April 29th- Meeting #41 will be our annual May "dinner and a movie" where we take in a film with Scottish flavor, as we eat a meal paired with scotches. Reservations for the meal will be required via email. The meeting will be May 19th.
April 22nd- A blind tasting was in order for meeting #40. Attendees re asked to concentrate heavily on the nose, mouthfeel, taste, and finish of what they were tasting. Scotches tasted were: Tomintoul with a peaty tang, Glen Kirk 8yr, and Glengoyne 10yr.
March 11th- Glenfarclas 105, was by far the preferred dram of the evening in meeting #39. We also learned the origin of common prefixes and suffixes to some distillery names...Meeting #40 will be April 21st.
February 11th- Meeting #38 had great drams all the way around from Talisker, Jura, and Arran as we turned our attention to islands that have only one distillery. Meeting #39 will be March 10th.
February 10th- Meeting #38 will be held on February 24th.
January 28th- Meeting #37 saw another round of Burns/Stewart scotches with Ledaig 10 yr narrowly topping Deanston Virgin Oak for the fave tipple of the night.
December 17th- Meeting #37 will be January 27th.
December 7th- DPSC never forgets the American heroism at Pearl Harbor.
December 3rd- As always., the X-mas meeting was a hoot! Good food, great scotches. See ya in January!
November 26th- The "new and improved" Bunnahabhain 12 yr proved to be more popular by a 2 to 1 margin vs. the old. Meeting #35 discussed how Burns-Stewart revamped their lineup, unchill filtering their whiskies and upping the ABV. Meeting #36 is our annual Christmas party and it will take place Dec. 2nd.
November 5th- Meeting #34 may well have been the best of the year! Many thanks to Highland Park ambassador Marc Laverdiere for making the trek from Toronto to teach us a few things about a fabulous distillery! Meeting #35 will be Nov 18th.
October 21st-
...Tonight's meeting was great, and I'll pass the recap on soon enough, but I'd like to let anyone who wasn't there know that club member Tony Jakiel lost his fight with cancer and passed away this past Friday. Due to his battle, he wasn't able to attend any of the the recent meetings, so hopefully you had the chance to meet him while he was here.
October 8th- Meeting #34 will be Sunday, October 21st. Be there or be super-square.
September 25th- Meeting 33 was a smash hit. It may have had something to with pairing great whiskies with great chocolates. The Bowmore Legend paired with a sea salt laden chocolate was the overwhelming favorite match of the evening.
August 27th- Dalmore 12yr was the fave scotch of the evening at meeting #32, but all three scotches were generally agreed upon to be quite tasty! Meeting #33 is September 23rd.
August 12th- Meeting #32 is scheduled for Sunday, August 26th. Theme: The Saladin Box.
August 11th- The Amherst Museum's Scottish festival will be Saturday August 18th.
July 30th- Meeting # 31 was a blind whisky tasting. We quizzed attendees on Bowmore Legend, Tomatin 12, and just for fun, we slipped a foreigner in there- Bastille whisky from France (nice dram, btw).
June 25th- Finally, after a postponement, meeting #30 takes place, and Aberlour 12yr was the favorite of the evening.
June 6th- DPSC proudly remembers the American, Canadian, and free French troops who took the beaches of Normandy 68 years ago today.
June 2nd- Join us for meeting #30 as we taste whiskies finished in wine casks. The meeting will be June 10th. James Castellani, owner of Lockport's Wine and Liquor Outlet, will join us to lend his wine expertise and more.
May 21st- Meeting #29 was our annual dinner a movie. Scotches were paired with each food item as we watched the film "Saving Grace". Favorite pairing of the evening: Speyburn 10yr matched with Queen's Jubilees (a tooth pick skewered combo of red grapes, mild peppers, and cheese, with a drizzle of honey).
April 23rd- Meeting #28 is in the books, and I'd like to thank Ethan Cox of Community Beer Works for being our guest. Isle of Jura 16yr was the runaway choice of scotch for the evening.
April 2nd- Meeting #28 will be April 22nd. Theme: The George Orwell connection. Ethan Cox, President and co-founder of Buffalo's newest brewery, Community Brew Works, will be our special guest.
March 30th- The trusted, sturdy Glenmorangie 10yr was the overwhelming fave dram of meeting #27. We also tasted Glenkinchie 20yr, and Glen Breton 10yr (from Nova Scotia). A hearty thanks to Mike Schopp of WGR 550 for being our guest.
March 27th- Happy World Whisky Day!
March 5th- Join us for meeting #27 on March 25th. Mike Schopp of WGR 550's "Schopp and the Bulldog" will be our guest for the evening.
March 1st- Well, Ron couldn't make it, but his scotches did- all 63 combined years of them! All scotches were 21 years old. The Cragganmore, Glen Spey, and Rosebank were all marvelous, with Glen Spey getting the most popular nod of the evening. Thank you, Ron K!!!
January 24th- Meeting #26 is February 26th...Ron Kowalski of Empire Beverage Distributors will be on hand to run us through some of the scotches in his portfolio.
January 16th- Shackleton's whisky (MacKinlay's Highland) was the fave scotch of the evening. Possibly, though, the real story may have been the attention given to the Deanston Virgin Oak. Nice complexity for something that is: A)somewhat experimental, B) young, and C) quite inexpensive. Kudos to Deanston, this was a great surprise to almost everyone.
January 8th- FINALLY....Shackleton's whisky is here and we'll be tasting it at meeting #25, January 15th.
