Sep. 5: Drammers Paris!......
(You can change the currency by toggling the button on the top right to Euros, though it will still show the amount in US$ on the final check out)
(You can change the currency by toggling the button on the top right to Euros, though it will still show the amount in US$ on the final check out)
(You can change the currency by toggling the button on the top right to Euros, though it will still show the amount in US$ on the final check out)
Fellow Drammers!
Our next Drammers Paris event will be Sunday, September 5th at 19:00, and we’re grateful that Tzantza has agreed to host us (58 Rue Jean Jacques Rousseau). We've put together a fantastic lineup, which will include at least 7 spirits (probably more), including:
1984 Glen Grant 5yo. This is a fun bottle of single malt Scotch from the iconic Glen Grant distillery. It was distilled 37 years ago exclusively for the Italian market. Our club recently held an online event with their master distiller who explained this fascinating phenomenon of how the 5 year old expression of Glen Grant had become this icon in the Italian whisky market, ultimately playing an important role in why. 40% abv.
Craigellachie 10yo from Single Cask Nation. Next we'll look at two releases from our friends the independent bottlers Single Cask Nation. This first one is from their commercial release (available in stores), a single malt scotch from the revered Craigellachie distillery, currently owned by Bacardi. The name means "rocky hill" and refers to the cliff that overlooks the Spey across from the Macallan distillery. 67.3% abv.
Single Cask Nation Islay Blended Malt 9yo. We don't know which distilleries, but we know they are on the iconic Islay (which means "island") where the smokiest and peatiest whiskies in the world can be found -- the likes of Ardbeg, Laphroaig, Lagavulin, etc. This one was aged in a single cask (we're guessing it was "teaspooned"), aged 9 years in a first fill bourbon barrel. Bottled at a delightful 58.9% abv.
Hammer Head Czech Vintage Single Malt, 23yo. This one has a crazy story behind it - distilled in 1989 behind the iron curtain. We're told the Soviets demanded that this brandy distillery (Pradlo) make whisky, and so they did, but they didn't know how -- literally taught themselves out of books and finally figured it out and ended up making pretty good stuff. Then the iron curtain fell, and these barrels, maturing in an obscure basement, were completely forgotten, only to be discovered decades later. This has been available in the Barcelona market in the past, though we believe it is not currently available. 40.7% abv.
Starward Australian Single Malt. We continue our journey through world whisky with this entry from Melbourne, Australia. Founder David Vitale, who trained at the famous Lark Distillery, set out to make something more accessible, at times joking he was trying to do everything he could to make Starward "not like Scotch", ha. He decided to make the house signature that they would age in big red Aussie wine barrels, often very freshly dumped. This was a private barrel pick we did just for our club, and we're very proud of it (they've only released a handful of private barrels into the world to date). 55.5% abv.
High West Double Rye, Cognac Finish. Next we'll try two whiskies from the High West Distillery in Utah. They make their own whiskey but also source whiskey mostly from MGP distillery in Indiana, and then expertly blend the two (hence the term "double rye"). But since the ultimate blend is what they're proud of, making single barrels available poses a bit of a puzzle, and their solution has been to only offer single barrels that have profound finishes on them, in this case 8 months in a cognac barrel. The result is amazing, with a long minty finish. 48.3% abv.
High West American Prairie Bourbon - Rivesaltes Wine Cask Finish. This is from the same distillery, though we believe most if not all of it is sourced for this product. Nevertheless, they follow the same approach, only offering single barrels that have fun finishes on them. In this case, the bourbon is finished for 8 months in a Rivesaltes (fortified) wine cask. 49.9% abv.
2020 Mlody Ziemniak from Chopin Distillery. Last but far from least is a fun one. The members of our Warsaw chapter turned us on to this one, and to our knowledge its only available in Poland currently, though Maison du Whisky offers something similar. It’s made by arguably Poland’s most prestigious craft vodka distillery, but it is technically not vodka. To be “vodka”, by legal definition, it needs to be distilled up to at least 96% alcohol, which removes much (but definitely not all) of its flavors and aromas. Instead, this takes the same potato distillate and stops after a single distillation, which ends up closer to 60% alcohol and has enormous flavor and aromas. Since this defies an easy definition, they have released an annual special release under their Mlody Ziemniak label, which means “young potato”. Honestly, it’s extraordinary, and we were very proud to select a batch of an unreleased potato varietal just for our club back in July. It’ll be a while before we have that in hand, so in the meantime we’re proud to give a sneak peak with this, their limited 2020 release.
That's our lineup! We hope you can join us. As always, anyone who has been to a meeting in the past can invite a friend or two to join. And a huge thank you to Alexis for organizing!
Cheers!
Charlie and Alexis