Ah, March, how I’ve come to love you. But, I’ll admit, I wasn’t looking forward to March 26th and Whiskies of the World this year. Coupled with work stress, not a lot of down time, and the fact that this was a relatively last minute plan (having decided last year that we wouldn’t be returning), I found my frame of mind was such that any excitement I’d had for previous years was simply not to be found this year. Of course I KNEW I’d have a grand time, but there was still a lingering malaise which stayed with me until I was in San Francisco and checking into the hotel. After a serious power nap in the early afternoon, I was finally starting to feel the excitement.
This year was also a bit off anyway, as Raz was unable to join us, along with missing many others from prior years’ attendance. We were a small group this time round, in part due to the late decision to actually attend. That lent to us breaking a few traditions, though we kept two: dinnerlunch before the tasting on Saturday, and closing out Saturday night at the Irish Bank. But this year we didn’t live at the Bank like we have in prior years. Rather we ventured out to other places, explored new bars, and enjoyed the company we did have. (Fergus and I -did- share a drunk gigglefit just before bed Friday night, but nothing like years past…)
Suffice to say the dynamic was different this year, but neither better nor worse than other years. With fewer people it was easier to get tables for meals, and to go a bit more ad hoc in our plans in so much as we didn’t have plans prior or beyond the grand tasting Saturday night. It was a relatively free flowing weekend which allowed us to follow our fancies and go with the flow of things. This was likely the most relaxed year for Fergus and I because of the lack of plans.
But enough of that… here’s Seamus’ tasting notes from the Grand Tasting Saturday evening. I’m going to caveat this right now, however… I noticed a trend in my notes from nearly the start and think my nose and palette may have been off a bit as I am suspect about of few of the notes which kept recurring in various pours which I’d expect to be dissimilar. So, consume these notes with a hint of suspicion, as I may need to revisit some of the drams to confirm the validity here… You’ll also note the last 4 tastings were from the Craft Distiller’s Master Class panel and are bottlings not commercially available at present.
With that said: Seamus’ Whiskies of the World Grand tasting notes
Distiller/bottling: Bulleit Rye
Nose: Mild coffee and toast notes
Flavour: Green grape, hefeweizen, and slight anise
Finish: Long slow burn, rich with the crispness of apple
Viscosity: 4
Boldness: 4
Length of story: 2.5
Personal Taste: A
Distiller/bottling: Edradour 10 Port finish, Signatory bottling
Nose: All toast with some iodine and a hint of port
Nose: Complex wine and toast with a hint of iodine then moves into caramel.
Flavour: bitter, chocolate covered espresso bean and caramel.
Finish: more bitterness.
Viscosity: 3
Boldness: 3
Length of story: 4
Personal Taste: C+
Distiller/bottling: Amrut Fusion
Nose: Heavy smoke and iodine
Flavour: Peat followed by more iodine.
Finish: Vanishes. Moves from the peaty iodine, straight into a heavy Laphroaig style in the middle, but finishes quickly with lingering caramel on the end.
Viscosity: 2
Boldness: 4
Length of story: 4
Personal Taste: C
Distiller/bottling: Highland Park, 1991, Signatory bottling
Nose: Oak then slight iodine.
Flavour: Heavy, heavy peat into caramel
Finish: Sweet, but mellow caramel
Viscosity: 3
Boldness: 4
Length of story: 3
Personal Taste: C
Distiller/bottling: Pritchard’s Tennessee Whiskey
Nose: Typical sweet and sour of a bourbon but with a bit of anise
Flavour: oak heavy, sweetness of maple syrup.
Finish: heavy on the tannins from oak, a surprise of chocolate just at the end.
Viscosity: 3
Boldness: 4
Length of story: 3
Personal Taste: B+
Distiller/bottling: Copper Fox Applewood Whiskey (14 months)
Nose: Toasted pear and a tad bit of cherry on the end
Flavour: fruit forward then a great balance of fruit and mash
Finish: long finish lasts into perfect apple.
Viscosity: 1
Boldness: 3
Length of story: 4
Personal Taste: B+
Distiller/bottling: Balcones Brimstone Texas Blue Corn Whiskey
Nose: A little iodine into toasted oak, but ends with a brine of corn sugars
Flavour: sweet and oakey, more vegetable sugars.
