On-line Tasting Events

[Ganga]

It seems to me that we're getting pretty good at establishing a once a month event for tasting. So my questions for you are as follows:

1. We seem to be selecting single malt scotches for choices. Should we include other whiskies, including blended scotch wisky?

2. Over time there will be new members that didn't get included in a particular tasting. How long, if at all, should we avoid including a previously tasted distillery?

I'd like to see your comments before commenting myself.

[woodhill]

I think another point has to be:-

Should this be limited to single distilleries or should there be say "flights of 12yo Islays" or "one from each region" etc.

[mikeymad]

1. Should we include other whiskies, including blended scotch wisky?

Yes, but I would like to run with the SMSW for a while, before we branch out.

2. Over time there will be new members that didn't get included in a particular tasting. How long, if at all, should we avoid including a previously tasted distillery?

At least a year. But more like 18 months. I would like to see us get through a nice selection of SMSW before we repeat any of them. Keep it fresh.

Cheers,

[TreacleSponge]

1. We seem to be selecting single malt scotches for choices. Should we include other whiskies, including blended scotch wisky?

Before including blends I'd be interested to try Irish or bourbons, but atm I'm happy getting through SMSW and would like to stick with that for a while.

2. Over time there will be new members that didn't get included in a particular tasting. How long, if at all, should we avoid including a previously tasted distillery?

There are so many distilleries that I wouldn't expect us to revist them for a couple years at this rate. It's not like new members are missing out - it's all good.

I think another point has to be:-

Should this be limited to single distilleries or should there be say "flights of 12yo Islays" or "one from each region" etc.

Including more than one distillery in a tasting might make it difficult to get anyone from the brand there, and I wonder if it might lose focus and just turn into the "what are you drinking now" thread? I'm not yet bored with sticking with one distillery at a time. But I'll go with whatever.


And just to mention I like how organised it's getting. I like knowing well in advance and I'd have no problem with agreeing a few months' dates & distilleries, say last Saturday of the month or whatever. Might help with Matt having time to organise samples/guests too.

[mikeymad]

Good thoughts Treacle...

Also would give you a little more chance to plan ahead in maybe getting a bottle.

Cheers,

[Willie JJ]

I agree. Those are very good thoughts Treacle. I think the main problem is getting the best tasting experience re selecting drams that we have not recently tried, allowing industry involvement, etc., and yet not letting the whole thing get so esoteric that newcomers are put off.

Perhaps we need more than one strand: one so that we can explore more obscure drams and another to cover more readily available bottlings to encourage others to join us. After all, the more the merrier.

[TreacleSponge]

Willie you're absolutely right - the more people join in the more fun it will be.

Good thoughts Treacle...

Also would give you a little more chance to plan ahead in maybe getting a bottle.

Yes, anything that helps me make any choices is welcomed as a Very Good Thing

[Muskrat Portage]

I agree that we should expand the baseline of tastings to include blends and other country offerings. At present 'though, we should continue on in the same vein with a poll to see what distillery should be tasted next. Just to get a steady date firmed up for tastings, like Gordon's Wednesday Arbeg chat group. (Which I finally got in on and will be back to again, I can assure you!) The Saturday tastings seem to work well with it falling later in the month, say the third or fourth.

We could flow into the blends once we've touched on the primary base malts which make up the blends; ie Glenburgie before we go to a Ballantynes, ; Blair Athol before we try a Bells. In that manner we could then set up the base malts to sample after the blends to see how the components interact. I've been able to do this in my Lair a few times and really could detect the primary malt(s) in the blend. Of course with 6 Isles, we'd need to sample Arran, Islay, Jura, Mull, Orkney & Skye bottlings first. Now that would be a severe morning after!

As an interesting perspective on previous distillery tastings, we could return to the original thread and continue on from there with any newbies and others who join in. This would allow one location to review tastings for that particular distillery and we could move forward from that point, with a history of the tasting for anyone who wished to reveiw notes before the scheduled tasting. Well, the first couple of pages, anyways.

Muskrat Portage

[Ryguy]

I'd like to get everyones thoughts on a couple things that had briefly been discussed here before.

When does a distillery become re-eligible for the Monthly Live Tastings? 12 months, 18 months, 24 months?

Also Mikeymad had a suggestion that instead of reserving the Poller as a tie-breaker, that we hold a one-day run-off poll of the tied distilleries. Asuming that noone has a problem with this, I think it's a great idea.

Feel free to discuss.

[Ganga]

My thoughts were 18 months. This gives us a chance to explore a little further from our "comfort" zone but also allows those that join the forums after a tasting to have a chance not too far down the road.

Thoughts?

[UUNetBill]

I think I lean more toward the 12 month cutoff. True, keeping it out to 18 or 24 months would help the rotation, but it also cuts out the larger distillers who may have new expressions/finishes/batches released in that timeframe. I mean, how sad would it be if we couldn't sample a new batch of a'bunadh for a year and a half or two years? (I mean, we could sample some, but not officially and online.) I say give the people what they want - if someone wants to re-sample a distillery after a year, I say let their voices be heard!

[TreacleSponge]

But we've chosen 12 (or 15) months anyway...

Talisker is in the lead for Jan 2009. IIRC, Hellgate London was released on 2nd Nov 2007 (Whisky Live Glasgow) and the demo was out 1 week before. And I missed the last Talisker tasting because I didn't want to use up any more bandwith when I was downloading the demo.

