Darren and I have attended all but one of these and they just keep getting better and better. We must thank Mike Fitzgerald who is the Operations Manager at Endicott House. Such a great partner in planning and execution! His staff took care of all the details which allowed for a first class event of epic proportions.
Endicott House is a mansion which was endowed to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) a long time ago. The original owner originally offered the house to Harvard University who would only accept if a $1,000,000 monetary endowment accompanied the house. Put off by this request, he went down the road to MIT and they gladly accepted with no monetary requirement. There's a lesson in that story somewhere - like "don't be greedy jerks when someone is trying to give you a mansion" or something like that. You can read more about the history of the house here if you're so inclined but the point is, this is a pretty awesome place to have a whisk(e)y dinner.
Bagpiper (he didn't look that blurry in real life, FYI)
P.S. If he came to the after party it would have been a different story...
Darren's brother Tom at left, Darren at right and the bagpiper is the one in the middle... with the kilt...
The bagpiper was playing as people arrived to the house and following the whisky tasting presentations he played us into the dining room - such a great addition to the evening. He also played after dinner to say 'goodbye' (how else would a bagpiper say goodbye?).
The theme of the evening was "Whiskies Around the World" and the line up was as follows:
We started in Scotland
Selection #1 - Craigellachie 13 year old - single malt Scotch
with Patrick (NSWC) presenting
Patrick
Moving on, we traveled to France for our next offering
Selection #2 - Brenne - French single malt
with Shaun (NSWC) presenting
Shaun
Next we got exotic on everyone and landed in India
Selection #3 - Amrut Fusion - Indian single malt
with George/Chag (NSWC) presenting
Chag gets 2 pictures because he's writing this re-cap, lay off...
Moving further east we landed in Taiwan for our next malt
Selection #4 - Kavalan King Car - Taiwanese single malt
with Darren (NSWC) presenting
Darren working the mic (Chag in the background hehe!)
From Taiwan if you head south over the Philippines & Indonesia
you will come to our next presented product
Selection #5 - Sullivan's Cove - Tasmanian single malt
Patrick did double duty on the presentation for this one
at left Patrick, the aforementioned (& incomparable) Mike Fitzgerald & Darren at right
For our last taste of whisky (prior to dinner) we traveled back to the good old USA but with a twist!
Selection #6 - Jefferson's Ocean "Bourbon" Aged at Sea
with Tom Murphy presenting!
Tom's not an actual member of the NSWC he's from NJ and comes up for this event every year.
He and Mike Fitzgerald are great friends and for that reason (in addition to being a good cat) he gets 2 pictures...
Here are a few more pictures prior to dinner...
Mike waxing poetic
Darren selling the Amrut hard!
Chag with the Sullivan's Cove
Tom, Patrick, Shaun & Darren
Prior to dinner we took a "presenters photo" with the bottles we spoke on!
L-R Shaun, Patrick, Darren, George, Mike, Tom Murphy (back) & not sure of the gentleman's name front right
We all repaired to the dining room (We didn't even know it was broken! - love that joke) and were treated to an outstanding choice of entrée from Eddie the Endicott House Master Chef.
Rib Eye Steak, Roasted Lamb Shank or Teriyaki Tuna all of it fantastic.
All that was left was a final toast and the after party!
Final Toast
Selection #7 - The Macallan Rare Cask - single malt Scotch
We started in Scotland's Speyside region with Craigellachie, went "around the world"
and finished across the street at The Macallan!
Now the after party!
Slainte!
Too many to name!
Some old tyme-y portraits and taxidermy never hurt anyone! Well y-know...
We wrapped up late and luckily no one was driving! This year's event, of its 7 year run, had the largest crowd 80 people! Our sincerest thanks again to Mike Fitzgerald for his graciousness, generosity and having us be apart of such a stellar event! We look forward to another great one next year!
All of our pictures have been uploaded to the North Shore Whisky Club's Facebook site for those who want to have a peek over there - Hey, give us a 'like' while you're over there!
Until the next event!
George & Darren
NSWC