Finish: Tortillas right at the start of the finish, toasted corn and balanced sweetness.
Viscosity: 3
Boldness: 4
Length of story: 5
Personal Taste: A
Distiller/bottling: St. George Bourbon (4 months)
Nose: Sour corn and a hint of iodine again
Flavour: Young. Bites hard, but has solid sugars.
Finish: Toasted malts, but not pleasantly so.
Viscosity: 1
Boldness: 4
Length of story: 3
Personal Taste: C+
So there you have it. Not many tastes this year for me as I focused more on a few particulars I was interested in and had some multiples to try and get a clear understanding of them. Of course after a few cask strength/51%abv drams, it became more and more difficult to find that clarity.
Since my return from this year’s tasting, I’ve have a non-trivial number of friends and acquaintances ask me how to start learning about whiskies. Most of these people have only had a tenuous introduction to whiskies by way of Jim Beam, Jack Daniels, or possibly Johnny Walker; not exactly a proper introduction in my book, and likely why most have never followed further down the whiskies walkway. So, in an effort to help some of the newcomers I’d like to provide a quick start guide to learning more about whiskies and enjoying it in the process.
Seamus’ 4 step starter course on whiskies appreciation:
Find a friend who also wants to learn.
Go to a bar, start ordering whiskies, neat.
Sip, and discuss.
Rinse and repeat… practice, practice, practice.
While there ARE more subtleties to the above 4 steps, the key is to drink whiskies you’ve not had and compare them. Soon you will find that you are able to discern particular flavours you like, and some which you don’t. One of the biggest lightbulbs for me was the realization that knowing what you don’t like is even more important than knowing what you do like; and the only way to figure that out is to try a many as you can.
A decent bar is a great place to start learning as it is cost efficient and you aren’t going to be stuck with bottles you don’t enjoy. Heading to a bar with a friend and ordering two whiskies (neat, so you can actually taste the whiskies as ice/cold dulls the taste buds) will give you both opportunity to talk through what you are tasting and compare your notes with each other. Don’t be afraid of price or to order glasses of bottles you’ve not heard of; in fact seek them out! Remember you are here to learn and sip, not shoot and get drunk. Try not to order the same dram twice unless you really want to revisit it to see if you really liked it. After all, practice does make perfect, and the more whiskies you taste, the more you will refine your particular preferences for your drams. That doesn’t mean you’ll be a snob, it means you’ll learn more about what you like in your whiskies and will soon be able to articulate the flavours you enjoy and the ones you don’t.
Of course you can also ask a friend who has been doing this for a while to help setup and guide you through a starter tasting. I know a number of us have enough bottles in our private collections to run a brilliant personal tasting and many would be more than happy to share a dram with a friend who wants to learn! Heck, if there’s enough of a demand, a few of the 3DC may even be swayed into hosting a starter class for you and help you get your feet wet with your first foray into the world of whiskies beyond Jack, Jim, or Johnny!
You’ll soon come to see why we’ve been attending Whiskies of the World for so many years now: there’s always something new to learn, and you can never get enough practice to improve your skills and enjoyment of the liquor of life we call Whiskies.
In just over 5 weeks, Whiskies of the World, San Francisco will be underway. Like years past, the 3DC have made a commitment to attend, though a bit late on the draw this time around. Because of that, we expect our numbers to be a bit less than last year.
Adrian and Jason (Fergus and Seamus) are working behind the scenes now to figure out lodging for the weekend, so if you are interested, please contact us to join in on the fun. (Commenting here will be sufficient if you don’t have our contact info elsewhere.)
If you’ve never been to Whiskies of the World before, don’t miss this opportunity to attend. Only General Admission tickets are available, as VIP and DramClub have sold out. GA tickets are $110/ea, but rest assured you will get your money’s worth!
Saturday, March 26th, 2011 is the date of the Grand Tasting, but the 3DC tend to make a party weekend out of it. We begin arriving Friday morning and don’t leave until late Sunday/early Monday, playing around the city when not at the Grand tasting. It really IS a great time to reconnect with friends and let loose for a bit. We hope to see you there with us this year!
This is what happens when one of us has an idea and the others don’t say “No” (much like how the 3DC came about in the first place). Check this out and go have some fun making your own 3DC signs… it IS a funny picture after all.
