Originally intended to document my experience of DeLorean ownership, focus is often radical and strange, boring and obtuse.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Super Pretentious Scotch Party!

The line up for my first scotch party.

A brilliant notion crossed my mind this summer. Thanks to Dan the Tax Man, I decided to host a scotch party. In preparation, Suz and I got snooty Jazz CDs from the library, and some nice food. The invitation went out, and 3 of the 5 couples arrived Saturday night, each with a bottle in hand.

Jazz was classic, covers, modern and latin-infused. Food was crackers, dark chocolate, almonds and Swiss, provolone & brie cheeses. And most importantly, the scotches were Glenfiddich 12, Ardbeg 10, Singleton 12 and Macallan Select Oak.

Due to this facade of organization, I created the illusion that I knew what I was doing. When I began pouring the scotch it was clear that I was in over my head as my hooligan friends, desperate for a dram, cried regularly, "What's a guy gotta do to get a drink around here?"

Fear not, the glass was empty when it broke, and no scotch was wasted.Fearing for my life my hands began to tremble as I poured. The resulting casualty was swept up, but fearing a beating if I went off-schedule, I skipped the eulogy.

We took a vote and decided Glenfiddich 12 would be first. After my disappointing experience with the Special Reserve, I was glad to be able to try the regular expression. Group consensus: very nice and worth buying.

Next up we went with a heavy hitter. When we popped the top, non-chill filtered Ardbeg 10 filled the room with smoke. I got more than just a hint of smoked ham! Three out of four agreed: too strong, too smokey.

Third was the Singleton 12, aged in bourbon and sherry casks. None of us could detect the effects of the sherry cask, but agreed it was super duper. All four of us concurred that it was extremely similar to the Glenfiddich 12.

Finally came the Macallan Select Oak, with no age statement. Due to aging in five different casks, it was quite complex and by far the fruitiest of the bunch.

Overall favourites were a bit of surprise to me. Just before everyone drove home in their Bentleys and Ferraris, we put on our monogrammed smoking jackets, had our portraits painted, and took a vote. Results:

Glenfiddich 12: 2 vote tie with Singleton - too similar to choose
Ardbeg 10: 1 vote
Singleton 12: 2 vote tie with Glenfiddich - too similar to choose
Macallan Select Oak: 1 vote

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10 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

My envy poisons your whiskey... you lucky ...

2:08:00 AM

 
Blogger Martini said...

... S.O.B.? That's what you were going to say, wasn't it.

It was a really great night, even though 2 couples (and 2 bottles) were not able to make it.

1:00:00 PM

 
Anonymous Dan said...

Thanks for the mention! The Singleton is a strange beast, since, depending on where you live, you get something different. In North America it is Glendullan, in Europe it is Dufftown, and in Asia it is Glen Ord...

As for the Ardbeg 10, I agree: too smokey, too aggressive. Glad to see you tried the new Glenfiddich, though!

4:26:00 PM

 
Blogger Martini said...

It's rare that people agree with me on scotch. Ardbeg seems to get rave reviews online, but I just couldn't handle it.

Re: the Singleton, that's really strange. Thanks for learnin' me something new.

2:20:00 PM

 
Anonymous Dan said...

There are Ardbeg fanatics out there, but I'm certainly not one of them...I just didn't like it. The Peat Monster, on the other hand, is more balanced, and the Laphroaig Quarter-Cask isn't as aggressive, but both are still smokey and peaty.

As for The Singleton, I was quite annoyed when I found that out, since I'd done Diageo's 'Classic Malt Matcher', and come out with the result that 'The Singleton of Dufftown' would be ideal for me...and then I found out that I couldn't buy it here...I guess I'll just have to wait until my wife goes to Europe on business and hope she picks me up a bottle.

4:27:00 PM

 
Blogger Martini said...

Well, if there's a bright side... it's something to look forward to then! We always need something to look forward to.

7:03:00 AM

 
Blogger Akhor said...

Hey Marty,
Here is another Delorean video I thought you would like!

http://youtu.be/RA6Lz-s9SE8

11:11:00 AM

 
Blogger Martini said...

Matt Farah is a total moron. I can't stand him or his asinine opinions, but that was a GREAT video. I know Stephen Wynne - usually see him at the DCS shows. He's an awesome guy always making an effort to meet people and learn.

11:14:00 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

And no one got sick? Amazing. I would have lost my cookies sampling them. Kudos! But you do have an unique way of making them sound like luscious after dinner liqueurs.

8:06:00 AM

 
Blogger Martini said...

Well, if anyone DID get sick, they didn't tell me about it!

7:59:00 AM

 

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