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).
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.
Tonight, we got to sample a bottle from DCS Chapter 4, a 26 year old that was aged in an European Oak Oloroso Puncheon. During this tasting, we heard a few numbers bandied about – and the estimate was that this bottle alone would cost about $2,000.
Despite a lingering cough, Liz and I broke open one of the Christmas gifts that she had gotten me: two bottles from Bunnahabhain distillery.
Recently, we’ve had the good fortune to taste several very incredible bottles that folks brought to share. And prior to tonight, Liz and I were debating on bringing something of our own to share.
After having sampled so many generous drams from others, we were wanting to offer something to the “group” at large. We ended up bringing one of the bottles we got from our visit to
Bunnahabhain, when we travelled to Islay back in 2021.
A very interesting bit of trivia: I happened to try out a bottle of Lochlea randomly, after seeing it on the shelf at Binny’s. I had no idea who John Campbell was, and later learned that he had been at Laphroaig for 27 years (16 years as their Distillery Manager).
Tonight, we got to hear from Iain McAlister, the master distiller from Glen Scotia about the distillery, and its history/place in Campbeltown. Of note: this event was one of just five stops in the US for McAlister, and is his first trip to the US in the past ten years.
Tonight we attended another Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SWMS) outturn at the Franklin Room – a fun event that takes place on one of the days the restaurant is closed, and we get the run of the place.
I was listening to Liz opine about her thoughts on various drams. Everyone had their opinions, but as part of her guesses Liz would mention things like Sauternes casks.
As I watched and listened, it dawned on me that Liz really likes whisky and I just like to drink. I think my palette is getting better, but she’s really done a lot more research, paid a lot more attention to things. Watching her go back and forth with Michael and Max, she’s on a whole other level than where I am.
On the left: Tabanco Time, a SMWSA blend (something I wasn’t aware they did).
On the right: what Elhan referred to as his “Infinity Bottle.” It’s pretty much a continuously changing bottle, made up of the leftovers from prior SMWSA tasting events.
Interesting tidbit 1: I think a while ago, Liz got to meet Joe for the first time at this very restaurant. And it’s also where she got to taste different scotch whiskies that were outside of the peaty/smoky realm. And I daresay that’s when she got the spark to start exploring scotch whisky a lot more, and started going down her sherry bomb phase.
On arriving, we were greeted with a complimentary “welcome” dram. Which was a new thing. We’re here to taste the new bottles being released in March, but this one was just to start the night off I guess.