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The godfather and his helpers have arranged a deal with Compass Box Whiskies to provide a few cases of unlabeled 10th anniversary Flaming Heart for the 3DC to use for our own 10th anniversary this year.
While all bottles are now spoken for (9 cases worth at last count), I thought this a good opportunity to highlight this momentous occasion as we can firmly say we are committed to the whole deal. And I can also say this is likely the single most exciting thing the 3DC have pulled off to date. Check out the preview with the original Compass Box labeling:
The only downside here is that we have to wait until November to take delivery of the bottles. But my, oh my, what a great way to celebrate the 3 Drunken Celts’ 10th anniversary but with a bottle especially made by Compass Box for their own 10th anniversary in the same year and month!
Of course, our bottles will come without the front label, where we will be applying our own custom 3DC labels to commemorate the combined anniversaries. We’ll be sure to post pictures of those in November once we have them in our hands. Until then, let this server to whet your appetite for a new and amazing bottle of some truly special whisky!
As it were, Seamus and Siobhan (heretofore hence referred to as Jason and Jean) awoke at a decent hour and prepared for their journey south to the lands of sourdough and fog. Arriving at the port early enough to enjoy the first meal of the day, we sat ourselves at our favourite bar within the confines of the secured areas, and made our orders of 2 bloody marys, eggs hash and toast, and a hot pastrami on rye. Yes, dear readers, the trip did indeed start with just a hint of the hedonism to come.
A quick 3 hours later, and we were on the ground in San Francisco having met up with Kevin and Margaret, and rushing to join with Raz and Maggie whom had already boarded BART due to some mild confusion. As it is with all 3DC, luck prevailed and we met up just in time for the ride into the city from SFO. We made it to our hotel and checked in with relative ease, and then began our yearly tradition of making the Irish Bank our home for the weekend; first and foremost Irish coffees, then onto ordering lunch!
Friday saw the arrival of most of our group in various waves, each resulting in loud exclamations and toasts to friends. Suffice to say, we never really made it out of the Bank Friday night; as far as we got was the sushi restaurant at the end of the alley where the Bank is located, where we ate, and drank, and then headed back to the Bank for more drinks. Yes, this is indeed typical of every Friday night the 3DC have enjoyed during the Whiskies of the World trips in years past. Be careful, though, if any of you ever dare to join us, as Saturday mornings come very quickly and can be quite painful if you are ill prepared.
This particular Saturday morn, I opted to sleep in a bit whilst my lovely wife ran around the Ferry Building with the small group of 3DC that were able to make it out for a late breakfast. I later caught up with part of the group at Pier 39, as they had wanted to do some of the touristy bits of the City. A quick jaunt to Fisherman’s wharf later, and we met up with the rest of the earlier morning crew and headed up to Ghiradelli Square, and then over to Tiernan’s pub since the Buena Vista opted to ignore Raz’ attempts to get us a table.
In no time at all, we noted that the day had gotten away from us and so we taxied our way back to the hotels to dress for dinner and the Whiskies of the World Grand Tasting… As we accumulated in the lobby bar of the Hotel King George, I couldn’t help but notice our entire group was simply stunning in their evening attire. I must say, we all do clean up quite nicely indeed! In such an amazing group of people, I truly count myself lucky to call each and every person who came out for this trip a friend.
Yes, I AM rushing in order to get to the meat of this post, which is what I know you all care about; my notes on the Whiskies of the World 2010 expo…
Overall, the tasting was enjoyable for me as I found a large number of new drams which I’d not had opportunity to taste previously. That said, there were a number of issues right from the start that tempered any glowing review of the night:
First and foremost was the inefficiency of how the entrance to the tasting hall was run. As VIP ticket holders Jean and I were slotted in the second wave of entrances, the first being for Dram Club members at 5pm. Our tickets indicated entrance at 5:15pm, which in reality was 5:45 due to the serialized nature of the check-in desk and how ticket holders who had not signed their ticket were dealt with (the entire queue waiting as they addressed and signed their tickets). While an annoyance, this alone is nothing I’d be overly irritated with had the rest of the night gone without issue. Sadly, I must tack the inefficiencies of the beginning to the rest of the evening in order to properly impart the impact of the evening.
