It’s no secret; I’m a fan of Big Bottom Whiskey. This past Saturday, both Jean and I had another opportunity to join in and help bottle up more of the batch 3 Port finish, and get the Wild Bill warehouse series dram in the new bottles as well. As always, we had a fabulous time meeting new people and laughing our butts off through the various bits of conversation and chatter that occurs on the production line.
More importantly, though, Saturday was when Ted and Taylor opened the Big Bottom tasting room at the front of the warehouse. This is huge news for some of us locals, as they will be exclusively selling the warehouse series through the tasting room; yup, that means nowhere else, folks. While the rest of you can get the American Straight, and maybe some of the Port Finish whiskies, you won’t be able to get your hands on any of the Wild Bill, Project X, or other upcoming warehouse series drams unless you come to visit.
What ARE these new warehouse only releases?
Wild Bill is a cask strength version of the Tawny Port finish bourbon after a year in the port casks and bottled last Saturday around 118 proof. This dark and moody dram has a powerful kick, but seduces you with a balanced complex sweetness you’ve come to love from the port finish. Just look at the deep, rich colour of this dram sitting on the bottle filler… if I didn’t know better, I’d swear this was an American version of Loch Dhu!
Project X is even crazier. This is a bottling of a 4 year old whiskey finished for a year in White Port casks… yep, you read that right: white port! This is a dram I had the pleasure and honour of sampling from start to finish over the past year, and damn if I’m not impressed with the outcome. It started out almost void of any real colouring, but in the last two or three months transformed into a deep nearly ruby red dram; surprising for a white port! And the flavour, oh the flavour followed suit! This a wonderfully sweet bourbon with similar complexities to the Wild Bill (though at a lower 91 proof), but developed a richness and balanced tannins from the oak with just a slight almost wafting hint of acidity cutting through the depth to bring this dram to life.
Both of these drams SHOULD be on sale in the next 30 days, pending label approvals and of course actually getting the labels ON the bottles. You can rest assured I’ll be one of the first in line to grab me some of this goodness.
The Big Bottom tasting room is open every Saturday from noon to 4pm. (Like them on Facebook for the most up to date news and hours, etc.) Stop by, say hello, and tell them Jason of the 3 Drunken Celts sent you… it won’t get you anything other than a laugh and an eye-roll, but it’ll make them (and me) smile 🙂
Until then, here’s some more pictures from the bottling and tasting room opening:
This past weekend was TOAST (The Oregon Artisan Spirits Tasting), an event put on by the Oregon Distiller’s Guild (like them on Facebook here) and touted as the largest craft spirits tasting in North America! The event featured over 55 local and national artisan producers, all told pouring over 170 different unique spirits. How, I ask you, as a founding 3DC member can I pass this up… I mean it is almost an imperative that I go, learn, taste, and report back, right? Well, I’m not going alone, so I dragged Jean and Corey along with me (ok maybe not dragged, more like enabled).
This is the same event where last year my friend Corey and I met Ted Pappas of Big Bottom Whiskey along with a few others, so I was very pleased to see some great whiskey representation by even more makers and distillers this year. It seems our local craft artisans are really doing some great work and growing by leaps and bounds. The event itself also seemed to indicate this with a shift in venue to the Portland World Trade Center as well as the critical addition of an on-premise bottle shop.
From my view as an attendee, the addition of the bottle shop was the perfect compliment to the tasting hall as we were able to immediately buy bottles we enjoyed, without the burden of having to remember them for later 😉 I can only hope the addition of the on-premise shop proved beneficial for the vendors as well since the convenience of purchase would likely make for some good sales likely missed if an attendee would have to go searching their local stores for some of these bottlings.
Since this is a whiskies blog and tasting group, I won’t bother with the details of all the other spirits we tasted on Saturday, instead will focus on just the whiskies side. You’re also in luck, as I didn’t bother with my normal tasting notebook, you’ll not have to bear through the specific tasting notes of each dram I had, which given the expanse of the event is likely a good thing for us all!
Our initial whiskey of the day was Cabin Fever Maple Whiskey which is an 80 proof maple infused rye whiskey that is aged in uncharred barrels and then chill filtered to remove excess sugars. This one was simply too sweet for my palate to be a sipping whiskey, and really struck me as the perfect cooking ingredient (or breakfast dram to pour over your pancakes if’n you swing that way).
Next we moved on to Dry Fly Distilling where we sampled their Washington Wheat Whiskey. I recall discovering Dry Fly a few years back at Whiskies of the World where they were pouring what must have been thier first commercial run of the Washington Wheat. I’m happy to note here that they’ve really begun to fine-tune the dram and are producing a very pleasant, very smooth wheat whiskey that eschews much of the bitterness of corn based mashes leaving a nice soft story the whole way through.
Then it was over to Big Bottom to harass Ted, Taylor, and Monique. I’ve discussed Big Bottom’s merits in detail before, and it always seems strange to go to tastings where I’m so familiar with the pours being served. Luckily Ted always seems to have some small surprise for people like me and pulled out a brilliant New York cocktail to sample, with Big Bottom as the core bourbon base of course. I’m quite glad we could only sample that in our small shot glasses, as it is one of the tastiest cocktails I’ve had in a while and may just have hung out there the rest of the day had I a larger glass…
Luckily we were able to peel away and head off to more vendor tables, this time stopping at Ransom Spirits to sample their Whippersnapper Whiskey. This was an interesting one to me as it uses two different base distillates: one Kentucky whitedog corn based mash which is re-distilled, and the second being a recipe of malted and unmalted barley mash distilled in Oregon. This combination, as well as the use of use bourbon barrels and their own Pinot Noir barrels makes for an interestingly complex dram that still has the soft sweetness you’d expect from an American whiskey but without the bitter finish so many bourbons can leave you with after aging. The year average in the barrels definitely does this dram right.
