Help: whisk(e)y tasting at poker night (2 Viewers)

Tonight: Japanese Disco!
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For once, I was over-subscribed and had a waitlist. With a couple of expected cancellations, I’m still at 7. Tight squeeze at the table tonight.

Pairing with some yummy bbq.

Results: Hibiki was the fan favorite
 
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My whiskey collection is now much larger than I like and my whiskey consumption has dropped considerably lately. I’ll be doing open sampling for a while now.
 
Nice collection of bottles and even better collection of chips! You look like a great host.

Rye suggestions
It is a little more spendy than the budget you posted previously, but great rye to add to the lineup is Whistle Pig - super sharp and delicious rye spice.
https://www.abc.virginia.gov/products/rye/whistlepig-straight-rye-whiskey?productSize=0

Basil Haydens Dark Rye. Has rye notes, but the port makes it drink like an old fashioned right out of the bottle.
https://www.abc.virginia.gov/products/rye/basil-haydens-dark-rye?productSize=0

Water in whiskey
If you do a tasting night on the question of how adding water changes the flavor, I recommend you go with 2 higher proof or barrel proof whiskeys and give each person 2 pours of each. Give them a small glass of water and a straw to add drops to one of the glasses and taste the difference between the neat pour vs. water added.

Scotch ideas
If you want to splurge a little bit to add variation to your scotch lineup, Glennfidich 15 Solera is a fun one. Delicious and super approachable, it also has a cool story and you can tell folks they are getting a hundred whisky pours in one drink.
https://www.abc.virginia.gov/products/scotch/glenfiddich-solera-reserve-single-malt?productSize=0

Glad to see RedBreast 12 represented in your lineup! That was the bottle that made me realize Irish whiskey can be great whiskey.
 
GreekRedEye said:
Nice collection of bottles and even better collection of chips! You look like a great host.

Rye suggestions
It is a little more spendy than the budget you posted previously, but great rye to add to the lineup is Whistle Pig - super sharp and delicious rye spice.
https://www.abc.virginia.gov/products/rye/whistlepig-straight-rye-whiskey?productSize=0

Basil Haydens Dark Rye. Has rye notes, but the port makes it drink like an old fashioned right out of the bottle.
https://www.abc.virginia.gov/products/rye/basil-haydens-dark-rye?productSize=0

Water in whiskey
If you do a tasting night on the question of how adding water changes the flavor, I recommend you go with 2 higher proof or barrel proof whiskeys and give each person 2 pours of each. Give them a small glass of water and a straw to add drops to one of the glasses and taste the difference between the neat pour vs. water added.

Scotch ideas
If you want to splurge a little bit to add variation to your scotch lineup, Glennfidich 15 Solera is a fun one. Delicious and super approachable, it also has a cool story and you can tell folks they are getting a hundred whisky pours in one drink.
https://www.abc.virginia.gov/products/scotch/glenfiddich-solera-reserve-single-malt?productSize=0

Glad to see RedBreast 12 represented in your lineup! That was the bottle that made me realize Irish whiskey can be great whiskey.
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Hmmmm… hadn’t thought of the water aspect.

I appreciate the other Whiskey suggestions, but at this point my small collect has grown to 39 bottles and I now drink about 2-4oz a week, so my buying days are done. I’ll settle on a 4-bottle collection in the end.
 
Well, you can always move to other spirits...gins, rums, Brandy's. It's like chips...if you think you have enough, you just just need to expand your horizons a bit more. ;)

You have a great selection of whisk(e)y. You could do a whiskey cocktail night to mix it up (pun was not intended) while using up existing stock.

You can even premix some to make it easy on you during the tasting portion and then your guests can self serve during the game. Some suggestions that premix well...

Can sit on shelf indefinitely:
  • Old fashioned (bourbon or rye)
  • Monte Carlo - I love this drink and ridiculously easy to make
  • Sazerac
  • Vieux carre - a little complicated but worth the squeeze
Will last in fridge for weeks:
  • Manhattan (get a good vermouth like Carpano Antica or Grassotti)
You gotta make it and drink it same day:
  • Whiskey Sour
  • Gold Rush (whiskey Sour with honey) - a favorite at game nights
  • Penicillin made with a lightly peated Scotch, honey, lemon, ginger - amazing drink!
  • Blinker
Honorable mentions (because you cannot premix):
  • Presbyterian: ice, whiskey, lime wedge, top with ginger beer
  • mint julep
Refer to liquor.com or diffordsguide.com for recipes
 
GreekRedEye said:
Well, you can always move to other spirits...gins, rums, Brandy's. It's like chips...if you think you have enough, you just just need to expand your horizons a bit more. ;)

You have a great selection of whisk(e)y. You could do a whiskey cocktail night to mix it up (pun was not intended) while using up existing stock.

You can even premix some to make it easy on you during the tasting portion and then your guests can self serve during the game. Some suggestions that premix well...