The other main issue was inside the main hall its self. In years past, the event has been held on a docked paddle boat moored to one of the piers in the bay. This location, while admittedly a tad odd, has always been excellent as the boat provided for 2 full floors of tasting space, a full floor of tables and chairs for the dining buffet, and a top deck for cigars and views over the bay. This year, the tasting was moved to the Hotel Nikko and hosted in a 3rd floor gala/event room. Unfortunately, the change in location also seemed to bring with it a shift in the available space for the event, as it was now pared down to a single room where the aisles between tables were more compact and difficult to navigate with the number of attendees present. While prior years have always allowed for decent conversation between the reps and participants, this year the conversations were much more difficult do to the volume in the room and the difficulties in getting up to the tables for a pour in the first place.
For many of you who know me in person, you are all likely cringing at the thought of seeing me in such an environment, as I am typically not comfortable in situations with substantial crowds. Oddly enough, after the first five minutes and down my first taste, I found a rhythm to the madness and went with it. I had my focus, and was able to adjust my expectations and work differently to obtain my desired results; which is to say I put on my big boy underpants and sucked it up. Of our entire group, I can assure you I was the last person you heard complain about the crowds… a very rare occasion indeed! I have each and every one of you to thank for that, as it was my mission to sample and note each dram I tasted in order to come back to you with my thoughts on the night; that gave me the mission I needed to get me through the evening unscathed.
With that, I present to you my admittedly sparse and simple tasting notes from the evening. While I say that the crowds didn’t bother me much, that is obvious from the notes I took, that I was simply kidding myself. As you will see below, my ability to accurately and clearly define the various whiskies I tasted suffered badly Saturday evening, and not from an abundance of alcohol. Rather my ability to pause and really focus on the whiskies was substantially reduced by the noise and crowded pathways. (Ok ok, that was a long and verbose caveat to basically say “I know my notes here suck, but they are all I have, so deal with it… it wasn’t MY fault I swear!”)
Each table below reflects a single bottle from the night. The numbered ratings are on a 1-5 scale, 1 being less, 5 being more, and the letter grade is on a typical A-F scale with A being the top mark (all of which is explained in the foreword of the 3 Drunken Celts (blank forms to fill out) tasting notebooks available here):
.
Bottle:
Tomintoul 27yr
Nose:
Iodine, complete lack of oak.
Flavour:
Soft, mild oak with a slight charred note followed by subtle spice
Finish:
Clean, vanishes, then returns with spice again, finishes with a bite reminiscent of a cask strength bottling.
Viscosity:
2
Boldness:
2
Length of Story:
2
Personal Taste:
B
.
Bottle:
Tomintoul 31yr
Nose:
Spice and caramel sweetness
Flavour:
Soft and chewy, with mild oak moving into caramel
Finish:
Starts the finish harshly, but evens out into caramel
Viscosity:
3
Boldness:
3
Length of Story:
2
Personal Taste:
B-
.
Bottle:
Suntory Hibiki 12yr
Nose:
SPICE!
Flavour:
More spice and moving into heavy caramel sweetness
Finish:
Short finish that ceases nearly abruptly. Simple, lacks complexity
Viscosity:
3
Boldness:
4
Length of Story:
3
Personal Taste:
C
.
Bottle:
Eades Double Malt, Speyside
Nose:
Apricot and slight iodine
Flavour:
Fruity moving into hard oak
Finish:
Alcohol finish, not too complex but yet still has some interesting notes
Viscosity:
4
Boldness:
4
Length of Story:
3
Personal Taste:
B-
.
Bottle:
Benromach “Organic”
Nose:
Stringent with mild iodine hints
Flavour:
Earthy peatiness, a bit challenging for my palette
Finish:
Peat moving into a long oaky finish.
Viscosity:
5
Boldness:
4
Length of Story:
4.5
Personal Taste:
C+
.
Bottle:
Glenmorangie “Nectar D’Or”
Nose:
Orange, but not citrusy, caramel sweetness
Flavour:
Fruitiness followed by medium oak. Good, but pedestrian.
Finish:
Same as the nose, but followed by more oak.
Viscosity:
3
Boldness:
3
Length of Story:
4
Personal Taste:
B
.
