Tasting #47: The Whisky Hoop

Tasting #47: The Whisky Hoop

Tasting #47: The Whisky Hoop

On Wednesday, February 19th, the Saratoga Whiskey Club held its 47th tasting as a club. The theme for this tasting was The Whisky Hoop Independent Bottlings. These bottles were brought back from Japan. The Whisky Hoop is a members-only independent bottler that sells mostly to Japanese bars. It was an incredible tasting.

The whiskies that we tasted included:

  • Talisker 6 Year
  • Arran 16 Year
  • Clynelish 23 Year
  • Glendronach 22 Year
  • Tobermory 11 Year
  • Bunnahabhain 4 Year 

23 members were in attendance for this tasting.

Tasting #40: Coastal Scotland Tour

Tasting #40: Coastal Scotland Tour

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 #14 Recap: Oyster-Paired Whiskey Dinner

Tasting #14 Recap: Oyster-Paired Whiskey Dinner

Tasting #14 Recap: Oyster-Paired Whiskey Dinner

The Saratoga Whisk(e)y Club had Tasting #14 on Wednesday, January 31, 2018, at Henry Street Taproom. Chef Matt Weekes dished up some great courses that we paired with various whiskies from different countries. It was a six-course dinner and four of the courses were oyster-focused. It was a fantastic evening of 19 people and everyone had a great time. Most of the pairings were on point and we look forward to more Henry Street Taproom events in the future.

Here is a list of the courses and the whiskies that we paired:

  • Course 1 – East Coast Raw Oysters – Savage Harbor Blondes from Prince Edward Island paired with Talisker Distiller’s Edition 2015
    • Pairing Comments: “Yes, yes, yes, yes, great, yes, good, works, two thumbs up, great, great, A, very good”
  • Course 2 – Salad Course – Charred Beet and Citrus Salad
  • Course 3 – West Coast Raw Oysters – Gigamotos from British Columbia paired with Glenmorangie Nectar D’or
    • Pairing Comments: “No, yes, yes, yes, fav!, yup, okay, spice strong, 5 out of 10, good, not as good, B, eh”
  • Course 4 – Fried oysters atop a corncake with deviled egg mousse paired with Teeling Single Cask Carcavelos
    • Pairing Comments: “great, yes!!, yes!, o yea, good, wrong oyster, swap with #2, well-paired, A-, very good”
  • Course 5 – Baked oysters with bacon and horseradish paired with Jefferson’s Ocean-Aged Small Batch Bourbon
    • Pairing Comments: “delish, yes x2, fantastic yes, yes!, delish, very good, favorite, dulled whiskey, really good, bacon washed out whiskey”
  • Course 6 – Hudson Valley Duck Breast served atop a faro risotto paired with Oban 14
    • Pairing Comments: “nice, yes yes yes, excellent, hell yea, good, two thumbs up, good, very very good”

What a great night, whiskey and food!

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Cheers!

Tasting #7 Recap: Scotland Islands (non-Islay)

Tasting #7 Recap: Scotland Islands (non-Islay)

Tasting #7 Recap: Scotland Islands (non-Islay)

The Saratoga Whisk(e)y Club had Tasting #7 on two nights, April 12 and April 26, 2017.  The focus of the evening was Scotch single malts from the islands around Scotland, excluding Islay (since we did this in December 2016).  It was a great turnout of 30 people. We had five different whiskies at our tasting and did a journey around Scotland as we started with the island of Arran and worked our way up to the Orkney Islands.  Here is a list of what we tasted:

  • We started with a Belhaven Scotch Ale
  • Arran Smuggler’s Series: The Illicit Stills, Volume I
  • Arran Smuggler’s Series: The High Seas, Volume II
  • Montgomerie’s Rare Cask Select Tobermory 21 Year Old
  • Talisker 18 Year Old
  • Gordon & MacPhail Highland Park 15 Cask Strength

Overall it was a fantastic tasting with lots of special whiskies!  In the future we do plan to go to Scotland and do this trip visiting the islands on the west coast and ending in the Orkney Islands.  2018!

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.