Can sit on shelf indefinitely:
  • Old fashioned (bourbon or rye)
  • Monte Carlo - I love this drink and ridiculously easy to make
  • Sazerac
  • Vieux carre - a little complicated but worth the squeeze
Will last in fridge for weeks:
  • Manhattan (get a good vermouth like Carpano Antica or Grassotti)
You gotta make it and drink it same day:
  • Whiskey Sour
  • Gold Rush (whiskey Sour with honey) - a favorite at game nights
  • Penicillin made with a lightly peated Scotch, honey, lemon, ginger - amazing drink!
  • Blinker
Honorable mentions (because you cannot premix):
  • Presbyterian: ice, whiskey, lime wedge, top with ginger beer
  • mint julep
Refer to liquor.com or diffordsguide.com for recipes
Click to expand...
I was thinking of a cocktail approach as well, but I need to figure out if that would fly with them- they’re mostly a craft beer crew (some for the Miller Lite guy) and the whiskey tasting has been new for most of them.
 
Back on glasses, try goodwill or other thrift stores. They always have those cordial glasses usually in sets of 6-8 for about a dollar a set. I have some of those small glasses you ordered, but the rest of this came from thrift stores and estate sales. Thrift stores for quantity, estate sales for quality. Nobody wants grandmas leaded Crystal cordials or rocks glasses anymore.
Estate sale home bars are an excellent place to stack your bar.

The shot glasses are mostly “cheaters”. I look specifically for them. Look great and thick, but only hold about a 1/2 shot.
Lol look at what your bartender is using next time.

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IMG_1467.jpeg
 
ekricket said:
Back on glasses, try goodwill or other thrift stores. They always have those cordial glasses usually in sets of 6-8 for about a dollar a set. I have some of those small glasses you ordered, but the rest of this came from thrift stores and estate sales. Thrift stores for quantity, estate sales for quality. Nobody wants grandmas leaded Crystal cordials or rocks glasses anymore.
Estate sale home bars are an excellent place to stack your bar.

The shot glasses are mostly “cheaters”. I look specifically for them. Look great and thick, but only hold about a 1/2 shot.
Lol look at what your bartender is using next time.

View attachment 1196517


View attachment 1196518
Click to expand...
Great glassware. Vintage glasses are awesome - the quality is usually high and the price low. And vintage has character. Those last shot glasses are gilbratar style and I love them. You can get them in different sizes. Stick those in the freezer before hand and the thick glass will keep the drink cold without adding ice (a 4 to 5oz one makes the perfect delivery glass for a Sazerac).

As you are looking at glassware (and you want flexibility to serve cocktails as well as neat drinks), I recommend you try to get sets of:
  • low balls of 10 oz or so for neat pours and low ball cocktails like old fashioneds. Smaller than that and you can't fit ice. Bigger and a neat pour looks ridiculous
  • stemmed cocktail 5oz glass for "up" drinks. I like Nic and Nora style for just about any cocktail, but coupe and martini shapes work as well.
  • high ball / collins 12oz glasses for any "long" drinks (drinks that you add ice and soda or soda water)
  • Good pint glasses for beer and can double for tiki cocktails
Despite the plug for vintage, here are some from Amazon that I own. They come in good, foam insert boxes so I can a) travel with them and b) pack them away easily:
If you serve a lot of whiskey neat with no ice, I own and can recommend these glencairns.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KJD5WWZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
ekricket said:
Back on glasses, try goodwill or other thrift stores. They always have those cordial glasses usually in sets of 6-8 for about a dollar a set. I have some of those small glasses you ordered, but the rest of this came from thrift stores and estate sales. Thrift stores for quantity, estate sales for quality. Nobody wants grandmas leaded Crystal cordials or rocks glasses anymore.
Estate sale home bars are an excellent place to stack your bar.

The shot glasses are mostly “cheaters”. I look specifically for them. Look great and thick, but only hold about a 1/2 shot.
Lol look at what your bartender is using next time.

View attachment 1196517


View attachment 1196518
Click to expand...
This is where like 95%+ of my purchased glassware came from. This includes a truly absurd amount of glassware I have in my office, 16 glens and about 20 different beer glasses.
 
warma said:
I was thinking of a cocktail approach as well, but I need to figure out if that would fly with them- they’re mostly a craft beer crew (some for the Miller Lite guy) and the whiskey tasting has been new for most of them.
Click to expand...
I think I had the exact same crew! Do what I did, start them off with one beer cocktail and one whiskey cocktail. And always keep beer on hand. Within a few weeks they were asking for more and fancier cocktails.