Bottle:
Sheep Dip 1990
Nose:
Smoke and iodine
Flavour:
Caramel with iodine and smoke
Finish:
Reminiscent of an Ardbeg smokey finish.
Viscosity:
5
Boldness:
3
Length of Story:
3
Personal Taste:
C+
.
Bottle:
Wild Geese Irish Soldiers and Heroes, “Limited Edition”
Nose:
Sweet with a mild spice
Flavour:
-Very- cloyingly sweet, nearly like a brandy, nearly tastes/feels like there is added sugar
Finish:
Soft with lingering brown sugar
Viscosity:
2.5
Boldness:
2
Length of Story:
2
Personal Taste:
B
.
Bottle:
Compass Box Oak Cross
Nose:
Iodine into oak, of course
Flavour:
Caramel into oak as expected
Finish:
Mild and soft oakyness that vanishes
Viscosity:
3
Boldness:
3
Length of Story:
3
Personal Taste:
B+
.
Bottle:
Compass Box Spice Tree (2010 formulation)
Nose:
Ethereal mild notes of oak covered in hints of spce
Flavour:
Iodine and peat with a mild hint of smokiness
Finish:
Peat into smoke reminiscent of a Caol Ila and then back into a slight iodine on the end
Viscosity:
3
Boldness:
3
Length of Story:
4
Personal Taste:
B+/A-
.
Bottle:
Compass Box Hedonism
Nose:
Spice and ginger love
Flavour:
Caramel chewy but with a spicy cardamom note
Finish:
Sweetness and love all over.
Viscosity:
4
Boldness:
3
Length of Story:
3
Personal Taste:
A
.
Bottle:
Bruichladdich 1998
Nose:
Iodine and sherry?
Flavour:
Oak sherry cask or port cask finish? Holds a speyside sweetness
Finish:
Sweet sweet love, not what I expect from an islay!
Viscosity:
4
Boldness:
4
Length of Story:
4
Personal Taste:
A+ (top of the night)
.
Bottle:
Edradour 12yr Caledonia
Nose:
Smoke and peatiness
Flavour:
Caramel into a soft peat, drop of water blooms into much more oak
Finish:
Peat followed into smoke and then complex oak.
Viscosity:
4
Boldness:
4
Length of Story:
3.25
Personal Taste:
B
.
Bottle:
Bushmill’s 21yr
Nose:
Smooth sweet Irish
Flavour:
Small peatiness then into the expected sweet
Finish:
Simple but tasty oak
Viscosity:
3
Boldness:
3.5
Length of Story:
3
Personal Taste:
B-
.
Bottle:
Dry Fly “Washington Wheat Whiskey”
Nose:
Oddly sweet, tough to place
Flavour:
Vanilla oak and grass, distinct wheat note
Finish:
Mild caramel and more grass
Viscosity:
2
Boldness:
3
Length of Story:
2.75
Personal Taste:
B-
.
Bottle:
Dry Fly Gin
Nose:
Citrus and juniper
Flavour:
Complex botanicals with a hint of apple
Finish:
Clean and spicy, complex for a gin
Viscosity:
x none noted x
Boldness:
x none noted x
Length of Story:
x none noted x
Personal Taste:
x none noted x
.
Bottle:
Bruichladdich 12yr
Nose:
Iodine and brine, expected of a typical islay
Flavour:
Smoke and brine
Finish:
More brine, but a surprise finish into sweetness
Viscosity:
3.5
Boldness:
4
Length of Story:
3
Personal Taste:
C+/B-
.
Yes, my total count of drams between 5:30pm and 9pm when Jean and I left is indeed 17. Though not quite sober when I left, I can also assure you I was in no way drunk, and in fact moseyed back to our room, showered, and returned to the Irish Bank for more drinks to finish out the night as we always do.
Back at the Bank, we finished out the evening with Robin Robinson, the US Brand Ambassador for Compass Box Whiskies, and new friend of the 3DC, since John was unable to make the expo this year. Regrettably, I was sat in the corner and didn’t have as much opportunity to chat up Robin as Raz did, though I am sure quite the impression was made. I can only hope John had warned Robin of what he may be in store for if he befriended us… otherwise i think we may have scared him 😉
As one round of our group finished off and started heading back to the hotels, another round of the group arrived and the night continued on with the singing of Irish drinking tunes, as we are so often wont to do. By the end of the night, I am happy to say that the negative comments about the tasting had begun to dwindle and shift into an overall enjoyment once again (albeit still tempered by the logistic issues of the actual tasting) and the night ended on a higher note than when it had begun. All in all, ti was yet another successful year for the 3DC at Whiskies of the World!