Which means:
1) Talisker was last in a Live Tasting less than 18 months ago, so a 15 month eligibility for revisiting is already in place
2) I recall dates based on their relevance to games and whisky and I should grow up and need to get out more.

[Ganga]

In part, I think setting up something reasonable in time frame is a must. Several of the distilleries have received nominations within only a few months, as little as it's the distillery to be tasted coming up.

There are lots of distilleries of interest we haven't even gotten to. Bowmore, Bunnahabhain, Glenfarclas, Dalmore, Scapa, Pulteney to name a few.

[Ryguy]

I think that using 18 months from here on out would be a good fit. Is anyone really opposed to this? Like Ganga has mentioned, there are so many really big distilleries that we haven't even touched. I think that if we use 18 months as a benchmark, it gives us more opportunity to branch out with our tastings. Also Ganga and I are going to kindly ask for Matt's (or the WM Admin's) help in contacting distilleries to try and get more representatives involved in our monthly tastings. I think this really adds to the experience, and makes it more enjoyable for everyone.

I do understand that the leader for Jan (Talisker) was done in a Musky hosted online tasting approx. 15 months ago, but myself and many others around the Forum who know partake in the Live Tastings were not present. So I think that 18 months would provide a variety for the Forum Members who have been around for a long time, and also give the new members a chance to try something from their favorite distillery (that may have already been done).

Does this make sense to everyone, please speak up.

[TreacleSponge]

I think that using 18 months from here on out would be a good fit. Is anyone really opposed to this? ...
...Does this make sense to everyone, please speak up.

18 months is fine with me

[pkt77242]

I am fine with the 18 month period. I wouldn't mind seeing more themed tastings (i know technically they are all themed) such as the x-mas dram that we just did or a summer scotch one(I tend to like lighter whiskies during the summer as it can top 115F here regularly) or maybe a top five fav dram tasting. Not only do you get to taste whisky but you get to learn about others as well. Just an idea.

Sean

[Ryguy]

Thanks for the input Treacle & Sean.

Good idea Sean, and this is something we could definitely do when it comes to the "Other Tastings". The next is Bourbon and will be held early February. As we get closer to the Bourbon, we'll start discussing what the next tasting may be.

[Ganga]

We're open to just about any kind of tasting. My suggestion is to go into the thread on other tastings. Suggestions are always welcome. The nice thing about the thread for the other tastings is that we try to plan for it months ahead in order to purchase or distribute whisky. November featured a tour of Irish whiskies.

[Matt2]

Hi everyone, been keeping an eye on this and got some ideas to throw in..

We want the tastings to be based around what members want, but also want to try and set a schedule for the next year.

1. A monthly distillery tasting (voted on at the start of the year)
2. A monthly regional focus (should be able to cover most regions, so no need to vote)
3. A monthly bottler focus (should be able to cover most bottlers, so no need to vote)
4. A monthly members tasting, could be a distillery, region, theme or food matching. (Suggestions topic -> Voting round 1 -> Voting round 2)

That would be one going on each week, bit much but there's lots to get through

I think maybe the dates should be set starting on a Friday at 7pm GMT, then run for the weekend.

Let us know what you think. Basically we want to keep member voted tastings, but also want a year long schedule that is pretty much fixed.

[Ganga]

Would a schedule for monthly distillery help with advance planning in contacting distilleries/brand ambassadors? I'm all for anything that brings the distilleries into the equation.

If we vote in January, we could setup a schedule for February through December. The following November/December would determine 2010's schedule.

#4 could be used to cover whiskies other than SMS, ie bourbon, rye, Canadian, Irish, blended scotch whisky, world whiskies.

[Ryguy]

I think it's a great idea Matt, especially if this would help to bring distillery rep's into the picture. Plus a schedule would also give people time to plan ahead for tastings.

I do like the fact that the voting would happen all at once for the entire year (except January in this case). Also covering IB's and whisky by region would be interesting too.

[LagaDrinker]

I agree that setting the distilleries in advance would be a good thing. How about 6 months? This would mean that new members wouldn't have to wait too long but would give a little more time to collect samples?

Giving an open category (i.e. my 5 favorite) is a good option as well as it helps with those of us who do not have vast collections

[TreacleSponge]

Weekly tastings are probably too frequent for me, but more options for participation can't be a bad thing. Setting the tastings well in advance is a great idea and offers more opportunity for joining in.

I agree that setting the distilleries in advance would be a good thing. How about 6 months? This would mean that new members wouldn't have to wait too long but would give a little more time to collect samples?

I think a year is fine - if someone is close to finishing a bottle but knows that distillery is in a tasting in the next few months then they might not kill it off immediately, and wait to join in the tasting. I'm in favour of as much notice as possible. If someone misses out on the initial vote, I can't imagine that over 12 months they'll be disappointed with many of the distilleries/bottlers/themes. If anything it removes that tricky decision-making element

Ooh, and I like the idea of a tasting weekend - starting on a Friday is much better for me than Saturdays

[pkt77242]

I also like the idea of a tasting weekend and planning the tastings farther in advance. Are we going to post a poll for the Feb tasting as we probably need to start working on it? A big thank you to ryguy, ganga, and matt for all the work on the tastings.

Sean