Yes I know it is four months after the meeting. It seems like just yesterday we were tasting and laughing and eating Todd's culinary delights. Where has the time gone?
Anyway.... Balcones Texas Single Malt Whiskey (Waco, Tx) 52.5% ABV -smells strong alcohol and wood with sweet -tastes warm, wet alcohol -with water smells sweeter wood -tasted sour bourbon -trails leather/cotton Hudson Baby Bourbon Whisky 46% ABV Corn Whiskey Aged 4 Years in Oak -smells of hay/farm with slight sweetness loke flower decay -tastes a hint of corn -dries my mouth -with water tasted like cardboard/oak -trails peanut shells I liked the strange flavors. Corn whiskey is easy to drink. Tullamore Dew (newer bottling than St Patty's Day) 40% ABV -smells pine wood/sap -tasted lightly peppery, almost powdery -sweet pine wood -with water smells even stronger of pine sap -light taste that trails quickly -tatsted slightly wood Meeting at Todd's After Summer Break 8/25/12 Myra was able to bring some Knappogue Castle and I brought some whiskey purchased in Chattanooga. Ardmore Traditional Cask 46% ABV Slightly peated non-Isay expression -smells slightly band-aid/smoke -tastes sweet at top of my mouth -wth water - lighter sweeter wood -trails almost dessert Cragganmore 12 Year 40% ABV One of Diageo's Calssic Malts -smells sweet like caramel dessert -tastes sweet with very little alcohol -trails lightly -with water - not as sweet -tasted just oak and a tinge of bourbon Knappogue Castle 7 Year Irish -smells sweet with tinge of soap -tastes dry/light wood -with water - light wood -trails botter - better without water Chattanooga Whiskey 1816 Reserve 45% ABV -smells like bourbon with tinge of floral -tastes like watered down bourbon -with water- opens sour to bourbon -trails oaky with a touch of smoke Like this whiskey. Chattanooga Whiskey 1818 Cask 56.8% ABC -smells sweeter than the Reserve -much stronger alcohol smell with tinge of vinegar -strong peppery on the tongue with spicy alcohol -with water smells of bourbon and oak, floral -slightly oaky I like this whiskey more than the Reserve. It has a fuller flavor. We all know that barley also makes those other tasty beverages that are known and loved, drunk and shot-gunned, spilled and thrown up, served in cans, funnels, bottles, chilled mugs and plastic cups from a keg. This night Todd hosted a tasting of some of the rarer (that's high brow, expensive stuff to the Budweiser crowd) beers that have spent some time in oak barrels. Fortunately we had the sense to taste in small portions like the whisky. It may have gotten ugly if everyone had a bottle of each beer.
Southern Tier IPA Un*Earthly 9.5% -aged in 1st use oak barrel -smells sweet and hoppy -IPA bitterness drowned out any subtle flavors I was hoping for. Dog Fish Head IPA Burton Baton (aged in oak "for about a month") 10% -smells sweeter than Southern Tier -tastes extremley bitter If I had to drink a few of these, I would be done for the day with beer after two. Innis and Gunn Original (Matured for 77 Days in oak barrel) 6.6% -smells sour like a Heineken -tastes like a Heineken with floral tones I like Heineken. Jolly Pumpkin Luciernaga "The Firefly" Corriander/Grains of Paradise 6.5% -smells hoppy and sweet like bakeed yams and almost burnt (really) -peppery taste without much body -sucks moisture out of mouth afer taste Brew Dog Paradox Stout Aged in Springbank Cask (Aberdeenshire, Scotland) 10% - smells sweet like prune or soy sauce -tastes sweet/burnt coffee -not as sweet as NewCastle Brew Dog Imperial Stout Paradox Mccallan Aged in 1987 MacCallan Shrry Cask 10% -smells strongly of soy sauce (not low sodium) -tastes sweet like my stir fry sauce -has body like NewCastle - slightly less sweet Brew Dog Storm Aged in Islay Cask 8% Can't remember which Islay Whisky -smells of bacon/smoky with hops, almost sour -taste trails of brown sugar -sweet at first -creamy with hint of bacon , -very short taste, no body I like bacon. Aly and Donna Scale: very low. Jim Scale: I like bacon. Harviestoun Ola Dubh Aged in Highland Park 12 Yr 8% Actually pronounced Oh-la Doo meaning Black Oil (Google) -smells brown sugar and sour hops, almost smokey -tastes dry/airy and hops -sweet balances bitter Harviestoun Ola Dubh Age in Highland Park 30 Yr 8% -smells even more bitter and less sweet than 12yr -tastes sour hops -trails sweet I was reminded at this meeting that I should have bought the Bruichladdich Gin when I had the chance in Scotland. After a long summer of riding and traveling and visiting relatives.....wait. That was Todd's summer. Why didn't I post this earlier? Well....
Scapa 10 year [bottled in 1985] 40% ABV Gordon and Macphail -smells peaty with cigar -wet with a leathery taste -with water- sweeter-wet leather -trails peppery How can you go wrong with Scapa? Thumbs up on the Aly and Donna scale. Special thanks again to Myra!! We would not ever have gotten to taste this otherwise. Balvenie Classic 43% ABV -smells oak and caramel -tastes peppery caramel like a dessert -with water gets peppery and less sweet -trails wood Highland Park 12 Year Orkney Islands 43% ABV -smells like a dessert -tastes peppery/leathery -with water tastes dry almost chalky at first -trails woody Lammerlaw Single Malt New Zealand 43% ABV -smells sweet with a tinge of oak -peppery and oily -with water tastes light wood Though much lighter than somethinig from Islay, I am reminded of the older Laphroaig expressions that were oilier. That's a word, right? Hazelburn 8 Year 46% ABV -smells slightly oak -tastes a tinge rubbery -with water very rubbery Rubber is not the greatest taste. |