Sunday morning, as you’d expect, came far too early again, though this time I was at least awake enough to head out to a late breakfast, and weaseled my way into a table next to Raz, Maggie, Cat, and Dave who were just finishing up. It has GOT to be 3DC luck, because there is no way I could have charmed the hostess enough to convince her to let Kevin, Margaret, Jena and I have the newly emptied table next to our friends at 10am on a Sunday morning in the middle of the City! The luck, we have it!
Newly sated, the two groups made our way over to China town for more touristy things, and ended up at a tea shop, as we did last year. Seems the whole group really enjoyed it and the tea perked us all up after breakfast and the activities from the night before. Of course it didn’t take long for us to completely undo the good from the tea, as we found ourselves in another bar whiling away the time until more friends could meet up with us; and well, we just HAD to have some drinks! By the time everyone met up with us, we were nicely inebriated and headed back outside to brave the hills of China town on our way to the Irish Bank once again…
Since Kevin and Margaret, Jean and I had dinner reservations at 6:15pm Sunday night, we bailed out from the Bank a bit early, went back to our hotels t change into nicer clothes once again, and then hitched a cab down to The Boulevard. I’ve been there before, and expected it to be great, but I had no idea what we were all in store for that evening.
We started off with a round of cocktails as we perused the menu… then onto a bottle of Champagne which we had intended as our dinner drinks; that is until Kevin asked the waitress if there was a tasting menu available, and if not, would the chefs be up to making one for us. (As an aside here, Jean and I adore tasting menus and order whenever it is an option, but sadly I have never thought to ask when it wasn’t already presented as an option… I have learned my lesson!) Our waitress left to ask, and returned from the kitchen with a very affirmative answer, so we were well on our way to an outstanding night. She then returned again, having realized that we may want wine pairings with the tasting menu, to which we heartily replied nearly in unison with a resounding yes!
Over the next 4 hours we were treated to 6 courses (and paired wines) loosely built around their current menu offerings. From my recollection this included lamb, duck, scallops, foie gras, various cheeses, and a multitude of other items that have been lost in the annals of time and inebriation; as it was an off- menu tasting, I have no printed menu to assist my memory of the dinner here. What I CAN tell you all, is that each course was amazingly crafted and presented, and the sommelier paired the wines with a level of deft skill and thought that we found ourselves commenting on each presentation as to how we’d never have chosen those particular wines but that they worked so very well when paired with the various courses, the mark of a truly great sommelier! Finishing off dinner with some coffee and a single scotch between us, you couldn’t wipe the gluttonous and hedonistic smiles from our faces. Sitting back at the table, it occurred to me that this dinner had skyrocketed its way up into the top 5 dinners I have ever had… and believe you me, that top 5 spot is quite crowded nowadays!
After dinner we dropped Jean off at the hotel where we met up with Raz and Maggie, and headed over to Foley’s to finish out the night with a few more drinks, as none of us seemed in the mood to turn in yet; a classic example of pushing out the enjoyment of the weekend as long as possible before returning back to real life the next day.
Monday morning came without much issue, though we were running a bit behind… The hangovers really didn’t hit us until we were sitting in the terminal at SFO where it was unreasonably warm for both Jean and me. Mid-flight, we hit a big pocket of turbulence which really put those hangovers to the test, but luckily it was short lived, and by the time we were on the ground in PDX and more importantly in the cool air, all was right with the world again.
Looking back on the trip with just over a week in between now, I once again am finding myself with fond memories of the tasting, and the surrounding weekend as a whole. While this recent trip had a decidedly different feel to it than years past, it still retained the overall impression that i have come to love and crave year after year: true friends, joining together from far and wide, with one goal… to enjoy themselves to the fullest. To that end, we succeeded my friends, and each and every one of you is responsible for that. As we say when we are inducting new members: “there are no benefits, only consequences…”, but I am here to tell you, there really ARE benefits; I am far richer for being able to call you all my friends! THAT is exactly why Raz started this odd little grouping of people, regardless of what he may tell you 😉 It isn’t the whiskies that keep us going, it is indeed the friendships we’ve built because of them! Thank you one and all!
