Mar. 19: Drammers Louisville......
Hello Louisville Drammers!
We hope everyone's well! Our next Drammers Louisville tasting will be this Saturday, March 19th at 6pm, and a big thank you to John Wadell and the team at Peerless for hosting our event at the Peerless distillery! We’ve assembled an exciting array of rare and unusual spirits to taste at this event, and we’ve kept a few slots open for suggestions / special requests! Do we want to add some bottled-in-bond bottles in honor of the 125th anniversary of the passage of the bottled--in-bond act this month? Or is there something else you’ve got your eye on? Let us know if you’ve got an idea. Here’s what we’ve got lined up for sure so far:
Sazerac Rye - Warsaw Chapter Pick. Our first private barrel pick from the Sazerac company, this one made of course at the legendary Buffalo Trace distillery. It uses their core 6yo rye, same recipe as goes into their normal release, but this is a single barrel that our members in Warsaw, Poland selected. Bright confectionary sugar notes on the front end (much more pronounced than their usual release), and if you let it sit for awhile, it gives way to orange marmalade notes that we don’t usually associate with Sazerac Rye. As per Sazerac’s policy on these single barrels, it’s bottled at 45% abv. This barrel sold out quickly, but we set aside a few bottles for tastings like this one.
Glenmorangie Highland Single Malt - The Lighthouse 12yo (Distillery Exclusive). Glenmorangie just opened a new highly secretive experimental distillery up in the Highlands of Scotland — they ran the first distillation on it just two weeks ago! In honor of its opening, they released a special bottling only available at the distillery itself, so unless you happened to be there 2 weeks ago, you're unlikely to come across it. Happily, we went out there for the opening of the distillery and picked up a bottle for us to try in Boston (bottle #985 of 4782). It’s a 12yo blend of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, arguably making it a more nuanced version of their popular Lasanta release (also a 12yo release, but using more sherry casks). 48% abv.
Westward American Single Malt - Experimental Belgian Ardennes Trappist Ale Finish. American Single Malt whiskey is emerging with a distinct flavor profile, which is neither scotch nor bourbon but something in between. Westward, based in Portland, is a great example, leaning into almost exclusively new American oak barrels. And since their head distiller Miles and the bulk of their team come from a brewing background, they have delved deep into experimental single barrels, aging their single malt in a variety of casks from partner breweries. We hosted Miles at our event in Los Angeles last week, where we tasted this release, which was only available at the distillery or through their distillery run whisky club, a single barrel finised in a Belgian Ardennes Trappist Ale. It’s a fun ride, and we saved some to taste at our event. 46% abv.
Bardstown Bourbon Co. - Triple Stave Finished Bourbon. Another distillery-only release, this went through an elaborate finishing and reblending process that would take too long to describe (you can read about in all its glory here), and which was only available at the distillery for approximately $200/bottle. We picked it up when we were in town in December for the World’s Top Whisky Taster finals at BBCo, to cheer on one of our members had made the final 5, and we’ve opened a few bottles at other chapter events around the country. It features a blend of whiskies sourced from Kentucky and Indiana aged between 6 and 17 years. 54.5% abv.
Glen Scotia 8yo Unpeated Campbeltown Single Malt Scotch, Single Barrel #740: (Drammers Exclusive). We’re very excited about these next two - single barrels selected exclusively for Drammers Club and 2 of only 4 private barrels they've allowed out (in the US at least) in the last few years. And the timing is particularly good because GlenScotia was just named a month ago as Distillery of the Year by the Scotch Whisky Association! One is an unpeated 8yo, and one is a medium peated 10yo. The unpeated is 56.1% abv (cask strength).
Glen Scotia 10yo Peated Campbeltown Single Malt Scotch, Drammers Exclusive Single Barrel. 55.6% abv. (see above)
Those are in for sure. We want to add a couple more, and if you’ve got suggestions or requests, please let us know. We’ve got an exquisite (and extremely rare) 4yo Oaxacan rum from Dakabend, a prototype of the High West American Single Malt from 2 years ago before they changed it for their recent debut. We could also include Square 6, the first bottling from the pot still at the Heaven Hill Experience in downtown Louisville, and of course we’re game to pick up something new and fun.
In any case, we hope you can join us! We'll provide some food as well (likely pizza). As always, anyone who has been to one of our events is welcome to join and to invite friends to any of our events, whether in Louisville, online or at any of our other chapter cities. Please let us know if you have any questions!
Cheers,
Charlie, Christi, John and Drammers Club
FORMAT: In person event
WHERE: at the Peerless Distillery downtown
WHEN: 6-9pm
PRICE: $40/person for Drammers Members or $50/person for Drammers Observers or newcomers