A hop over to Few Spirits caught us a bit off guard as we found their Whitedog whiskey to be better in flavour and finish than their aged bourbon. If I recall correctly (I’ve been unable to verify this online *edit below because I was wrong*) the whitedog is actually made with a mash created from Oat flour rather than solid grains. Whatever the case, this whitedog is one that is just as easy sipping as any of the bourbon and American aged whiskies in the rest of the show. Truly a happy surprise.
*Edit* I knew I kept Corey around for a reason 🙂 He just informed me that Few Spirits was unaged only, with the interesting gin along side. The aged at that table was Old Pogue, which was good, but the unaged still won me over.
It was actually Stone Barn Brandyworks which was the source for the oat flour based whiskey. Their 100% rye was the one better as unaged. Both were surprising and wonderful drams to be had. If you find yourself in Portland, they are a must try.
Thanks for the updates and corrections, Corey! */edit*
Next was Mischief Spirits where we sampled both their Fremont Mischief Whiskey as well as their John Jacob bottling, both rye spirits. This stop exemplified for me that most American whiskies do best aging between 1 and 8 years, no longer. I say this as their Fremont Mishief whiskey is aged eight years and to my palate was on the way down from what may have been a peak aging at 6 years, leaving me to prefer their John Jacob offering which I don’t recall showing any age statement, most likely around 12- 24 months in the barrel. While both were good, John Jacob came out the clear top to me.
We then scooted over to the next table for what turned out to be my show favourite: Angel’s Envy. With a name like Lincoln Henderson behind this distillation it shouldn’t be any surprise that this dram topped my list. But it should surprise you, as on paper this dram is an amalgamation of everything I dislike: It is aged in new oak barrels with a 3-4 alligator char. It is a 72% corn mash bill, with a meager 18% rye content. And to be perfectly fair, it comes from a ‘big name’ in the industry. I’m not a fan of heavy char (preferring a light 2 in the barrels), I gravitate to high rye content whiskies, and love the passion of the boutique distillers who haven’t been broken by the industry yet. Well, Lincoln is doing some crazy stuff with a reinvigorated passion which really comes out in the dram. There’s some madness in his combination of mash bill, 4-6 years aging on heavy char, and then finishing another 3-6 months in Ruby Port barrels from Portugal. Just goes to show that you can’t judge a dram by its recipe. This one truly struck me as inspired insanity. So much so we went home with a bottle from the on-premise store, not wanting to wait for the next day to enjoy it again 🙂
Next, we moseyed across to Eastside Distilling, where we sampled their Burnside Bourbon. I was pleasantly surprised by this bourbon, as it finished quite smoothly without hint of the bitter finish I’ve come to expect from high corn based mashes. Unfortunately the two reps manning the table weren’t able to provide more specifics on the mash bill, so I was unable to verify if it truly was a high percent corn mash or if it had a substantial rye content. Surprisingly (or not) I didn’t even noticed that it is bottled at 96 proof… that either tells you how soft it really is or how much I’d had by this point.
To round out the day we finished off at Bull Run Distilling since I was already very familiar with their Temperance Trader Whiskey. It should come as no surprise that I enjoy this ‘high rye’ whiskey given the commentary above. Like Big Bottom, this bottling from Bull Run is not distilled on premise, but rather is a selection of distillate from outside sources. Given the selection that the boys at Bull Run have made, I’d say our palates are very much in line, as this is a wonderful dram to sit back and sip, or to add in as a base for some outstanding cocktails. Plus, Lee and Patrick are good guys to chat with, obviously passionate about what they do, which is brilliantly obvious in their on-premise distilled vodka and rum, both which drink as if they were top shelf whiskies. Also doesn’t hurt that they open their doors to Stuart Ramsay for his Whisky Academy series of lectures and tastings… makes for building a nice little community and connection between enthusiasts and the creators.
All in all, not a single truly disappointing dram was to be had. Obviously some shined more than others, but when it comes down to it our local distillers and artisans are really knocking it out of the park with their varied and quite unique products. I enjoyed the show so much these past two years, I may have to make a point of really promoting it next year to get some of our SoCal contingent to drive/fly up for the weekend and enjoy it too… seems a shame to keep this all to myself 😉
I guess I’d be remiss if I didn’t share a picture of my lovely new decorative purchase from Essential Oil, another local shop… yes, I might have a thing for copper, why do you ask?
The 3DC Vegas Invasion of 2012…. February 18th & 19th to be more precise.
The 3DC had arranged two events coincided with an SCA event happening in Boulder City, NV just 30 or so miles from the strip. The first of these was a 6 dram paired tasting at the Ri’Ra’ (Mandalay Hotel/Casino), and the second night was to be a visit to the Freakin’ Frog’s Whisky Attic to take advantage of the 850+ drams Adam Carmer has sitting on the shelves just waiting for folks like us.
To that end, and having had a grand time swishing and a poking all day at the Practicum of the Sword event. It really has no comparission, we both have a good amount of experience on sites like online-casino-sverige.se but playing live is such a thrill! Jeff and I (Raz) trundled back to the Hotel in Henderson to get cleaned up and grab a light snack to prep our tummies for the drams that were to follow. After doing so, and courtesy of Melissa’s kind offer of transport and Stephen’s equally generous offer to be the designated driver for the weekend, we set off from Henderson. With Saul at the wheel we charged down the 215 to the Ri’Ra’ and valeted our golden chariot, then strode into the hotel lobby and, via a misstep past one of the worst bar bands in living memory, we made it to the bar about 45 minutes early. Scott (Ri’Ra’s manager) met us at the front door and showed us right back into our own private side room. It was kind of like a toss back to the 1970s stylistically but had it’s own wee bar staffed by our own wee Irish bartender. A round of cider was ordered to whet the palate and we had great conversations with folks as they trickled in. In the end we numbered a scant 8 actually participating, but Scott was OK with it since they haven’t done more that a couple tastings before and were looking at our event as a way to gain more experience. 3DC luck plays out in out favor again it seems. But we could as well hone our skills many online casinos that offer free games. Online casino are best these to playing casino games.
To the meat of the matter then, the pairings:
Dalwinnie 15 and the Irish Salmon. The dram was better than I’d remembered it. Personally I didn’t like the salmon at all, which is no surprise to me at least, but those who actually like salmon said it paired well and was quite tasty.
