It has been the month of auctions. First a couple of good points from others:

• Great comment from sku on John Hansell’s blog about how general collecting works

• Great blog post by David Driscoll extending the analogy to pop culture

• Would have rather been known as a “Whisky Fan” not a “Whisky Collector” in story board from the Whisky Cast HD

• I recall a point Ralfy’s made about buying whiskey now and saving it for later when it will no longer be available. I think it was in episode 137A or 137B

Was going to title this “Three times, Sold!” as I won the auction for the Woodford Reserve Four Grain. However, seeing as Mark Gillespie was kind enough to include me in the latest WhiskyCast HD and WhiskyCast, I thought this title was better.

I paid a little more that I wanted for the Lot of two bottles of Four Grain and one of the Sonoma Cutter. I was surprised that the internet bids ran it up to over $300 to start. But at the end I figured $10 more than my limit was worth it! I still have to complete the transaction so I’ll report back on that process. Overalla fun experience that I would do again.

At first I was shocked when I found out that Whisky Fest (WF) NY would be two days over a weekend in 2012. Even though I went to Whisky Live NY this year WF is the singular event I attend to expand my whisky knowledge and palette. On one hand this scheduling change is a great sign. Two years ago the venue was packed. To their credit the WF team made the choice to sell less tickets while expanding the venue to make the event more comfortable for the attendees. By switching to two days they are able to sell more tickets while keeping the crowding down. On the other hand this does exclude a number (some would argue a large number) of attendees. I’ve heard people suggest numbers as large as 20% - 30% of attendees are orthodox jews. I think this number is inflated and put it around 10%.

Part 3 (Parts 1, 2

Quick Hits

• Koval liquors were good. They suggested the ginger one would go well in a dark and stormy. Added to the wish list
• I tried the Catdaddy Moonshine. Not sure why that isn’t Gin but with corn as they were all heavily flavored. If a liquor is a distilled fruit juice then this was Gin but with distilled corn rather than distilled grain. I liked it but it tasted like I was drinking a flavored drink. I’d rather have that then the pre-made malt drinks.

People
Chris Morris wasn’t there. I think this is two out of three years he hasn’t made it up. I had hoped to follow up with him on a comment he made on Whisky Cast regarding the ABV of a spirit as it went into the barrel. It seems that when they put the spirit in the used barrels they lowered the ABV. This is the first I had heard of such a technique. I did ask Parker Beam this question and he said that they had tried multiple ABV and hadn’t noticed it have any impact.

Part 2 (Part 1)

One of the first timers was Breckenridge Colorado Whiskey. Sweet nose and very smooth. They said it was 3.5 years old but it tasted much older. Not from the wood character which wasn’t there but it was much smoother than I would have expected. It didn’t have the rough edges that you expect from a young whiskey. I didn’t note the ABV but it must not have been that high. I was impressed by the quality and this became the first bottle to make the wish list (I had already ordered the PH so that didn’t count).

Part 1

Once again I’ve confirmed that paying for the VIP ticket is worth the money. I didn’t purchase a VIP ticket as I was in between jobs. Waiting for the doors to open I realize that there are definitely people who show up thinking it is a great way to get drunk. Because I didn’t have VIP I had to make sure I hit the right booths to make sure I got the dregs of the VIP only pours.

I thought I had posted something about this topic when I first heard about the “alert” over the summer. Apparently I didn’t so here goes:

Over the recent holidays I overheard someone in my synagogue talking to the Rabbi about whiskey that had not been sold for Pesach (I’m not going to go into the details of why that is bad, out of scope of this post). It may have been a reprise of an OU/AKO announcement[1][2], but with an added wrinkle that specifically Irish whiskey was owned by Jews and therefore would require sale over Pesach. My BS meter immediately rang because unlike Scotland I know that there are only four Irish distilleries and the odds that the majority are owned by Jews is extremely small. In fact the majority are owned by publicly traded companies which do not need to sell chametz for Pesach. There are four Irish distilleries[3].

My comment on this post

“Sourcing and blending are real skills " Indeed they are, and in Scotland they have a name for people who specialize in those skills: Independent Bottlers. I don’t understand why companies are insisting on the Micro Distiller label over the Independent Bottler label. It isn’t as if they are mutually exclusive. At least then awards and tastings can categorize the whiskeys correctly.

Does the US have an Independent Bottling tradition?

Very interesting post. Is he calling out Mark?

In Whiskey Cast 236 Mark Gillespie leads a panel discussion which begins by lamenting that there are some really good whiskeys out there that no one knows about. Without disagreeing with any of the reasons provided to the panel here is my own take.

Whiskey is a luxury product, combined with the huge selection it is only natural that the connoisseurs who taste everything will find diamonds in the rough. But for the average consumer they either aren’t available or they simply don’t have the time or the inclination to find them.

From the I got to get myself one of these department: Whisky Menorah. Of course I don’t know that I would fill it with Scotch. I think a “Fiery” Rye would do nicely.

Is it just me or were there no American whiskeys on the Malt Maniacs awards? Based on the interview on Whiskey Cast they had Chinese, Japanese, Indian, and Australian whiskeys. Looking at the list I didn’t recognize any American companies. Do they not submit, are they not eligible or are they not good enough to crack an 80 score? The person being interviewed did talk about how Whiskeys from Australia are getting better and taste less like “Australian whiskey” than “whiskey”

Part 1

When I first got there I made a dash to the Woodford Reserve table to taste the new sweet mash whiskey. It was pretty good. The nose is quite different than the previous Woodford products. The taste is a little on the heavy/oily side. The big difference is that you don’t taste the nutty notes that are typical of Woodford. This one has more of the fruity leathery taste. Not a home run but a solidly hit double.

There is a good reason for this being delayed. As usual my co-workers were curious about Whiskey Fest and I gave them my three cardinal sins:

• Go with a plan. It is easy to get overwhelmed and boxed out if you don’t know what you are after.
• Don’t get drunk. There is nothing sadder then seeing the drunken idiots staggering around.
• Whatever you do don’t forget what you saw, smelled and tasted

Well of course I go ahead and violate rule number 3! I had the little booklet and was writing down my notes. At some point after going to the Bourbon trail booth I reached into my bag for the book and discovered it wasn’t there! ARGH!