Last week, after the kind of brainstorming that only happens over drinks with friends, we had an idea for getting to drink more whiskey than a reasonable person could afford. Since there are so many types of great whiskey out there, but it’s impossible to try without dropping a hundred or more on a bottle you might not even love, we decided a little divide-and-conquer might be in order. We recruited a group of about 8 people that all really enjoy whiskey to start a club that will meet once a month to split a bottle of something we’ve been thinking of trying (or flat-out lusting over) for a while.
It’s going to work like this:
Each month, a rotating member of the club will host, and the host will get to pick what whiskey we’ll be drinking – Rye, Bourbon, American, Scotch, Japanese and Irish are all fair game. All other participating members will come, pay their portion of the bottle, and we will sit and drink it in one sitting. It’s not the most unique or innovative thing in the world, but I’m certainly looking forward to getting to taste all the whiskey I’ve been hunting for a pretty reasonable price.
For the first meeting, I’ll be hosting, and I’m excited to say that I got my hands on a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle 20 year.
I’d encourage other people to try it out too. I would love to hear about what everyone thought about their whiskeys in normal terms…professional reviews are never much help to me. All you really need is a few friends, some extra rocks glasses, and the urge to drink something delicious.
Brilliant idea! We have a friend (Miracle Max) that is incredibly generous and loves to share samples of his whiskies. He is known for distributing whisky in odd containers, i.e. ex honey containers (I had a generous sample of Bruichladdich Peated in a honey bear container once) or ex maple syrup bottles (12 ounces of Compass Box Peat Monster Reserve? yes please!). He always tries to split a bottle for the reasons you mentioned, i.e. reducing the cost while increasing the variety of whiskies sampled.
Have fun!
G-LO
I would like to be friends with your friend! haha. I’ve always been torn because great whiskey is always the best when you can drink it with friends, but as much as I like my friends, I don’t like them $200-bottle-of-whiskey-worth. Hooray solutions! haha
Well, if your Whisky Society idea takes off, perhaps you won’t need to buy $200 bottles of whisky on your own all that often. Just once every 8 months.
And speaking of the Pappy, Max mentioned going in on a Pappy 23 a couple weeks ago. $230 was the price. I’m still on the fence about going in on that bottle since that is pretty much out of my price range. We’ll see what happens!
I have been talking to a small group of guys in Columbus about doing the same thing. I want our first meeting to be focused on whiskeys you cant find in ohio.
Are you guys putting a minimum price on each bottle? Can some one cheap out and do an Old Grand Dad tasting?
Also, love the graphic you made for the group.
Matt…
i saw Watershed was coming out with a bourbon…I’m pretty curious about that. I know it isn’t a popular position in Columbus, but I think I prefer Watershed to OYO.
We hadn’t put any price on the bottle, but I like to think the people that we invited won’t be dicks about the bottle since we’re going to split them each time rather than just saddle the host with the bottle.
And if you get one going, I’ll gladly alter you the logo for a Columbus chapter. Hell, a nationwide chain of whiskey tasting societies can’t be a bad thing haha.
Oh what fun! I am a huge bourbon fan, and my group of friends are big whiskey/rye/bourbon drinkers as well. You’ve inspired me to start a group!
Awesome! Make sure you let us know how yours goes, maybe we can trade some bottle suggestions!
One of the things you may want to do is heavy research into the bottle you’re opening at any given meeting. This is obviously too late, but the Van Winkle series of bourbons are “wheaters” which many bourbon enthusiasts believe improves after it has been exposed to air. We will often take a bottle, open it, and dump half into an empty bottle so it will accelerate the process. Personally, I think Pappy 20 is best after the bottle has been opened for 6+ months.
You can try this out with a much cheaper bottle of Weller 12 or Old Weller Antique 7yr (similar wheated bourbon profile). Open the bottle and taste it over the course of a few months and watch how the flavor evolves!
Thanks for the tip! While we may be enthusiasts, I don’t think any of us are experts, so advice is always welcome.
I had never heard that about wheat-heavy bourbon, but while I got the one for the club, I god a second for myself that I won’t be drinking nearly as quickly. I’ll definitely have to see if I notice a difference in a few months.
Thanks!
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I have an sealed, unopened bottle of 1968 Very Very Old Fitzgerald. 86 proof (not 100). Minimal, if any, evaporation. I want to sell this and am in Philadelphia. If you want to make a serious offer, let me know.