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Fellow Drammers!
Wow, do we have some exciting news - on Friday, November 27th at 3pm EST, as the US snuggles into a Thanksgiving food coma, our Drammers Club will continue to give thanks and pay tribute to one of the great figures in the industry: Richard Paterson, Master Distiller for The Dalmore and Master Blender for Whyte & Mackay, overseeing all of the whiskies they release (including The Dalmore, Jura, Fettercairn and Tamnavulin). Richard is one of the rare old guard of great whiskymakers who is at the very top of the game at both making whisky and educating and engaging the public about it (roles that are increasingly kept separate these days).
Fair warning that this event will be a tad bittersweet: you may have seen the news last week that after a landmark 50 years with Whyte & Mackay, Richard has just announced that he will be stepping back to focus entirely on whisky-making at The Dalmore. So, while on the one hand we'll still have his steady hand making sure the whisky we know and love stays in tip-top shape, he will be stepping back from traveling and frankly doing events like this -- starting at the end of November. That makes this special Drammers tribute to him and The Dalmore all the more special, and it will be one to remember. There is one problem we have yet to figure out though -- how will Richard pull off his trademark move of throwing a glass of amazing Dalmore whisky on the floor over Zoom?!
Ha. We had the honor of welcoming Richard in person at our NYC chapter back in 2017 for an incredible event, and we're delighted that we're being gifted this opportunity to pay tribute to him as he transitions to his new role, and in so doing invite our club as a whole to join in what promises to be an epic discussion and appreciation for Richard and his work with The Dalmore and Whyte & Mackay. And to make this extra special, we're going big. In addition to having our usual $95/member ticket, we're creating a $175/member tier so that we can include one very special bottle -- the 35 year old from The Dalmore, arguably one of Richard's greatest achievements (among many, admittedly). They announced in 2016 -- to commemorate Richard's 50 years in the whisky business -- that they would be releasing a handful each year for 5 years, so presumably this is the last year we'll see them, and I know this year only 40 bottles came to the US, so when we say rare, we mean really, really rare (we recently spotted a hotel in DC selling it for $1,000 an ounce). And that was before it was named the Supreme Champion whisky at the recent 2020 International Spirits Challenge. It is matured in bourbon, Matusalem Sherry and Colheita Port casks. It's a bit more expensive than the bottles we normally can include in a Drammers event, but then again this is no ordinary event.
Here is the full lineup for our Dalmore event with Richard Patterson next Friday, December 27th:
Set A ($175/person):
35yo (1 of only 40 bottles for the US)
Unreleased assemblage created by Richard (more on that below)
King Alexander III
18yo
Port Wood Reserve
15yo
Cigar Malt Reserve
12yo
Set B ($95/person):
25yo
King Alexander III
18yo
Port Wood Reserve
15yo
Cigar Malt Reserve
12yo
This is an incredible lineup. One of our members recently spotted the 35yo at a bar in Washington DC selling for $1,000 an ounce, and that was before it was named the Supreme Champion whisky. Unbelievable, and the rare assemblage, never released that was initially created by Richard to use during his master class at a major whisky festival this year that was canceled due to covid, and we're the lucky beneficiaries. It was created from 1st fill Matusalem sherry and tawny port casks from the 2000s decade, and bottled at cask strength at 44.1% abv. This is the only time anyone will ever be able to try it (we have slightly less than a full bottle, so the pours for that expression will be slightly smaller).
Set B alone will get the 25yo, which retails for upwards of $1,300/bottle if you can find one. This whisky was matured in Palomino Fino sherry butts and 1980s first fill bourbon casks, and then blended together by the expert himself until Richard thought it was perfect.
Both sets will include King Alexander III, Port Wood Reserve, Cigar Malt Reserve, 18yo, 15yo and 12yo.
A huge thank you to our co-host Craig Bridger, the Head of Education for The Dalmore for making this incredible event possible! Details to come on the rest of the lineup in both SET A and SET B, but we wanted to give you as much heads up as we could to be able to participate in this special Drammers tribute to Richard Patterson and The Dalmore.
Cheers,
Drammers Club