Single Malt World Whisky Tasting - Anchor Distiling Company

Melrose Fish & Game Club (* near Mt. Hood Golf Club) Melrose/Saugus, MA

Single Malt World Whisky Tasting Event - Sponsored by the North Shore Whisky Club

Friday evening May 6th 2016 - (7:00 pm-9:00 pm)

We will be traveling the world - exploring a diverse selection of single malt whiskies from Scotland, America, Japan & Taiwan from the Anchor Distilling Company portfolio.

Our Host - Kelly McCarthy

Kelly McCarthy is the Brand Development Manager for Anchor Distilling Company. She will take us through whiskies from 4 countries on 3 continents!

(SPONSORED BY: The North Shore Whisky Club) - $10 pp - SEATS WILL BE LIMITED

To sign up, please send an e-mail to: northshorewhiskyclub@gmail.com

MIT Endicott House Whisk(e)y Dinner 2016:

What an amazing event at MIT's Endicott House, Dedham, MA this past Friday night 4/8/16.

NSWC was well represented (George, Darren, Shaun & Patrick) and helped in presenting and hosting tables once again this year. This is our 4th year attending and it seems to get better and better each year. Following is a short summary of events along with a smattering of photos we were lucky enough to snap.

The House:
You can read all about the history of the family and the house here but suffice to say it's a beautiful and grand mansion which provides a spectacular setting for this event.

Arrival:

As guests arrive they are greeted with sounds of Scotland (Ryan the Bagpiper)!

Darren, Shaun, Patrick, Ryan, Tom & George

The Theme:

This year's theme or focus was about non-age statement vs. traditional age statement whiskies with differences & opinions on both. Presentations were made by Patrick (NSWC member) and Tom and each took a side presenting the whiskies. Patrick took NAS while Tom presented the age statement products and they both did their best to convince us that their group was best.*

 Light appetizers and plenty of water were provided as the presentations begun.

Below we have Shaun & Mike Fitzgerald who is the General Manager of the estate and our host for the evening. Mike does such a great job of setting up the entire evening logistics-wise and his staff is absolutely top notch. This picture was taken to be sent to Shaun's dad (one of Mike's favorite people) who has joined us in years past but because of a prior engagement he could not this year.

Shaun & Mike Fitzgerald

The Line-Up:

NAS selections

#1 Nikka Coffey Grain Whisky

#2 Glenmorangie Tusail

#3 Mackinlay's Shackleton Whisky - read about Shackleton's expedition here if you're interested

Age statement selections

#4 Chivas Regal 18 y.o. blended

#5 Laphroaig 15 y.o.

#6 Glenmorangie 18 y.o.

* - by the way, regarding AS vs. NAS it all comes down to what you enjoy. Don't be swayed one way or the other by so called "experts". There are some wonderful NAS products out there so our advice; Don't ignore them, give them a taste and make up your own mind!

The Dinner:

After we tasted and debated, Ryan again played us into the dining room where we were treated to a 5 star dinner. The selections were bone-in lamb cutlets or filet mignon and both were completely off da hook! Our compliments to Eddie Cerrato who is the Executive Chef! 

We were all treated to a pint of Guinness with dinner as well as a taste of Springbank 15 y.o. (lamb) or Yamazaki (filet). As if that wasn't enough, Strawberries Romanoff with Irish coffee for dessert. Out. Of. Control.

Some History & a Toast:

Following dinner we repaired to the Gun Room (I didn't even know it was broken...HA!) where Mike regaled us with the history of the family, the house and how it came to be owned by MIT.

The Gun Room is loaded with dead animals and... well guns, silly.

Next we had a toast of Jameson's Caskmates, a fairly new offering from Jameson which has been matured in stout beer casks and our tradition of playing "The Drunken Scotsman" song.

Chag - DMac - Hub

a.k.a. George - Darren - Shaun

For most people this would have been a complete night but not for MIT Endicott House & NSWC! You see, 2 years ago at this very dinner - a few of us asked Mike if we could bring a couple of bottles down from our guest rooms after the party broke up. He loved the idea and a new addition of the event was born - The After Party! This is reserved only for those who stay over at one of the 37 guest rooms they have on the property and has now grown in size just as the popularity of the dinner has.

Basically we each bring a couple of bottles from our private collections and host the after party which is a great time to chat with folks and answer any questions they might have regarding what they are tasting. It's a wild scene man and this year was no exception.

After Party guests of honor

This is obviously one of our favorite events of the year and we can't wait to begin planning the next one! Many thanks to Mike Fitzgerald and his fabulous staff for the first class service and attention to detail. If you are interested in attending next year's MIT Endicott House Whisky Dinner you can ask to be included on their mailing list or keep in touch with us here at our blog or on Twitter @noshwhiskyclub

Slainte!

George & Darren

NORTH SHORE WHISKY CLUB

NSWC Single Malt Tasting for Steven L's 60th Birthday 4/2/16:

Darren and I had the pleasure of hosting a single malt scotch tasting for Mr. Steven L. at his home in Swampscott, MA last evening (4/2/16).

Steven's wife Laurie reached out to us a few months back looking for recommendations for her husband's 60th birthday. After some back & forth she asked if we would be interested in providing a scotch tasting for a party she wanted to put on for him. We of course agreed and the date was set.

We arrived about 6pm and began setting up the television monitor and distributed the glasses at each place setting.

Originally there was to be perhaps 40-50 people and we thought, wow pretty nice crowd! By game-time we had over 80 people in attendance! Holy Scotch-balls!

[Apologies for such bad camera work/lighting - all done with the iPhone so not optimal]

Such a wonderful tribute to Steven that so many turned out to honor him on this special day. We tried to keep the presentations short and informative. The two main challenges were pouring that many whiskies (from only 1 bottle) in such a crowded room and keeping their attention for long enough through the presenting.

In between selections Steven had toasts prepared for various friends and members of his family They all had nice things to say about their relationship with Steven and the impressions he's made on them. Some moments were very touching indeed.

As the evening came to a close we had many guests come up, try a bit more of their favorite and chat with us about all things whisky.

SELECTIONS LIST:

Glenkinchie 12 y.o. (Lowlands)

Glenmorangie Milsean (Highlands)

Balvevnie 15 y.o. - Sherry Cask (Speyside)

Highland Park 18 y.o. (Islands)

Bruichladdich - Port Charlotte Islay Barley (Islay #1)

G&M - Caol Ila Cask Strength 10 y.o. (Islay #2)

Steven was a fan of the more smoky & peaty scotch and he requested 2 from the Islay region. The selections highlighted the vast differences from each region and gave the guests who were not familiar with drinking scotch an appreciation for just how different malted barley, water & yeast can be.

We finished up with an "under the table" surprise for Steven by pouring him a dram of Darren's Octomore 6.1 which, of course, is one of the peatiest Islay whiskies one can buy. After a quick toast to the birthday boy we finished packing up, said our goodbye's and departed.

A wonderful event and we are so grateful for Steven and Laurie for inviting us to participate in it.

Happiest of birthday's Mr. Steven!

Slainte!!

George & Darren

NORTH SHORE WHISKY CLUB