March 4, 2024
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.
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January 24, 2024
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.
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January 6, 2024
Despite a lingering cough, Liz and I broke open one of the Christmas gifts that she had gotten me: two bottles from Bunnahabhain distillery.
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November 6, 2023
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.
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November 3, 2023
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).
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October 9, 2023
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.
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October 1, 2023
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.
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September 5, 2023
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.
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June 5, 2023
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.
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May 12, 2023
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.
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March 6, 2023
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.
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February 14, 2023
Came downstairs after work to find that Liz had set up an impromptu tasting of some of our various GlenDronach bottles. We had a fairly modest Valentine’s Day dinner planned, so it looks like we got to have dessert first tonight!
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February 6, 2023
We both recognized one another, but struggled to remember each other’s name. And Dave said something that I thought was pretty stellar: “Memory is state dependent.” He said once we got drunk, we’d remember each other’s names.
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February 4, 2023
Closer to 6:00 PM, we were on the verge of heading back home. But ended up calling Lady Gregory’s to see if we could snag a table for some dinner.
Their whisky selection was on our radar, and this was a potential place were had talked about visiting. We lucked out and the person I spoke with offered to hold a table for us (we were a good 25 minutes away). And just like that: impromptu date night.
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February 3, 2023
Liz got a special bottle delivered today, worthy of noting: Glenmorangie’s Signet.
She first encountered this at a Women Who Whiskey event, several months back. I got to hear all about it, and the various other Glenmorangie offerings that the group got to sample.
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