In class today, we applied a finish for all our pieces. Note the extra bit of stain that Liz brought with, in case we needed to do touch-ups.
I have to say: Liz was the star student tonight, as several other folks wandered over to ask about her process and what she did. Lots of interest and questions, and Liz was just in her element – talking about everything she’s learned about staining. Quite cool to watch.
I ended up needing to miss a woodworking class last week (and needed to go in on the weekend, to do a makeup class). Liz decided she needed the night off as well, and decided that we’d both miss… and go in together, today. Our makeup work: sanding. We were encouraged to bring headphones. I wasn’t sure where we’d be…
Most companies try to keep their identity consistent, a stable look and feel that carries across their packaging. But Glenmorangie seems to have embraced this very diverse, wildly different style and gone for breadth.
Looking at this group of bottles, yes – it’s a range of whiskies. But boy howdy, is it a very big range of style and marketing and branding, to boot. Really quite incredible, when you take a step back to look at it all.
Normally, the tastings involve new releases… and everyone samples them together, trying to guess details like the age, distillery, flavor profile, casks, and ABV for each dram.
Tonight, we were part of a tasting panel that would give us the opportunity to rate and select the whiskies that we felt the Society should release next.
Fun bit of trivia: Mark is from Indianapolis, and his wife lived near where I grew up. He went to North Central High School, and was just ahead of me (he was a Senior in 1988, and I probably just showed up as a Freshman that year). He recognized Greenbriar, near 86th and Ditch, and there was a sparkle of recognition when I mentioned my parents’ old restaurant (the Golden Dragon). Small, small world.
So we trekked out to the suburbs, each of us with a large book in tow. And just like it was in high school, the book was actually filled with high quality liquor.
I think I’ve told this story a few times by now: my initial understanding of a “Driver’s Dram” was completely incorrect – and idiotic. When going to distilleries and attending tastings, for those participants who are drivers… the distilleries bottle up their whisky into take-away bottles, named “Driver’s drams.”
It didn’t quite click in my brain that this process was designed for the driver to consume them later, after everyone had gotten home and… you know… no longer driving.
To me, a “Driver’s Dram” meant that anyone who was a driver would just get smaller portions during the tasting. Because… they were driving.
So this year, a bonus that neither Liz nor I got sick. Last year, we had the chance to make some rounds, but things got cut short due to Covid.
While I’m glad we got some extra time with my sister’s family this year, it was nice to have our own little Christmas, back home in Chicago.
As you can imagine, ours was quite the popular area after the tasting. It was lovely to see Lauren and Max again, and we met a ton of new Society members.
Liz and I attended a tasting tonight, at Warehouse Liquors for Single Cask Nation.
As far as independent bottlers go, we both have enjoyed a lot from Single Cask Nation – and were curious to try out some of their newer offerings.
After a bit, we moved outside and got to settle in on a bench just by the front doors. Took this photo of the nearby alley, where this (and other) shops are situated. I learned that Blagden Alley is a bit famous for its murals, and loved that we kind of “discovered” this interesting area within the city.
We tried looking at the whisky list (it’s 72 pages long). While we had some favorite distilleries to look up, Liz and I soon gave up after a few minutes of searching.
The person helping us was Chris (the whisky advisor), someone Max recommended we speak with. A bit of serendipity there.
We gave Chris some general preferences, and the next thing we knew he was off and climbing up the ladder.
Of particular note: as we were sitting down, one of the veterans (Michael)… shouted out that he wanted to sit next to Liz, because “she gets everything right.” He was referring to one of the prior events (the March outturn), where Liz was really spot-on with a lot of her predictions (the tasting involves trying to guess the age, distillery, casks used, and ABV for each dram).
That’s… a lot of bottles. In addition to offerings from Arran, tonight we were also able to try out several bottles from Lagg (a recent/new distillery from Arran, that was built on the south side of the Isle of Arran).
Fun evening – we got to sit next to Michael, one of the regulars. And if memory serves, Michael (along with the event host Elhan) was among the first founders of the Chicago chapter of Drammers.
It was really fun for me to sit back, and to listen to Liz and Michael go back and forth. I tend to be intimidated in these settings, as my palate and experience seem limited compared to others – and I’m always awed to watch Liz, who is very much in her element.