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UPDATE ON BOTTLE LINEUP: We’ve added a 2nd round of bottles to keep this benefit event going, of which 5 are the same and 3 are different but comparable we think. So anyone signing up from here on out will get SET B below, and anyone who already signed up can get SET A or SET B (and if you want to doubly support Wheated/David, feel free to get both!):
SET B vs SET A:
Set B gets Hudson's Bay Rare Reserve 1670, 15yo Blended Scotch, approx. 1960s (this is in place of Set A's Haig & Haig 8yo from approx. 1940s)
Set B gets a slightly different Wild Turkey Ceramic bottle from approx. the same time period (1970s) as set A
Set B gets the Cragganmore Ltd. Ed. 55.7% bottling (this is in place of Set A's Blair Athol 23yo)
BOTH SETS GET:
Wild Turkey Cheesy Gold Foil
Samaroli Glen Scotia 21yo
Barrell Rye Single Barrel 13yo
Widow Jane 14yo The Vaults
Laphroaig Cairdeas 200th Anniv. Ed.
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Fellow Drammers!
We're launching a new series of online tastings that we're calling "Save Our Whiskey Bars" -- they're benefit events, where all the proceeds go to support an important whiskey bar, and we're starting on Tuesday, April 21st at 7pm with Wheated in Brooklyn run by David Sheridan, who I'm sure you all know as a longtime and regular attendee and supporter of our events. I don't need to tell you how hard the current shutdown situation has been on bars everywhere, it's obviously been brutal. David's first reaction was to sell off his whisky collection to raise $10,000 to support the employees that -- like nearly every bar in town -- he had to lay off because of the shutdown. And he succeeded in raising that $10k for them, which is awesome. Now he's trying to generate enough business to stay afloat and make sure that this awesome whiskey resource would be there for us when the world resumes. And of course, we here at Drammers want to do our part to help.
That's reason enough to participate, but the truth is that even without that backdrop, the lineup we have for Tuesday would be a big draw regardless -- David has reached deep, deep into his personal rare whisky collection that he's amassed over decades to put together a jaw dropping lineup, and honestly you could put these in almost any order -- check out the lineup for Tuesday:
1940s Haig & Haig 8yo Blended "Five Star" Scotch. Never heard of or tried it before? Yeah, no shit. This is serious history. Back when this was produced, Haig & Haig was one of the most well-regarded Scotches in the world, and a bottle was almost always a once-a-year purchase at most. This bottle has the white foil cap from (as far as we can tell) the 1940s, 8 years aged, bottled at 43.4%. The label calls it "Scots Whisky", gotta love it. A sticker on the back indicates it was imported by Somerset Importers Ltd. Very, very rare chance to try this.
Wild Turkey Cheesy Gold Foil 12yo. Don't take my word for it -- go ahead and do a google search to confirm for yourselves -- this is considered by many of even the biggest Wild Turkey afficionados to be the absolute gold standard when it comes to Wild Turkey. Released in the mid-80s, bottled at their TM 101 proof under the Austin Nichols Wild Turkey brand. The relatively recent Russels '98 is the only Wild Turkey in credible contention with this release for greatest Wild Turkey of all time. Me personally, this is the bottle I'm most looking forward to drinking on Tuesday, hands down.
Samaroli 21yo Glen Scotia. Bottled in 2013, distilled in 1992, this Glen Scotia bottle is a select cask from the respected independent bottlers at Samaroli, bottled at 45% abv. 1 of 360 bottles. Matured in a sherry cask for its entire life. Very rare and reviews of this online are glowing.
Blair Athol 23yo. A rare chance to try a big release from this little-known distillery. This bottle was a special 2017 release, and actually the first official release since 2003 (you may recall the distillery was part of Diageo's Flora and Fauna series). Matured in STR casks that were subsequently filled in fortified wine. Released at a cask strength of 58.4% abv, 1 of 5514 bottles. Excited to try this!
Laphroaig Cairdeas 200th Anniv. Ed. We haven't seen this bottle pop up at auction much since it's release during Feis Ile in 2015 to mark the 200th anniversary of the distillery. This is fun one in honor of the anniversary -- entirely using malted barley from their own (fairly small) malting floor, and distilled on the two small older stills at the distillery, then matured in ex-bourbon casks for 12 years. Yet another bottle we have yet to try here at Drammers. 51.5% abv.
Austin Nichols Wild Turkey 1776 Decanter 8yo. Distilled in 1968, bottled in 1976 at 101 proof, if you search online you'll find that the empty bottles sell regularly in the $100 range, but I don't even see a bottle coming up at auction anytime recently, so another piece of serious history here. Note that the bottle was a porcelain decanter, and it is possible that a lead glaze was used on the outside of the decanter, and it is possible that the lead may have seeped into the whiskey over the years, so drink at your own risk. Some online articles suggest that even if that's the case, drinking a half-ounce no more frequently that every 6 months is okay, and while we make no claims of any kind whether or not that's true, we'll limit this pour to approx 0.5 ounces accordingly (accordingly, those of you who tried the Stitzel Weller bottle at our podcast recording event in February may want to wait until mid-August to try this, since that was also a porcelain decanter and may have had the same issue).
Widow Jane - The Vaults 14yo. This bottle was so allocated, my guess is most folks never knew it was released. I mean who knew Widow Jane had 14yo bourbons in their stocks!? Described as being pulled from a collection of their rarest and oldest whiskey. Shortly before our fellow Drammer and good friend Vince Oleson stepped down as head distiller at Widow Jane last year, he gave us a call and a heads up that we should be on the lookout for this special bottle, which means something coming from him. As many of you know, Vince is heading up a new chapter for us in Manchester, which would have launched by now, but for the COVID situation, so we're thrilled to include this very small allocation bottle as a tribute to him in the meantime, it promises to be amazing. 99 proof.
Barrel Rye, Single Barrel L958 13yo. We're big fans of Barrell Craft Spirits, they always have an eye for a great whiskey. This one was distilled in Canada, matured in a single cask, then moved to Kentucky for further maturation. David speaks very highly of it and wanted to include it, which knowing him is always cause to stand up and pay attention! 62.1% abv.
That's our lineup, pretty badass. $75/person, which is kinda insane when you consider most of these whiskies would cost that much per pour at a bar normally. But then again, nothing about this is normal, unless you count David's incredible commitment to whiskey and keeping his awesome pizza and whiskey bar open, which is as normal for him as it gets. You can reserve one of our sample sets on our website, www.Drammers.com. As we've been doing, Charlie is offering to drop off the samples on a citibike if you're within reasonable distance of his house in Manhattan or Brooklyn, otherwise you need to make arrangements with him to pick up etc. to get the samples (and all are welcome to join online even without the samples!)
When: Tuesday, April 21st at 7pm EST
Zoom Login Details: https://zoom.us/j/99868901928?pwd=QUpLM0xjTVJOcmFVTUs5V2dibkFIQT09
Password: 04212020
Meeting ID: 998-6890-1928
Best,
Charlie