2014 :: The Momentum
BALCONES DISTILLING
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Winston Edwards and Chip Tate from Balcones Distilling poured ELEVEN of their fine whiskeys for us on Jan 23rd at the Village Idiot. It was one of the best events we have had due to the knowledge and information we got from having a long chat with Chip about the way distilling is done at Balcones. Everyone had a great night of tasting ultra rare bottles and geeking out on the alchemy of whiskey making.
Thank you to Winston Edwards & Chip Tate for their generosity!
Thank you Bird for bringing your bottle and sharing with us!
PAPPY VAN WINKLE
COMPLETE VERTICAL
Date: Sunday, January 26, 2014
Celebrating the one year anniversary of SCWC with the complete 2013 release.
• Old Rip Van Winkle 10 year
• Van Winkle Special Reserve 12 year
• Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye 13 Year
• Pappy Van Winkle 15 year
• Pappy Van Winkle 20 year
• Pappy Van Winkle 23 year
TOTAL WINE EXCLUSIVE CASK RANGE
Sunday, February 16, 2014
1. Invergordon 25yr 1988 53.9%
2. Auchentoshan 13yr 2000 53.6%
3. Glen Spey 11yr 2002 56.7%
4. Ben Nevis 14yr 1998 53.2%
5. Arran 16yr 1997 51.2%
6. Bruichladdich 22yr 1991 50.6%
7. Glen Garioch 23yr 1989 54.1%
8. Bowmore 11yr 2002 56.8%
A NIGHT w/ JAMES WILLS of KILCHOMAN
March 31, 2014
Special guest James Wills came to California for a SCWC exclusive. He has been involved in the distillery from its infancy and has done every single job in the distillery since it was established in 2005. Kilchoman distillery was the first to be built on the island of Islay in 124 years. It is one of only six Scottish distilleries still doing traditional floor-maltings, and will be unique in having all parts of the process - growing barley, malting, distilling, maturing and bottling - carried out on Islay. Having worked in the drinks industry in London for four years after university James returned fulltime to the family business in January this year. He, his father and brother now form the Kilchoman Sales and Marketing team with James concentrating particularly on the US market where Kilchoman has grown enormously in popularity since its first launch in 2010 and is quickly developing a cult status with Scotch whisky drinkers.
1. Machir Bay
2. 100% Islay 3rd Edition
3. 2007 Vintage
4. Impex Exclusive Single Cask
5. K&L Exclusive Single Bourbon Barrel #74
6. K&L Exclusive Single Bourbon Barrel #172
Special guest David OG from K&L Wines was on hand to pour their two new exclusive Kilchoman releases.
SAMAROLI TASTING
Date: Sunday, May 11, 2014 @ 7pm
This legendary Italian bottler based in Rome was founded in 1968 and has built a very solid reputation for selecting the best casks. Founder Silvano Samaroli has reached a respectable age by now, but he is still actively involved with the business.
THE LINE-UP:
1. EVOLUTION 2013
2. TOMINTOUL TOP CLASS, 1967
3. MACALLAN, 1991
4. GLEN SCOTIA, 1992
5. GLEN GARIOCH, 1990
6. LINKWOOD, 1983
7. ISLE OF JURA, 1997
BONUS POURS FOR THIS SCWC EVENT
8. SAMAROLI RUM CARIBBEAN 2003
9. DEMERARA DARK RUM, 1988
VERY OLDE ST. NICK [part 1 :: rye]
Sunday, June 22, 2014 @ 7pm
THE LINE-UP:
1. Summer Rye, Many Summers Olde, 80 Proof
2. 15 Year, Ancient Rye Whiskey, 86 Proof
3. 16 Tear, Rare Perfection Rye, 86 Proof
4. 17 Year, Ancient Rye Whiskey, 103.7 Proof
5. 18 Year, Ancient Rye Whiskey, 104.6 Proof
The Very Olde St. Nick brand was designed for the export market only. It was originally supplied by Julian Van Winkle III (of Pappy fame) and then shifted over to Even Kulsveen (Willett). The Rare Perfection brand is from Drew Kulsveen (Even's son). These were all bottled in the early to mid 2000's. Hand carried from Japan to Los Angeles. These are extremely rare bottles that fetch exorbitant auction prices when they become available. This is a very special event to taste something that very few have experienced. Part 2 will be a continuation with the bourbon "sister releases" of Very Olde St. Nick.
VERY OLDE ST. NICK [part 2 :: bourbon]
Sunday, August 17, 2014
THE LINE-UP:
1. Very Olde St. Nick 8 year, 90 proof
2. Very Olde St. Nick Cask Lot No. 15, 107 proof
3. ery Olde St. Nick 19 year, 94 proof
4. Very Olde St. Nick 22 year, 81.2 proof
5. Very Olde St. Nick 23 year, 81.2 proof
6. Very Olde St. Nick 24 year, 81.2 proof
The Very Olde St. Nick brand was designed for the export market only. It was originally supplied by Julian Van Winkle III (of Pappy fame) and then shifted over to Even Kulsveen (Willett). These were all bottled in the early to mid 2000s. These are extremely rare bottles that were hand carried from Japan to Los Angeles. They now fetch exorbitant auction prices when they become available. This is a very special event to taste something that very few have experienced. June 22nd, 2014 was the "Part 1 Rye" tasting and this "Part 2 Bourbon" concludes our "sister releases" of Very Olde St. Nick.
Email from Very Olde St. Nick - this is what they had to say about the product:
Very Olde St. Nick bourbons were produced by Julian Van Winkle at the historic Stitzel Distillery
SCWC "NEW vs. OLD"
date: Sunday, October 19, 2014 @ 7pm
The event we all were waiting for. The "new vs. old" where we had the whole spectrum of whisk(e)y and tasted first-hand what they get straight off the still and compared that to the final commercial product. Getting to taste new make/white dog is pretty rare, but to do it in this wide range was very educational and special.
Featuring new make and the final aged product:
1. Buffalo Trace (bourbon)
2. Kilchoman (Islay scotch)
3. Rittenhouse 100 (rye)
4. Colorado Gold (bourbon)
5. Arran (scotch)
OLD EXPRESSIONS of WHISKY from YEARS BACK
date: Sunday, December 14, 2014 @ 7pm
For our final meeting of the year we had a casual get together at the Daily Pint in Santa Monica. The theme is old expressions of scotch whisky from years back.