December 12th- The X-mas party was great, and the selection of scotches even greater! I'm happy that so many could attend, it was a great end to the year!
December 7th- "Yesterday, December 7th, 1941...A date which will live in infamy. The United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by the naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan"- Franklin D. Roosevelt. DPSC proudly acknowledges our heroes in uniform at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7th, 1941.
November 15th- Thanks to all who attended meeting #23, including author Dan Murphy, who shared stories of intrigue and the fun he had while researching his book Nickel City Drafts: A History of Drinking in Buffalo, New York. Top dram of the evening was Lagavulin 12 yr.
November 2nd- The x-mas sign up sheet is now going around. Please get it on it. Last year will be tough to beat, but we'll give it a whirl!
October 25th- A top time lastnight! Many thanks to Ross Hendry for making the drive from Toronto to share some insider knowledge on Glenrothes whisky. And, as an added bonus, Ross has agreed to come back next fall for another visit.
September 28th- Remember, meeting 22 is on MONDAY, Oct. 24th.
September 20th- Meeting #21 featured Glenfiddich 12, Macallan15, and Springbank 10. Our theme was the fall of direct-fired stills. Congrats to Steph Pierce (50/50 winner), and to Joe Badding and Diane Johnson (our newest members).
August 24th- Another Scottish festival gone by, and another fun time. It's always fun to meet people who like scotch. Special thanks to member Geoff Boulden for helping to man the DPSC stand. If you signed up to the email list while at the festival, you should have recieved an email today. If you didn't get one, it's because we could not read your chicken scratch. Come to the next meeting on Sep 18th, and see what we friendly bunch of folks are about!
August 19th- Amherst Scottish festival tomorrow! See ya there!
August 19th- Top time last night at the Third Thursday Club in Rochester. Club members Paul Manly, Eric Cochrane, and myself enjoyed some Glendullan 12, Talisker 10, 18, and distillers edition, along with Clynelish 14. Yum. And to top it off, I enjoyed the lovely Highland Park 12yr at Havana Moes, a Rochester cigar bar. Top time, indeed.
August 8th- After meeting #20, I think we can all agree that independent bottlers provide a valuable service to the industry. Gordon & MacPhail's Miltonduff 10yr old was a treat and McClelland's Islay got some respect. The almost unanimous choice of the evening however, was Signatory's Longmorn 18yr old- just a thing of beauty. Congrats to Deb Barbour, this month's 50/50 winner.
July 20th- A reminder- Amherst Scottish festival is Aug 20, and kids are free!
July 12th- it will always be a "vatted" malt in my mind. Anyway, after meeting #19, we all know our differences between our single malts, blended malts, and blended whiskies. Our blended malt (vatted), Sheep Dip, was the runaway favorite of the evening.
June 17th- DPSC fondly remembers our pal Dave Larson, who would have turned 55 today. Still miss him.
June 13th- Meeting #18 has come and gone. Thanks to Jamie Castellani, owner of Wine and Liquor Outlet, for guest speaking. The Balvenie Caribbean Cask 14yr was the fave of the night. Meeting #19 is July 10th.
June 13th- Happy Bithday to my Victoria! "Tori the Terrible" turns 4 today. I love you, brat.
June 6th- DPSC does not forget the sacrifice made 67 years ago today on the beaches of Normandy, France.
May 17th- Meeting #17 has past, and it was superb. Our second annual whisky/dinner pairing was quite an enjoyment, to say the least, as it was set to the film "Whisky Galore"' Meeting #18 will be Sunday June 12th.
May 14th- The Spirit of Toronto was a blast. Meeting John Glaser, founder of Compass Box whiskies and Willie Tait, master distiller at Isle of Jura, were two big highlights of the evening.
April 11- Meeting #16 is in the books. Old Pulteney 17 was our most popular scotch of the evening, followed closely by Ardbeg 10. Meeting #18 is May 15th.
March 13- A reminder- Spirit of Toronto tickets go on sale April 4th.
March 7- In my humble opinion, our scotches featured in meeting #15 were our best 1-2-3 punch in the (relatively short) history of our club. Lagavulin 16, then Talisker 10, followed up by Highland Park 15. Stalwarts all the way around. Congrats to Kevin H. and Tony P. on their new memberships. Thanks to all who were there for joining in tribute to the late Allie O'Grady. It's great to be able to do anything to help ease a friend's loss.
February 21- Meeting #14 is history. Congrats to Sarah H., Chris E., and Ryan B. on becoming members. Whiskies tasted: Aberlour 16, Deanston 12, and Auchentoshan 12.
January 25- Remember the Kilchoman we officially tasted at the x-mas (party) meeting? It's been reviewed today on my favorite whisky blog:
http://www.whatdoesjohnknow.com/2011/01/25/review-kilchoman-summer-2010-release/
Give it a double click and see if you agree agree with the comments of the editor of Malt Advocate magazine.
January 17- Meeting #13 featured a vertical tasting of Glenfarclas with the 25 yr being the runaway favorite of the evening, although the 10 and 12 yr were given a few nods as well. It was the most well-attended meeting in club history, too. Special thanks to the Larson family for joining us. It was a pleasant surprise that made our evening even better.
January 10- Meeting reminder. Meeting #13 is Sunday, Jan 16th, 7:30pm
January 1st, 2011- Happy New Year! As good as last year was, I'm confident we can have even more fun this year! We'll be kicking the new year off on Jan 16th with an address to the haggis, and a tribute to an old pal. Cheers!
December 12-