MIT Old and Rare Scotch Tasting

We finally made it happen!

I'd been really wanting to do another old and rare tasting with our friends from Gordon & MacPhail, an outstanding independent scotch bottler with whom I'd done a few tastings before. Through a lot of planning with Nick Taylor from Gordon's Liquors as well as Joe Swanson from G&M, we made it happen at Gordon's on August 17th, 2016.

Here's the lineup of what we tasted, along with 33 MIT alumni and guests:

• Benromach 10 Year
• Benromach 15 Year
• Speymalt Macallan 1998 17 Year
• Linkwood 21 Year
• Bladnoch 21 Year
• Highland Park 24 Year
• Glen Grant 1954 58 Year

That's 166 years of whisky maturation in one evening!

I was super excited to have a 58-year-old whisky, as that's the oldest whisky I've ever tried. It was fantastic, and still had a youthfulness that I hadn't seen in other old whiskies. It was a nice surprise.

We asked folks what their favorite whisky of the evening was, and the room was pretty evenly split across the last five whiskies. I personally really enjoyed the Linkwood; it's a distillery I've only ever had one other bottling from (that was by Signatory) and this one seemed really creamy and full-bodied to me, but the flavor was still fruity and fresh enough to work really well with the warm weather we've been having.

The highlight of the night for me, though, is always the people. Joe and Nick did a great job leading the tasting, and my favorite part was getting to meet my fellow MIT alumni and talk about whisky and life. Very much looking forward to seeing familiar faces - and meeting new ones - at future events!

MIT tasting: old and rare single malt Scotch whiskies

With the help of the MIT Club of Boston, we put on our second MIT scotch tasting of old and rare single malt Scotch whiskies last night. What a lineup! Over 240 total years of whisky maturation, with a selection of some of the finest single malts bottled by independent bottler Gordon & MacPhail. Thanks to Matt Chivian from Martignetti for leading through all eight whiskies, and to my personal friend Dave Russo for supplying an excellent bottle of Ardbeg 20.

Here's the lineup we tried ("yo" = years old):

• Rosebank 1991 19 yo - A closed Lowlands distillery about which world-renowned whisky writer Jim Murray says: "If there is a God [it] will surely one day re-open."
• Dallas Dhu 1982 24 yo - A closed Speyside distillery that is now a whisky museum.
• Glenury Royal 1972 30 yo - A closed Highlands distillery that has long since been demolished.
• Balblair 1966 37 yo - An acclaimed Highlands distillery that is producing very fine vintage whiskies today.
• Glen Grant 1956 49 yo - The favorite whisky at our last Old and Rare tasting was a Glen Grant 1960 45 yo...so we're bringing in an even older one!
• MacPhail's 50 yo - A half-century-old single malt from a "secret" Speyside distillery.
  
• Surprise whisky - This turned out to be a Glen Grant 15 yo that only had ex-bourbon maturation, so it was in distinct contrast with the Glen Grant 49 yo!
• Bonus whisky - Dave Russo supplied us with an Ardbeg 1974 20 yo that was a great complement to the evening, showing us the subtler side of peaty Islay whisky.

All in all, a great night, and I look forward to the next time we can do one of these...

Gordon & MacPhail tasting

I just found out there will be a tasting of the 8-year-old Gordon & MacPhail offerings, as well as the Benromach 10, this Friday, 11/5/10, 4:00-7:00pm at Atlas Liquors in Medford.

The G&M 8-year-old series was released in response to the global economic crisis, realizing that many folks no longer wanted to spend north of $50 for a single malt whisky. So these bottles retail for around $30, and come from three distilleries: Highland Park, Tamdhu, and Glenrothes.

I'm definitely interested in trying this lineup...

MIT tasting: old and rare Scotch whiskies

I had a great time Wednesday night at the MIT old and rare Scotch whisky tasting, sponsored by the MIT Club of Boston. The event featured a tasting session led by Matt Chivian, a "keeper of the quaich" (scotch expert), and seven great whiskies by independent bottler Gordon & MacPhail.

The whiskies we tasted were:

• Benromach 21 yr (a surprise malt)
  
• Brora 24 yr
  
• Port Ellen 27 yr
  
• Old Pulteney 34 yr
  
• Speymalt Macallan 35 yr
• Strathisla 1963 44 yr
• Glen Grant 1960 45 yr

If you're interested, keep your eyes open for another such event in November! (Send me an email if you want to be sure to get a notification when the registration link goes live.)

I'm very thankful the Club of Boston is sponsoring this event, as they have been awesome supporters of our fine spirits events on campus.

Whisky review: Gordon & MacPhail Imperial 15 Port Finish

This is whisky bottled by the independent bottler Gordon & MacPhail. These guys have been bottling single malt since your grandpappy was just a twinkle in some older dude's eye. They're generally credited with keeping the flame of single malts alive while nearly everyone else was going with blends. And I have to say they haven't lost their touch.

I went to a tasting in Providence back in January with a descendant of the first employee of G&M, Michael Urquhart. At the tasting, Michael showed us this whisky, and my wife and I immediately knew we wanted to buy it. At $90/bottle, that's not something we would usually jump into. But this whisky was just that good.

Nose: Juicy fruit mixed with slightly-burnt charcoal. A little floral, but also somewhat brooding. Very neat. And some chalk?

Palate: Some peat with the raisiny-sweet undertones afforded by the port. Thick and oily. Some salt in there too. Why not?

Finish: Clean and sweet, lingers forever in the back of my mouth and down my throat. No off-notes. Wow.

Rating (of 100): 96. I could see this being in my top 5 whiskies easily.

Hey, even Jim Murray doesn't have this in his Whisky Bible! Guess I have the market cornered on reviews for this whisky...