Macallan 12 and the (lamb) Sheppard’s pie. A wonderful smelling dram (ended up dabbing a bit on as a cologne) and paired quite well with the pie. The pie itself was spectacular. There was some extensive conversation around whether the dram helped the pie or if it was the other way around. The consensus around the table came out in favor of the influence of the dram this time.
Talisker Distiller’s Edition and the Irish Cheddar. The dram hit the table ahead of the cheese so we sipped on it. This was powerful and full of brine like an angry sea. The table seemed to agree that we wouldn’t likely be getting all the way through this one. It really was grabbing us by the balls after the Speyside in the last pairing. The cheese showed up and was very salty and very tasty too. That’s when the magic happened. This was the paring that most surprised everyone. The greatest impact one to the other of any of them on this evening. The conversation about which was the greater influence reared it’s ugly head again, this time falling in favor of the cheese. Far from not finishing the dram as it turned out, we ran dry before we’d finished the cheese. I’d give this one the award for most astonishing pairing of the evening.
Jameson’s Gold and Pork Belly / spinach. The fist pairing of the evening to fall a bit short. Partially, at least, in the execution. The dram itself was quite good, full of spice and vanilla as would be expected. The pig however was a bit cold and underdone. The fat did not pair well with the dram; contrarily the few burnt end pieces actually did pair quite well with it adding complexity not originally in the dram. The spinach was actually more complex than the dram so that kind of took away from it. All in all, it was kind of nice to have this pairing not work as it showed us both possibilities. A huge improvement in #3 to a degrading of the dram here. I think if the belly was end pieces or even proper Irish bacon it would have worked much better.
Tullamore Dew 12 and a creamy tomato soup. This also did not pair well though not because of the execution. The tomato soup may possibly have been the best I’ve ever had. A truly wonderful concoction. Paired with the dram though all kinds of acid and sharpness was present. An utter failure of a pairing. That being said the soup was far too good not to eat, so I shot the dram, had a sip of water and enjoyed the rest of the soup at my leisure.
Compass Box Hedonism and dark chocolate cake with a dollop of fresh cream and a thin shaving of strawberry. This was likely the best pairing of the night and I was so very glad to end the pairing menu on this instead of #5. This was a wonderful cake and a wonderful dram that when paired together was ecstasy. I can’t recommend this pairing highly enough, but it was a pretty safe bet.
We ended the event with more great conversations and another cider. Not sure how, but no one really was all that tipsy. This was a grand evening and we learned so much.
Special thanks to Melissa for taking notes as we went along so that I could reference back to them here. A huge thanks to Stephen for getting us home safe. Another huge thank you to Robin Robinson and Compass Box for the bottle hookup. It really saved our tasting.
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Sunday, after another fun day of swinging swords about, we met the gang back out in front of our hotel and opted for dinner at Freakin’ Frog’s ahead of meeting up with Adam in the Whisky Attic. A moment to further endorse this little off strip dive bar, the food was really good. I would warn you against to the nuclear hot chilli fries unless you are looking for that kind of experience. The Dogfish Head Sah’tea beer I had with my dinner was amazing. Ask Saul if you don’t believe me. I’d ordered it blind from seeing just the top of the bottle not realizing it was a 750ml bottle so I needed the help. My new favorite beer EVAR!
Sometime just after 8PM we told Adam we were ready and we scaled the stairs passed the velvet rope up into the wonderland that is the Whisky Attic. By the time the evening was done we numbered a pleasant 13 or so in our group. Adam was a wonderful and quite funny host. Normally he runs structured seated tastings but given our reputation, he opened up the bar and let us wander around the shelves each picking drams willy-nilly. Jeff stumbled onto what was probably the best way to do a freestyling trip to the Attic. He picked a dram and then asked Adam where he should go next. Adam put together a 4 dram journey of flavors building in intensity and ending in an unexpected far off land. I however, arrogant as I am, knew what I wanted: drams to which I don’t normally have access.
I started with the best whisky in the world (to my palate) the Bunahabhain 25. It’s like the 18 but +100 points for, oh I don’t know, everything. An expensive dram to be sure but as someone who generally doesn’t necessarily appreciate the more pricey drams over munitions grade fare, I was blown away.
I chose as my second dram I picked the Sheep Dip 1990. A hefty dram to be sure. Not subtle at all but not harsh either.
For my last dram of the night I let Adam pick for me and he gave me Heart Brothers bottling of a Glen Turret Cask Strength 10 year. A surprisingly soft and smooth dram for a cask strength dram. Down the Speyside road for complexity.
A very nice way to end my visit with Adam and all in attendance seemed to have had a great time and we all learned a lot and had things we didn’t know existed.
Adam wrote me a note thanking us for the visit and saying how much he enjoyed our group and that he’d love to see us anytime. I’m thinking next year we let Adam set up a tasting for us and I’ll coordinate it with the SCA event. I’d be interested to see how Adam runs a structured tasting. I’m sure I could learn a lot.
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Live Poker Sees Uptick
Online poker made great strides in 2017, but the brick-and-mortar version also had a solid year. Nevada, home to about 600 of the roughly 6,100 poker tables nationwide, experienced a poker revenue uptick that it hadn’t seen in a decade. Despite losing three poker rooms on the Strip (Luxor, Monte Carlo and Hard Rock), live poker in the Silver State was back on a winning streak, albeit a modest one. Other positive signs for live poker included the Pkv Games online World Series of Poker setting a participation record at the annual summer festival and Maryland’s poker market, the hottest in the country throughout 2017, growing by about 30 percent thanks to an MGM poker room outside Washington, D.C. that opened in late 2016.
Clickable Poker Personalities Of The Year
Win a big tournament and you’ll almost certainly find your name in headlines, but there are plenty of poker players who manage to find the spotlight just as often for their shenanigans off the felt. Here’s a look at those who got more than their fair share of attention in 2017.
