CWS Meeting 04/20/2022

After a long hiatus, the CWS members met again in order to try some fine spirits and share stories. One of the main events of the meeting was the ‘Blind Rye Tasting’ put together by Sasha. Here are some notes from the tasting as well as the reveal:

Sample A

Andrew C: “Not hot, definitely rye.”

Chris P: “Run of the mill rye. Possibly Old Forrester, maybe Few?”

Nick: “Smell is malt, taste is rye.”

Sample B

Chris P: “Watery, not a strong Rye. Basil Haydens?”

Sasha: “Falls of mid palate.”

Nick A: “Something is off, maybe dish soap? Can’t smell anything because of cigarette/cigar smoke!”

Sample C

Nick A: “I get something but not rye. Smells like candy necklace.”

Chris P: “Tastes heavenly and worm. A little more oaky. I think this is Bulleit.”

Andrew C: “Tasty!”

Sample D

Nick A: “Nose on OWA. Good. Cherry, don’t know what it is but I like it a lot, maybe Anise. Not a MGP rye, possibly Michter’s?”

Chris P: “Yes, but sharper on the nose. Bulleit, switch previous sample guess to Michter’s.”

Andrew: “Cherry, tastes good.”

Sample E

Chris P: “Brighter smell. Notes of mint, sharp. Old Forrester or Few.” During this tasting Chris also revealed to the group “I’m a mint-pheine (sp?)!”

Nick A: “Possible guesses is MGP rye or Old Forrester. Fruit and pickle on the palate, favorite so far.”

Andrew: “Sure!”

Sample F

Nick A: “The finish on this motherfucker!” When asked to elaborate “Not much on the nose but a good spicy rye finish. Guess would be Old Forester or Bulleit.”

Chris P: “I believe this is Knob Creek!”

To summarize, Chris P said sample C was his favorite. Nick A liked samples D, E, F and had a difficult time picking a favorite between the 3.

BIG REVEAL

This is the reveal of the blind. If you haven’t tried yours, be weary of the spoilers ahead!

Sample A: FEW

Sample B: Basil Hayden’s

Sample C: Bulleit 12 Year

Sample D: Michters Rye

Sample E: Old Forester Rye

Sample F: Knob Creek Limited Release

Overall, fun was had by all. Nick found out that dog treats are an excellent palate cleansers and was lucky he did not ‘accidentally’ like Basil Hayden’s in the blind tasting. Thank You everyone for coming out and special thanks to Andrew C for hosting!