-Seamus/Jason
p.s. Photos soon to be uploaded to the Photo page here once I have an opportunity to collate and organize, etc.
As you may know, the 3 Drunken Celts have a close affinity for John Glaser and his company, Compass Box. We met nearly 4 years ago now, and have been supporters of his efforts… and by supporters, I mean we not only drink his blends, but preach the quality of Compass Box to any and all who will listen! So, when given the opportunity, you KNOW we will do what we can to spread the word… so go check out their Facebook Fan Page now!
Sadly, it seems John won’t be at Whiskies of the World this year. Luckily, in his stead the brand ambassador, Robin Robinson, will be representing the team. I, for one, am looking forward to meeting Robin (as we have spoken via Facebook messages once or twice) and toasting a tipple to all who couldn’t make the event.
If you will be attending any of the events where Compass Box is making appearances, be sure to stop by and introduce yourselves to Robin (or John Glaser, or Chris Maybin, or any others representing the brand); let them know how you heard of them and that the 3 Drunken Celts say hello… after all, there ARE more than just 3 of us!
2009 was a pretty good year for the 3dc despite the down turn in the economy. (Not trying to make any money from something sure takes the pressure off…) We saw more members made and great times had by most. Tastings were thrown hither and thither including a collegiums private homes and wars. Well done all. We’ve been using a new tool to plan for the WoWE trip next year; Google Wave. It’s proving quite useful and helpful in organizing and planning things. I started my Elizabethan Irish Usquabetha personal project, which reminds me I got to pick that stick back up soon. The world of whiskies at large is still expanding. I just got word of another new Irish coming to market in the US; Dingle. We’ll have to wait and see what they come up with for us yanks. Many new Scotches have hit the shelves and a few have faded away as is the norm of the past decade so far.
Looking forward, we’ll have to see what this last year of the decade holds for us and with luck we’ll get a better idea of that at WoWE coming up in March. WoWE 2009 was a spectacle to be sure. We had very strong numbers and we all learned quite a bit on the boat and off despite the poor distiller turn out due to the economic down turn. Time spent with John Glasser is not to be missed. WoWE has been sold to new blood so we’ll have to give them a chance this time around and see what they have in plan for the future of the event. It is not on the boat this year and is again just a one day event. Our hotel of choice is the King George Hotel just a block or two from the event itself. Estrella is coming up just before the WoWE and I hope all that are going are going to remember the funny. I know our member out here in Caid are given some of the plans I’ve been hearing about. I haven’t been made privy to any plans for anEstrella tasting this year as I’m unable to attend. The year following however I’m already planning to attend. We simply must set something up for 2011 Estrella. Plans for GWW are in development. Adrian has some scheme or other I’m sure he’ll be making you all aware of the details down the road so keep tuned.
That’s if for me save to say “Thanks for all the funny this year.”
Yes, this is a re-run of content from 2007, but it still holds true today. It happens every year around this time, we are all asked about our suggestions for good whiskies as gifts. To that end, we’ve written up some suggestions at the links below.
Take a gander at our previous two posts on Christmas gifting for the whiskies aficionado:
Of course these are just suggestions…. we welcome you to register, login, and comment with your own suggestions as we move closer into the season of gifts and parties alike!
The 3DC are using GoogleWave to coordinate our planning for attending the 2010 Whiskies of the World event. If you want to attend and join in on this planning, please contact us for an invite. We will also be collaborating on extra curricular activities around the event, tickets, and travel, so don’t miss out!
Reservations are currently being made individually at the King George hotel, however we are also in discussions with the group sales coordinator to determine if we can condense our reservations into a more compact area and at a better pricing. Our recommendation presently, is to book your room on your own, but make sure you are in contact with Raz/Randy to ensure you are included in any group rate/coordination which may come about.
Additionally, now is a great time to not only make your reservations at reduced rates, but to buy your tickets to WotW at reduced rates as well! I expect to see ticket prices climb after the holidays, so why not make the tickets part of a Christmas present for that special someone, or treat yourself (you KNOW you deserve it)!
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