Trip Report: Whiskey Fund Raiser
Now that was fun!
The day was rainy and somewhat miserable, but this didn't dampen our spirits at all. We were prepared for an entertaining evening where we were part of the main draw.
Mike went down early to drop off the whiskey and to scope out the location while Mark was still working at his day job. There were many supplies that had still not ben acquired and they would have to come at the last minute like so much of this event.
We were set up in the back barn behind the main bar. This was not ideal but worked well because we were stationed right with the band and food. We didn't have any storage space and with more than 60 bottles to try to display we had to come up with some creative answers. Mark found a CD rack at Strawflower Electronics that served the need for a few bottles, but next time we will need to be more prepared with our own display and storage. Despite the technical snafus, and a few 'i's left undotted, the whiskey spoke for itself, with a little help from the Bros.
One of our objectives was to introduce people to the many and varied flavors that make up a good whiskey. To meet that goal we had assembled a list of whiskey that included a wide variety of whiskeys from four of the biggest whiskey producing nations and Japan. A peek into our original thinking here.
We had, as expected a broad spectrum of experience levels in our participants. Many knew what they liked from one general region, and were pleased to explore others, some had a great level of familiarity with much of what we had on the table and others had little if any knowledge of the whiskey world. Each individual's unique experiences and tastes helped us to fill in the blanks. People who initially approached with the question "What's the best whiskey you have?" left understanding why we couldn't answer. It seemed a little like asking what the best painting was in the Louvre.
One of Mark's co-workers, Pablo came down to see what we are all about, and proved to be an interesting taster. Pablo had extremely little prior experience with whiskey, which meant few of the preconceived notions about what whiskey should be that we encountered at various points through the evening. He provided something of a blank canvas in that he put himself squarely in our hands and asked "What do I need to taste?". Mike took him on a tour through the major regions with a few stops for color, such as the St. George. It was delightful to introduce someone to the vast array of whiskey's possibilities, and Pablo went away happy and little more educated.
One of our favorite guests was a wonderful Scot by the name of Anne. Anne is the neighbor of Mark's long time friend Robert. He had been trying to get the two of them together for almost a year, ever since Mark started introducing him to a dozen different whiskeys after business was concluded. She came with a number of prejudices and notions about what she liked. Even so, we were able to introduce her to some brands that she had not tasted previously. Being a strict peaty Scotch drinker, St. George Single Malt was not a hit for her. She did enjoy Caol Ila 12 which was new for her, and Laphroaig which was known, but not the 10 year expression, but Lagavulin 16 was her Islay of choice.
In all we had a couple dozen tasters. A large portion of which came out specifically for the whiskey tasting event. This is the first CADHC event of the year and we'll have another chance to get more traffic in April.
We had a few goals in mind when making the list of bottles to bring, beyond what Mike posted earlier.There are a few underdog whiskeys that are personal favorites of the Bros. and we've made it a tacit part of our mission to help people get to know them. Among these are the St. George, Old Potrero, Forty Creek Barrel Select, and Red Breast 12 yr. The Redbreast has been much posted upon already and is the one in least need of our plug since it's produced by a major distillery. The Forty Creek is a superb bottle, very affordable priced, extremely accessible in taste and made by perhaps the most innovative Canadian distiller in the business these days. The first bottle we got was won by Mark in a hockey bet, but it was love at first taste for us, and proved very popular that night. St. George is made by the Hanger One distillery out of Alameda, CA, another extremely innovative group of people. (Our first experience with Hanger One was Chipotle infused Vodka.) Beyond this and the support they provided to us personally, St. George is an extremely interesting whiskey; quite fruity and floral, by a wide margin the most unique whiskey we've ever tasted and it blew away even the more experienced whiskey drinkers. Old Potrero is another locally produced whiskey, made in San Francisco, by the Anchor Steam distillery, it's a single malt rye made in small copper stills and bottled at 62%, a strong and distinctive spirit if ever there was one. They all went over quite well, and really helped to serve the purpose we were shooting for: not so much selling whiskey as educating and sharing our passion.
Suntory Yamazaki also deserves to be called out here. Japan is known for amny things, but whiskey isn't generally one of them. We brought both of the Yamazaki Single Malts that are generally available here in California. The 12 year old is a great example of Japanese whiskey and the 18 year old has won Malt Advocate's World Whisky of the Year award. Yamazaki serves the purpose of Introducing people to the idea that good whiskey can come from all over the world.
One of the surprises of the evening was how enthusiastic our guests were to blow their points on the top end. I had expected a good response for the $300 Scott's Selections but not to this degree. One thing was clear, we didn't need to bring as many entry points. People didn't want to waste even a single point on tasting something they knew. This matches our own past behavior as well; even when it was free we passed up on the stuff we knew. We underestimated our audience in that regard.
Looking through the tasting cards that were left with us we found that most of the tastes were of the $60 to $80 range with more than a few going for the $100 - $300 class. As mentioned before here:
The biggest hits of the night were the super premiums. The Scott's Selections Macallan 1985, and Highland Park 1981 were both appreciated, as were the Beltramo's Highland Parks (1986 and 1990) but the biggest reactions came from the Bushmills 1608 and Crown Royal Cask No. 16.
We had the rare honor of being able to pour the Bushmills 1608 before its release later this month and if our crowd is any kind of indicator, it's going to fly off shelves. We only pulled out the 1608 for people who were very knowledgeable, or interested in the Irish whiskeys. Every time I started talking through the crystal barley I would draw a crowd. When every taster loved it, their reaction brought even more attention to it.
Even with as much effort we had to put forth to bring this event together is such a short time frame, there are a number of people that contributed to our success. St. George Spirits deserves a special thanks for their support early on in this process. Without the encouragement from Lucy we doubt we could have come this far. Steve Beal at Diageo has also been instrumental in keeping us on the right path. Ken Chalmers at Beltramo's for the initial donation and for coming through when most of the vendors fell short. Thanks also to Sarah Kim-Bradley, James Burton, and Pamela kotsaftis at Skyy Spirits
Thanks also to Janie Bono James at the CADHC for accepting us into the event and her support of the concept. Also to Kevin Palmer for the invitation and the information to get it started.
Last but not least, special thanks go to our families who put up with all of the late nights, late dinners, last minute shopping trips in the rain and many other frustrations. Without their support and belief, this would have remained a fantasy.
Our next big public fund-raiser is in April at the Pacific Coast Dream Machines. We look forward to another great show and to seeing you there!