Celebrity Sightings
Kevin Hart, one of the biggest comedy starts on the planet, opened the year strong for poker by making an appearance at the PokerStars Championship Bahamas. The avid poker fan even dropped more than $300,000 in buy-ins, firing multiple bullets in the $100,000 and $50,000 high roller events. Hart then later played in the PokerStars Championship Monte Carlo €100,000 high roller in April, as well as the $300,000 Super High Roller Bowl in May.
During the summer, PokerStars announced another big signing with Olympic legend Usain Bolt. The eight-time gold medalist joined other athletes such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar Jr. and Rafael Nadal to endorse the site.
In August, Anton Zaslavski, better known to his fans as EDM superstars Zedd, finished third in a €2,150 buy-in PokerStars Championship Barcelona event. The 27-year-old earned €44,000 for his finish, which came after performing a 90-minute set at the tournament’s welcome party.
Trouble With The Law
In April, David Dao was attacked by authorities while aboard a United Airlines flight, knocked unconscious, and dragged off the plane for refusing to give up his seat. The poker world was surprised to find out that Dao is a part-time poker pro with nearly $250,000 in career live tournament earnings. Wild rumors of a settlement as high as nine figures were even reported by the Washington Post.
Jason Funke made the money in the WSOP main event, taking 490th place overall for $24,867. Then a month later, he was shot by Las Vegas police after a bizarre standoff in front of a church. Funke was completely nude and holding a handgun during the August incident.
Paul Senat finished 70th in the WSOP main event, banking $101,000 for his deep run. But it might be a long time before the 37-year-old will get to play in Las Vegas again, after it was revealed that he was out on bond for a manslaughter charge in April. Senat is accused of accidentally killing New York Giants player Travis Rudolph’s father in a West Palm Beach strip club.
In December, an armed robber quietly held up the Bellagio Casino’s poker cage while the Five Diamond World Poker Classic played on just a few feet away. The bandit, who wore a wig and sunglasses, is still at large. This incident occurred just one month after naked man (a completely different naked man, believe it or not) was detained by security after trying to get back into a poker game.
They Did What?
Although 2017 was a quiet year for outlandish prop bets, one hilarious wager did catch our eye. In May, poker pro Mike Noori was given 5:1 odds on eating $1,000 worth of McDonald’s food in a 36-hour time frame. Noori didn’t even come close, tapping out after about $100 worth of fast food. There was apparently more than $200,000 worth of action booked for the bet.
The always-vocal Tony G, whose legal name is Antanas Guoga, has been absent from the poker scene for the last few years while working as a member of the European Parliament for his home country of Lithuania. In March, however, Guoga was back in the news after he became one of 12 politicians banned from Russia by Vladimir Putin.
Phil Ivey continued to be largely absent from the poker world while he continued to appeal rulings in his edge-sorting case with two major casinos. The man who was once widely regarded as the best poker player in the world suffered a big blow when the U.K. Supreme Court ultimately decided that he wasn’t entitled to recover the $10.1 million he won at Crockfords Casino in London back in 2012.
Although Fedor Holz’s retirement announcement turned out to be a lot of hot air, a couple more prominent players followed suit in 2017, stepping down in the prime of their careers. Dani Stern, who was known online as Ansky451, said he was quitting in October. Three-time WSOP bracelet winner Vanessa Selbst, did the same in December.
Good For You
Poker pro Kyle Cartwright had a solid year at the tables, winning a WSOP Circuit title in September, but during the summer, he had quite the run playing video poker. The Memphis-native hit two $100,000 royal flush jackpots in Las Vegas and then followed that up with another while in Tunica. The odds of hitting just one are about 40,000:1!
It wasn’t all bad news for Ivey, who was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in July, along with the departed David “Devilfish” Ulliott. Ivey, who just turned 40, got in during his first year of eligibility. Mike Sexton, who was inducted back in 2010, announced back in May that he was moving on from the WPT commentating booth to take a position as Chairman of PartyPoker.
Australian pro David Eldar proved that he could do more than just poker when he was crowned the World Scrabble Champion in London this August. Eldar’s $11,000 first-place prize was small potatoes compared to the amount he has won playing poker, however.
In December, the poker world was finally treated to a good poker movie. Aaron Sorkin’s directorial debut Molly’s Game opened on Christmas day, and received mostly-positive reviews. Meanwhile, Rounders writer Brian Koppelman appeared to be fed up with questions about a possible sequel, explaining to fans that he doesn’t control the rights to the film.
The Poker World Says Goodbye
Manuel “Noli” Francisco, one of the earliest champions on the World Poker Tour, passed away in February due to kidney failure at the age of 75. Francisco had three runner-up finishes at the WSOP, and won the WPT Borgata Poker Open, which was televised back in 2003.
Tournament poker has long been the most exciting and approachable form of the game, capturing the imaginations of both the top players and brand new fans around the globe. 2017 was an incredible year for poker tournaments, with prestigious established events showing staying power while new and exciting tournaments helped spread the love of poker to new corners of the world. This article will take a look at the key events of 2017 that helped define the year on the international poker tournament circuit.
Winter
This year kicked off at a familiar locale: the Atlantis Resort in The Bahamas. The PokerStars Championship Bahamas played host to a number of massive events, starting with the $100,000 buy-in super high roller. In the end, Jason Koon emerged victorious, earning $1,650,300 for the win. 2016 champion Bryn Kenney came close to defending his title, but ultimately finished in seventh place.
Bryn Kenney won two titles in the first 12 days of 2017
Just a day later Kenney won the $50,000 buy-in single day high roller at the same festival, defeating a field of 69 entries to win $969,075. Two days after that he outlasted a field of 59 entries in a $25,000 single-day high roller, securing his second title of the year and the top prize of $392,876.
The $5,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event at the PSC Bahamas drew 738 total entries. Christian Harder emerged victorious with the title and $429,664.
While the events in the Bahamas exemplified the high rolling side of tournament poker, the WSOP Circuit Choctaw was evidence of the healthy state of lower buy-in events. A $365 buy-in preliminary event there drew 5,280 entries to create a $1,584,000 total prize pool, while the $1,675 buy-in main event attracted 1,451 entries. Grant Hinkle came away with the gold ring and the $375,427 first-place prize.
