Tasting Order Q: Scotchtoberfest 2009

[WiskyB]

Hello all. First off, thanks up front for helping me out. I've been lurking and reading the archives for awhile & it's high time I settle in and start contributing to a message board.

Short version:
I'm throwing "Scotchtoberfest 2009" & need to rank the tasting order of 10 bottles (!). Not everyone will be tasting every bottle, to keep it sane.

Explanation:
Even though I'm far from a scotch expert, every year or so I throw a scotch tasting. We consider ourselves "scotch curious". We each bring our own bottle, "present it" in order, & we taste & compare. One married couple actually met each other at one of these tastings. It works out really well and a lot of scotch drinkers are born this way. It's usually the one party everyone talks about all year. The enthusiasm is high, one guy even printed Scotchtoberfest t-shirts this year. They look pretty bad-ass actually. And of course nobody drives afterward.

So here's my tentative ordering of the bottles, what do you think?

1) Scapa 14
2) Macallan 12
3) Glenmorangie - The Nectar D'Ã’r (NAS)
4) The Balvenie DoubleWood 12
5) The Balvenie PortWood 21
6) Highland Park 12
7) The Glenlivet Nàdurra 16
8. Laphroaig 10
9) Lagavulin 16
10) Caol Ila 18

[borgom]

Hmmm that's a hard selection to order. I can't comment on Scapa and Portwood because I haven't tried them but of the others I would probably go with....

1) Macallan 12
2) The Balvenie DoubleWood 12
3) Glenmorangie • The Nectar D’Òr (NAS)
4) The Glenlivet Nàdurra 16
5) Highland Park 12
6) Caol Ila 18
7) Laphroaig 10
Lagavulin 16

[The Third Dram]

1) Scapa 14
2) Macallan 12
3) Glenmorangie • The Nectar D’Òr (NAS)
4) The Balvenie DoubleWood 12
5) The Balvenie PortWood 21
6) Highland Park 12
7) The Glenlivet Nàdurra 16
8. Laphroaig 10
9) Lagavulin 16
10) Caol Ila 18

One possible way in which to stagger these would be to separate them into regional-stylistic groups. Along these lines, you might offer them as follows...

Group 1
Scapa
Highland Park

Group 2
Balvenie Double Wood
Macallan (both Sherry casked)

Group 3
Laphroaig
Caol Ila
Lagavulin (the 'big' hitters of the evening)

Group 4
Glenmorangie
Balvenie Port Wood
Glenlivet Nadurra (a nice 'dessert' combo to finish up)

[WiskyB]

<<< One possible way in which to stagger these would be to separate them into regional-stylistic groups. >>>

I love this idea. I'm on it. One Q: why not have the peat monsters last? Or am I opening a can of worms that would fit better in a new thread?

Cheers

[The Third Dram]

One Q: why not have the peat monsters last?

I just thought that placing those last and 'displacing' the 'Group 4' whiskies to immediately following the Sherry casked ones would create a bit too much of a 'sweet hit' in the middle of the tasting. Also, the order I proposed makes for a nice 'back-and-forth' contrast (Group 1: balanced sweet-dry characteristics; Group 2: rather sweet owing to the Sherry wood influence; Group 3: the sweet malt characteristics AMPLY counterbalanced by bracing salt and smoke; Group 4: a return to sweetness enhanced, in the case of the Balvenie PW and Glenmorangie ND'O, by wine cask finishing and, in the case of the Glenlivet, by the ample alcohol level).

By the way... Love the Waterloo region and have spent a great deal of time there over the years!