a list of what we tasted:

We started with a Bell’s Lager of the Lakes
SMWS 7.133 ‘A Boiled Bag of Sweets’ – Longmorn 12 Year Old
SMWS 39.110 ‘Builders At Breaktime’ – Linkwood 14 Year Old
SMWS 121.89 “Sweet As A Nut’ – Isle of Arran 16 Year Old
SMWS 44.65 ‘Subtle Complexity’ – Craigellachie 24 Year Old

Overall it was a fantastic tasting with lots of special whiskies! This was our first time sampling some of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society bottles.

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.