Across the globe, the high roller scene made its way to Australia for the 2017 Aussie Millions. Nick Petrangelo won the $100,000 AUD super high roller for $665,734. The main event drew 725 entries, with local Shurane Vijayaram taking home $1.6 million AUD as the champion.
Ema Zajmovic became the first-ever female champion of an open WPT main event in 2017
The World Poker Tour held a number of exciting events in the early months of 2017. Daniel Weinman defeated a field of 1,312 entries to win the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open $3,500 no-limit hold’em main event for $892,433. A few weeks later, Ema Zajmovic took down the WPT Playground $3,500 CAD no-limit hold’em main event title, becoming the first female player in WPT history to win an open main event on the tour.
Darren Elias kept the history-making streak alive in the next WPT event. He won the WPT Fallsview Poker Classic $5,000 CAD main event for his third WPT title, which saw him enter a five-way tie for the record of most wins on the tour. The WPT closed out the winter months with the L.A. Poker Classic $10,000 main event. Daniel Strelitz outlasted a field of 521 players to win his first WPT title and the top prize of $1,001,110.
Spring
The 2017 WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star main event drew 806 entries, the largest turnout ever for the event. Sam Panzica came out on top with the $1,373,000 top prize. The three-stop “California Swing” of the WPT that began with the LAPC came to a close with Michael Del Vecchio winning the WPT Rolling Thunder, defeating Sorel Mizzi heads-up to win $284,638.
2017 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Finale champion Ryan Riess
For the second year in a row, the WPT’s season came to a conclusion with a trifecta of events held at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida. Tony Sinishtaj was the last player standing from a field of 1,207 entries in the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown $3,500 buy-in. He took home $661,283 for the win. A few days later 2013 WSOP main event champion Ryan Riess emerged victorious in the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Finale $10,000 buy-in event for $716,088. Riess overcame a 349-entry field to win his first title on the World Poker Tour.
Daniel Weinman took down the second annual WPT Tournament of Champions for a $381,500 payday, putting an end to the tour’s 15th season. Weinman won his way into the event by taking down a WPT title earlier in the season and was part of a 66-player field that included his fellow season 15 winners and the champions from previous season who were able to buy-in, rake-free, for $15,000. The event also had $100,000 added to the prize pool and plenty of added bonuses, like the 2018 Audi S5 coupe Weinman was awarded as the champion.
Thanks to all the 3DC and friends there of who came out and played with us. The great conversations I had each night were what makes all this worthwhile for me.
This past weekend was another PDXWhisky tasting hosted by Ian Itschner. As always, we had a lively group show up, all interested to see what this blind tasting had in store for us.
Unlike prior PDXWhisky tastings, this time around Ian went to pains to obfuscate the Distilleries/brands to keep preconceived notions away from the drams and allow our senses to do all the work; to find our favourites without the benefits of advertising or other biases. Of course that didn’t stop us from guessing and taking pot shots based on bottle shape, the colour of the whisky itself, or the general characteristics of the dram once we were tasting. (After all some bottles are so distinct in shape, you just KNOW if it is a Highland park, a Bruichladdich, or a Glenfiddich… its hard NOT to guess!)
To help you get the sense of what I’m talking about here…. these are the four bottles as presented to us:
You’re guessing already, aren’t you? See, it’s hard NOT to immediately start in with those biases and preconceptions! I’ll bet you even have some good guesses based on #2 and #4’s shape, as well as #1’s neck height, don’t you? I know we did! But don’t let that cloud your mind… work through it and you WILL be rewarded with some fun surprises.
In the spirit of the evening, I am going to present my tasting notes in the same blind fashion: showing you the notes without indicating the distillery or other bottling notes:
Bottle #1
Nose: Hotter than expected, and briney with mild caramel, cereal comes in late and then a light char.
Flavour: Hot and bitey. Some brine then light smoke and bran.
Finish: Toast into balanced cinnamon and smoke. Some said redhots, others said a higher quality cinnamon instead. The room was divided.
Viscosity: 3
Boldness: 2 (despite being so hot, not exactly a bold dram)
Length of Story: 2
Personal Taste: B-
Extraneous notes: On nosing I guessed this was at 45%abv, on tasting I upped it to 50%abv. First guess was Auchentoshan, then I scratched that out and changed a second guess to Kilchoman.
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Bottle #2
Nose: Grilled plantains, presenting a mild vegetative sweetness
Flavour: light and watery, hint of caramel, but rather bright and crisp.
Finish: middle oak and lingers with mild tannins
Viscosity: 2
Boldness: 2
Length of Story: 3
Personal Taste: B+
Extraneous notes: No abv guess here as it generally felt like a standard 40%abv. I took a guess at the region rather than distiller and put this in the Lowlands and aged at 12- 14 years based on the tannins that came out at the end.
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Bottle #3
Nose: Port, then heavy port, into wet dirt with a side note of ‘red fruit’.
Flavour: Brine and port, astringent and hot.
Finish: Heavy but wet tannins at first, which then dry out to the end. A constant port finish through out.
Viscosity: 4
Boldness: 4
Length of Story: 4
Personal Taste: B+
Extraneous notes: This was another hot one, but a bit more mild than the first. My guess from nosing was at 41%abv while I upped it to 45%abv on the palate. Normally I love port finishes, but this one threw me for a loop as it nosed like a Speyside, but drank like an Islay. My guess put this as an Islay with a port cask finish aged 16 years.
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Bottle #4
Nose: Fruit, a smokey apple hookah tobacco type scent.
Flavour: Immediate anise, which moved straight to peat and then into fruit with semi-sweet almost bitter chocolate (akin to a 77% cocoa)
Finish: Balanced oak and sweetness of fruit without the acidity.
Viscosity: 2
Boldness: 4
Length of Story: 4
Personal Taste: A
Extraneous notes: This was quickly noted as my favourite of the night, guessing region as Highland and aged 18 years given the balanced sweetness with a hint of peat.
