The KOTQ

Those of you familiar with the Internets won’t be surprised to find out that Brother Tao is also a fairly avid Redditor.  For those of you not familiar, Reddit is a community/bulletin board/discussion site.  Anyway, I’ve been finding some interesting posts and discussions on a sub-reddit r/scotch.  Perhaps we should consider giving it a link on the Single Malt Scotch Links sidebar.

The discussion is perhaps not at a professional level, but there is a lot of enthusiasm among younger participants, and isn’t ambassadorship part of our charter?

Subreddits are all /r/subreddit so you can find this at http://www.reddit.com/r/scotch

Just ran across this. Some brothers may be interested. Paterson is the hyper guy in the mixed drinks with single malt videos we were talking about a few quarters ago. I’ll copy the post but you can find the whole thing at http://fountainheadchicago.com/the-dalmore-whisky-dinner-sept-13th/

On Tuesday September 13th, Master Blender Richard Paterson will be with us for a terrific dinner pairing 6 amazing Dalmore whiskies with some of the best food Chef Sarah has to offer. The special treat of this dinner will be the chance to taste the King Alexander III, the only single malt that is aged in six different woods – wine, Madeira, Sherry, Marsala, Kentucky burbon, and Port casks. More information about the pairing menu to come soon.

Richard Paterson became a Master Blender at the young age of 26 and has travelled the globe as an ambassador for Whyte & Mackay, one of Scotland’s leading makers & distributors of Scotch whisky. He has won numerous awards and in 2008 he published his very own book, Goodness Nose. He is known for being a charismatic presenter on the subject of whisky, able to discuss both the history of the industry & the necessary steps to taste & appreciate whisky properly. We are so thrilled that he will be joining us at Fountainhead for this fantastic dinner.

You do not what to miss this night of delicious food, drink, & discussion!

Tickets are $40 & dinner begins at 7:00 in our Barrel Room.

Please purchase your tickets today at Brown Paper Tickets.

Brothers, did we identify the hosts for the remainder of 2011???

I just wanted to let everyone know that I have a source for Glencairn glasses.  In doing a little research for the upcoming launch of KotQ Colorado, I found a local restaurant supply which has the Stolzle Glencairn glasses.

Upside: Only $5.50 each.

Downside: minimum 4 doz.

I was wondering if anyone was interested in upgrading their glassware and would like to go in on a case.   I don’t at this point need 48 glasses.  I’m also not sure if the Glencairn thing is just a fad or a legitimate new glass type, but I do know that I use my glasses from Whiskeyfest all the time. They seem to be better for tasting than rocks glasses, although I do still use my Waterford just for the mass in hand.

If interested please contact me via email.

Tao

One of the starkest changes to single malts that I have seen in the last 10 years is the dramatic rise of their retail prices. I suppose it’s the natural response to an increase in demand but that doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it. Lagavulin 16, for example, is currently retailing at Binny’s for $94.99. If memory serves me, 10 years ago Lagavulin 16 retailed at Sam’s for about $55.00; this is about a 75% increase over 10 years. I think all hosts would agree with me that the price increases have really put a strain on our quarterly meeting budgets, but perhaps there is some hope out there.

Although many single malts have vacated the “affordable” price point for the $60-$80 price range, thankfully, there remain some excellent value buys out there. I set my “value buy” price ceiling at $45 and decided to see what you could still buy out there; if anything. I felt the psychological pain of the $50 price point and wanted to keep the prices closer to $40 then to $50 which is why I settled on my limit as $45 and I found a number of excellent single malts with unbelievably good value. Each of these high-quality single malts can be purchased at Binny’s for less than $45 some of them are under $40 even!

“Bop’s Select”
• Highland Park 12
• Clynelish 14
• Old Pulteney 12
• Glen Moray 12
• Glenfiddich 15 Solera Reserve
• Laphroaig 10
• The Macallan 12