… and to push the reveal text far enough down so as you can’t see it while reading the tasting notes above, here’s another look at them:
There, now that you have the tasting notes, and obfuscated images of the bottles I’ll stop the torture and reveal what each bottling was in relation to my guesses above. So, without further ado, the BIG REVEAL:
Bottle #1: Auchentoshan Valinch, 2011 limited edition, bottled at 57.5%abv
Bottle #2: Compass Box, Great King Street
Bottle #3: Glen Scotia, 19 year, single cask port finish, bottled at 59.5%abv
Bottle #4: Ledaig 10 years, 46.3%abv
I should have trusted my first instinct on bottle number one and not second guessed my distillery choice as I was apparently right on with my initial guess! I WILL come clean and note that was primarily driven from the bottle shape and my knowledge of what Auchentoshans typically taste like. Still, I was surprised to have been so close on my first guess.
The second bottle was a bit of a shock as I’d gone through two bottles of Compass Box’ Great King Street with friends since November. I’m a bit settled by the fact that the bottle is comprised of 51.4% Lowland grain whiskies, letting me breathe a bit better when I guessed lowland as the region. Unfortunately, not having done a proper tasting note for the GKS, I don’t have a personal taste comparison to show how close or off this blind tasting was. I’m guessing that blind, this rated a bit lower than I likely would have rated it otherwise, given my predilection to towards anything Compass Box produces. Nice to keep me honest. That said, even at a B+ I’m absolutely going to continue buying this bottle for whisky & sodas!
The Glen Scotia came as a real surprise being a Cambeltown, not an Islay. This one to me was like a Johnny Walker Green: I loved to nose it, but wasn’t pleased with the palate at all. That said, I did guess the port finish correctly, and was even a bit closer on the age than I expected with my guess of 16 years versus the actual 19 years.
The real surprise for me came with the fourth bottle: the Ledaig 10 year. After the Glen Scotia at 59%, its no wonder this one didn’t rate as hot for me, coming in at 46%. Colour me shocked, however, that I’d guessed 18 years when in reality this Ledaig is only aged 10 years. And again, it is an Isle of Mull whisky when I’d originally guessed it as a Highland.
Ah, well, you win some, and even when you lose in this game, well you still win! In fact, I was so pleased with the Ledaig after this blind tasting, I opted to pop over to my local whisky shop and pick up a bottle (shock of shocks, they actually HAD it!). I have to say, this was also the least expensive dram of the night, generally around $50/bottle. Seeing As to where it was my personal favourite of the night, how could I not grab a bottle?
All images used by permission: (c) 2012 PDXWhisky.com
I (Jason/Seamus) owe a huge thanks to Raz for working hard to guide us through the drams, and to Fergus for organizing such a stellar group meetup in the Bay area. All in all, I had the easy part: some basic marketing and logistic coordination to get it up and running, which was made nearly painless by Google.
From my perspective… all in all I consider our first virtual tasting to have been a mild success. While it was great to see so many people gathered for the tasting, I didn’t get the deeper interactions we’ve experienced at more official seated tastings. Our largest hurdle was some of the tech issues with sound, causing some feedback and echoing through much of the event. This helped to focus the 3 larger groups within themselves and treat the camera as merely another observer rather than using the camera to speak directly to the other participants.
So, what went well? Logistically, we were able to gather and get the hangout up and running easily. The kits were all shipped on time and contained the right products. We had enough connection slots for those who wanted to join thanks to organizing in groups to minimize the overall number of connections (hopefully something we won’t have to worry about in the future if Hangouts on Air are rolled out to us).
What didn’t work as well? As noted about, the sound issues prevented clear communication. Some groups rushed through the drams and some lagged behind, creating a disconnect in attempted discussions. I found that the discussions were so chaotic at times, that I was unable to take proper notes in my 3DC Tasting Notebook, leaving me without clear ideas about the whiskies we tasted, just general impressions. And, overall, we didn’t lead as well as we could have.
So… what, then, can we do differently to improve? Glad you asked 😉
First off, I believe any of our future virtual tastings need to be run like a proper conference call (I blogged about how to do this over on my work blog). Defining a specific speaker/host, ensuring everyone is muted unless speaking, and really focusing on guiding a collective tasting will take us far. A free for all is simply too chaotic.
Secondly, while the group environments helped to make the tasting fun for those in the groups, the dynamic unfortunately left our individual attendees faltering about for a bit while the groups talked amongst themselves. Again, this is where a driven leader, combined with controlled and focused groups would help us provide a much greater benefit to all attendees/participants.
I do believe that with a little more effort and a bit more focus we can run some really great and educational hangouts via GooglePlus. The tough part, as I see it, will be in retaining that 3DC personality to ride the line between fun and chaos.
OK Whiskies lovers, we can finally give out some more concrete details of our “3DC Invade Las Vegas” events on President’s day weekend 2012:
First excursion: Paired tasting at the Ri’Ra’ (Mandalay Bay)
When: Saturday, February the 18th, 8PM
Menu:
Pairing 1. Dalwinnie with Burran’s Smoked Salmon from Ireland
Pairing 2. Macallan 15yr with Shepard’s pie (lamb)
Pairing 3. Talisker distillers with Kerry gold sharp Cheddar Cheese from Ireland
Pairing 4. Jameson Gold with Pork Belly
Pairing 5. Tullamore Dew 10yr with Tomato Basil Soup
Pairing 6. Combass Box (Hedonism*) with a Dark Chocolate Desert – details pending. *Confirmation outstanding
$60.00, “all in” (includes taxes and gratuity)
Dress: Something stylish would be appreciated.
**Note: Food portions are sample sized and the drams are 1oz ea. We are limited to 25 seats at this event (cause that how many 1 oz drams you get in a bottle) but we need have at least 12.
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Second excursion: Field trip to the Whisky Attic at Freak’n Frogs
When: Sunday, February the 19th, 8PM
What: Field trip to the Whisky Attic at Freak’n Frogs and Adam’s 750+ expressions just waiting for you to choose from.
Open format. We can bring as just about as many people as we’d like so the more’s the merrier.
$?, pay as you go for the drams you order. The education you get from Adam is free. 😉 Dress: It’s a dive bar downstairs, your call…
Please email Raz at: razness@yahoo.com with your RSVP in the affirmative. No negative RSVPs are needed.
The official 3DC hotel is the Fiesta Hotel Casino, Henderson if you feel inclined to grab a room near us. (This as chosen as a convenient compromise location between another coincident event for the SCA that many of us are attending as well.)
***Note: This, as all 3DC events to date, is a not for profit venture. You pay for what you get and we don’t take a dime. Also note, to your advantage (should you attend) +Compass Box Whisky has been kind enough to comp their bottle for the tasting. Thank you very much to Robin Robinson of Compass Box for making that happen for us.
We are limited to 40 of the Amrut Single Malt, which will limit the number of kits available.
Google Hangout-on-Air is limited to 9 participants via web-cam, all others can watch via live feeds.
Some people are already planning “in person” type meet-ups to expand the number of live video participants. There is to be one in Orange County, CA and another up in Santa Barbara, CA. Anyone out East want to set up a meet up point?
If enough interest is shown for regional in-person meet-ups, full bottles could be substituted for the mini-kits to ensure everyone is able to taste. This would be the responsibility of each local organizer to handle.
Of course you don’t have to drink… with this setup you can just join and watch if you don’t want to order a kit or don’t even drink… in any case it should be an interesting night!
Once you order and receive your kit, hold tight, January 28th will be he before you know it!
In preparation for the tasting, you may want to join Google Plus and circle the 3 Drunken Celts page so you can see and join the Hangout. While there, you may also want to familiarize yourself with the hangout feature (who knows, we may host smaller unannounced test tastings leading up to the day) so you’ll be ready to go and join in on January 28th as we sample each dram and share our notes virtually, North to South, East to West, and across the globe!
As you’ve likely come to expect month to month now, here is the anticipated notes from the tasting event hosted by Ian of PDX Whisky fame.
This month was a bit unusual for us, as it was a bourbon, not scotch whisky, centric tasting. Additionally different was that Ted of Big Bottom Whiskey fame was also on hand to lead us through a tasting of his line of bourbons. As always, neither Ian nor Ted disappointed at the event. This go around we tasted five different expressions, with an added 6th ‘from the barrel’ brought by Ted. Following are my notes on each:
Big Bottom American Straight Bourbon, Batch #5 (3yr)
Nose: Some mild Rye and surprising hint of iodine/bactine followed by honey.
Flavour: Heavy honey into bubble gum on the front, followed by rye spice and into light toast
Finish: Nice balance of spice and toast, then followed by a rich honey sweetness at the end.
Viscosity: 3
Boldness: 4
Length of Story: 2
Personal Taste: A
Big Bottom Port Cask Finish Straight Bourbon, Batch #2b (3yr)
Nose: Hot and heavy on the port followed by a hint of honey.
Flavour: Tannins hit immediately, then into the deep port from the nose, followed by mild but balanced rye spice.
Finish: The spice moves back into the port, which fades into oak tannins again, an hour glass effect of flavour.
Viscosity: 4
Boldness: 4
Length of Story: 3
Personal Taste: A
Elmer T. Lee, Macadam Bourbon Bunch, Single Barrel (NAS)
Nose: Strawberry and bubble gum followed by mild rye.
Flavour: Oak and light toast, none of the sweetness implied by the nose.
Finish: Light and watery with heavy tannins.
Viscosity: 2
Boldness: 2
Length of Story: 2
Personal Taste: C-
Van Winkle Special Reserve, Lot B (12yr)
Nose: Char and honey sweetness, again the rye spice at the back.
Flavour: Wet hay and char, fades in to a rich chocolate
Finish: Heat, then nothingness. It slowly vanishes then returns a bit later with a surprise bitterness to the end.
Viscosity: 4
Boldness: 3
Length of Story: 4
Personal Taste: B+
Jefferson’s Presidential Select (18yr)
Nose: Vegetation, a slightly ‘green’ odor, followed by toast.
Flavour: Sweetness of light honey, followed by tannins as expected from an 18 year
Finish: A bitter back to the finish (akin to an underaged white dog bourbon like I tasted from my home aging kit at the 2 week mark.)
Viscosity: 4
Boldness: 4
Length of Story: 2
Personal Taste: C-
“Barrel tasting”of Big Bottom Port Cask Finish Straight Bourbon, Batch #3 (3yr, cask strength at 115 proof)
Nose: Sweetness of port and richness of fig.
Flavour: Hot and rich caramel, big flavour and a huge mouthfeel.
Finish: Char followed by chocolate into fudge.
Viscosity: 5
Boldness: 5
Length of Story: 4
Personal Taste: A+
Clearly from above (and not so clearly from my lack of description of the rest of the group’s feelings) the big winner of the night was Big Bottom Whiskey. You may think I expected this to be the case, given how much I enjoy Ted’s product, but given it was tasted along side of two twelve year olds and an 18 year old bourbon, this was clearly an upset in the making! The group as a whole, and the majority of individuals all agreed that Big Bottom Whiskey was clearly the dram we’d all buy and stock on our shelves, while the other bourbons ran the gamut from “I might buy it” to “Nope never paying money for that one”.
As always, a fun and enlightening night was had. Anyone within the Portland area should really “Like” the PDX Whisky Facebook page and join us in January when the next event is scheduled and posted! Y’all are missing a great time!
Ah, whiskies… where would I be without them? Well, likely with a larger bankroll and more time on my hands, but alas, I can not ignore the siren calls of local tastings! None of you will be surprised then, as I share my tasting notes of the four bottlings we tasted during the latest PDX Whisky event, this time hosted by Amit Armstrong, Ian Itchner’s whisky cohort.
As usual, the light dinner provided was outstanding (both Ian and Amit are exemplary cooks, Amit’s specialty being Indian cuisine), and the group of both new and old faces was as talkative as ever. Each of the PDX Whisky tastings I’ve been to this year has seen around 5 or 6 regulars, and another 10 or so people who filter in and out making each tasting a new adventure in meeting people and sharing our different takes on the drams presented. Always such interesting perspectives followed with some great laughs as well.
But I digress, on to the tasting notes….
Nose: Caramel and a hint of smoke, some slight almost negligible brine
Flavour: very hot, but a pure speyside profile of balanced sweetness, with a hint of peat and smoke
Finish: sweet richness of graham cracker, toast, and more peat
Viscosity: 2
Boldness: 4
Length of Story: 4
Personal Taste: B+
Extraneous Notes: Darn good dram. Water adds a bur to the nose that didn’t exist before. Also adds caramel and butterscotch flavors to the palate.
Stronachie 12yr
Nose: Light toast, mildly sweet, talc with a hint of banana with a rich spice back (like banana bread)
Flavour: hot, deeper rich spiced bread in to a chocolate back evocative of 88% cocoa.
Finish: falters into nothingness. Surprisingly short story that just vanishes.
Viscosity: 3
Boldness: 3
Length of Story: 2
Personal Taste: B+
Extraneous Notes: This was a sleeper. Very tasty, far better than initially expected.
Penderyn, Aur Cymru, Madeira cask finished
Nose: Over ripe cantaloupe, a waxy sour greenness.
Flavour: Heavy oak then mimics the nose of slightly rotten fruit.
Finish: A final hit of caramel, but comes too late to save the dram.
Viscosity: 3
Boldness: 2
Length of Story: 2
Personal Taste: C-/D+
Extraneous Notes: This dram can’t figure out what it wanted to be. Too many competing flavours fighting for center stage rather than working in conjunction to be stellar. No single bad taste, just quite neurotic as a whiskey.
Redbreast 15yr
Nose: Rich spice, vanilla and mild pepper, balanced and complex.
Flavour: Caramel and mild chocolate into a bit of oak, slightly hotter than expected.
Finish: Heavier chocolate notes linger with a long balanced story. Complexly warm and rich.
Viscosity: 4
Boldness: 4
Length of Story: 5
Personal Taste: A
Extraneous Notes: The exception to the rule of light Irish whiskies with grassy floral notes, this is the darker more angry big brother that brings the bottom end of warmth and richness to the party, proving once again that you just can’t go wrong with Redbreast.
As a closing point, if any of you reading are local to Portland, Or. or find yourself in the area during one of these tasting events, you’d be a fool not to stop by. The settings remain intimate and conducive to connecting with everyone attending, making for both a technical tasting as well as a social event for any level of whiskies enthusiast. You don’t need to know a thing about whiskies to enjoy the PDX Whisky events, even though there’s a level of technical tasting going on as well that would appeal to the more experienced enthusiasts. Somehow the group always strikes that perfect balance for newbie and expert alike. I hope you’ll join us at the next one!
Last Friday eve was another great PDX Whisky event. If you are local to Portland, Oregon and are interested in learning about whiskies, I will heartily urge you to follow PDXWhisky on Facebook, where Ian sends out the event notices (while you’re there, don’t forget to ‘Like’ the 3DC page too!). Really, come join us! The ‘events’ are informal, casual, and comfortable for all levels of enthusiast and are some of the best ways to try out whiskies you may not have access to otherwise.
This past event was no different and provided for some great laughs over the course of the evening. I won’t bore you with the comedy bits, you’ll just have to attend next time to enjoy the funny! As for the tasting notes, we enjoyed 4 bottles over the night in the order they appear below:
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Auchentoshan Three Wood
Nose: Brilliantly balanced caramel with subtle smoke and an unpretentious oakiness.
Flavor: Peat on the front, into oak (of course) and a hint of iodine.
Finish: Nice soft caramel, light peat and oddly harsh after clearing the palate with water.
Viscosity: 4
Boldness: 3
Length of Story: 4
Personal Taste: A
Extraneous notes: Palate was off due to having recently finished baklava for desert.
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Highland Park 15 All American Oak
Nose: Nicely balance smoke. Rich but bright, hint of vanilla and orange.
Flavor: Oak first, light and watery/thin. Evocative of a Christmas chocolate orange.
Finish: a tad hot then trailing oak into a hint of spice.
Viscosity: 3
Boldness: 4
Length of Story: 3
Personal Taste: B
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Douglas Laing Double Barrel (Highland Park and Bowmore, no additional details given on the bottle)
Nose: BBQ consiting of cumin and vinegar, red spice, heated rubber.
Flavor: simplistic smoke and brine. Very distinct and separate.
Finish: iodine and then smoke, second taste brings out a bit of surprise chocolate.
Viscosity: 2
Boldness: 3
Length of Story: 3
Personal Taste: D (*C)
Extraneous notes: *improved the second go around. Odd bottle, however, as the double barrel concept seems to cause the two to compete with each other rather than blend into a single different dram. Surprised at how it improved with another taste, but not enough to really be enjoyable beyond a technical tasting.
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Bowmore 20 year (A.D. Rattray bottling)
Nose: heavy iodine followed by smoke
Flavor: peat forward into brine and the suggestions of a wafting of spice
Finish: stays briny into a balanced smoky oakyness, but relatively light on tannins.
Viscosity: 4
Boldness: 5
Length of Story: 4
Personal Taste: C+
Extraneous notes: This seemed to be the top of the 4 for the night, though not for me. Not to my taste even though I can appreciate the complexities of the 20yr in comparison to the 30yr and even younger. A good dram to be sure, just not for me.
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Overall, I stick by the recommendation I came to the tasting with: The Auchentoshan Three Wood is a solid, relatively inexpensive dram which drinks far above its price point. You’d be best served to have a bottle in your house and at the ready for any whisky drinker. While not the top of the night, it was my personal favourite and was unanimously enjoyed by all at the table.
Bryn Kenney won two titles in the first 12 days of 2017
Ema Zajmovic became the first-ever female champion of an open WPT main event in 2017
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