Some good beer cocktails:
Or one of my own inventions: make a daquiri, put it in a high ball, and top it off with beer
 
Excellent points, all, and I appreciate the suggestions. I hadn’t thought about glassware, not even sure this will play out, but if I do go cocktails, I’ll stick with drinks that work with my current glassware as I’m not sure I have the desire to expand my glassware further.
 
warma said:
Excellent points, all, and I appreciate the suggestions. I hadn’t thought about glassware, not even sure this will play out, but if I do go cocktails, I’ll stick with drinks that work with my current glassware as I’m not sure I have the desire to expand my glassware further.
Click to expand...
Lol it can get out of hand pretty quick. This isn’t even the boxed stuff.

IMG_1468.jpeg
 
Irish said:
Having a little paper with descriptions of each is nice too. Type/proof/nose/notes.
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That is what I did. I actually had five categories so that I score each category with a 1 to 5 ranking. Then I let the math tell me the winner.
 
detroitdad said:
That is what I did. I actually had five categories so that I score each category with a 1 to 5 ranking. Then I let the math tell me the winner.
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I like that, a scoring system would have been fun to incorporate. I used a combo of verbal pronouncements, discussions, and then watched how much they drank of each whiskey during the game.
 
I’ve hosted a few tastings for friends.

For those that like bourbon I’ve done a weller tasting
WSR, OWA, W12, WFP, WLW

Buffalo Trace
ER WSR Blantons OWA ETL EHTSB

I’ve done a peaty scotch night
Lag16, Laphroiag 10, Ardbeg 10, Ardbeg Corry, Ardbeg uggy, Octomore (I finish this with some sweet diplo rum)

I’ve done Japanese whisky tasting
Toki, Nikka sftb, nikka 12 Yama12, Yama 18, (adding for next time Hib 12, Hib 17, Hib21)



I’ve been pretty generous when I host bc it’s fun but it’s been a while since I’ve done a hosting
 
If only I could source that….
 
warma said:
If only I could source that….
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If they’re new to whisky you should do a redwood empire tasting

Just get Lost Monarch, pipe dream, and emerald giant

Emerald giant is a rye
Pipe dream is a bourbon
Lost monarch is a bourye (blend of the two).

It’s a great intro to bourbons and ryes and showcases their differences. And all three bottles are pretty good and fairly cheap and easy to find

If you can find them let me knwo
 
joeyshin said:
If they’re new to whisky you should do a redwood empire tasting

Just get Lost Monarch, pipe dream, and emerald giant

Emerald giant is a rye
Pipe dream is a bourbon
Lost monarch is a bourye (blend of the two).

It’s a great intro to bourbons and ryes and showcases their differences. And all three bottles are pretty good and fairly cheap and easy to find

If you can find them let me knwo
Click to expand...
Hmmm…. I never did a cross-variety tasting. This might be the time. I have all three and have sampled a few with one of my regulars. I like it, plus it will help me clear my current stock. I also have a cask strength Emerald Giant…
 
Redwood Empire tasting tonight. This will be my last planned tasting for a bit- I’ll shift to open bar and/or featured cocktails until I get my collection down significantly.

One of the neighborhood players bought a poker table to build out his man cave and will host next month. My original goal was to have this become a traveling poker night around the neighborhood- we’ve had one other host and it looks like we’re gaining momentum.
IMG_7257.jpeg
 
C
warma said:
Redwood Empire tasting tonight. This will be my last planned tasting for a bit- I’ll shift to open bar and/or featured cocktails until I get my collection down significantly.

One of the neighborhood players bought a poker table to build out his man cave and will host next month. My original goal was to have this become a traveling poker night around the neighborhood- we’ve had one other host and it looks like we’re gaining momentum.View attachment 1226833
Click to expand...

Congrats on getting a second home into the rotation! That sort of community building is hard work and costs money too. Nice to know there is at least one other person in the group willing to share the load.
 
warma said:
Redwood Empire tasting tonight. This will be my last planned tasting for a bit- I’ll shift to open bar and/or featured cocktails until I get my collection down significantly.

One of the neighborhood players bought a poker table to build out his man cave and will host next month. My original goal was to have this become a traveling poker night around the neighborhood- we’ve had one other host and it looks like we’re gaining momentum.View attachment 1226833
Click to expand...
You playing my favorite game
 
Well, tonight took a different turn. A few last minute cancellations dropped us to 4 players. So I taught the brave few Chinese Open Face Poker (no bonuses other than scoop). It was a much bigger hit than any of us anticipated. As a bonus, I cleared out two bottles from my whiskey collection. :)
IMG_7258.jpeg
 
warma said:
Well, tonight took a different turn. A few last minute cancellations dropped us to 4 players. So I taught the brave few Chinese Open Face Poker (no bonuses other than scoop). It was a much bigger hit than any of us anticipated. As a bonus, I cleared out two bottles from my whiskey collection. :)
View attachment 1226982
Click to expand...
Sounds interesting. Do you recommend a good learning tutorial on YouTube or a document on Google?
 
Bacon Dad said:
Sounds interesting. Do you recommend a good learning tutorial on YouTube or a document on Google?
Click to expand...
There’s a thread on here about the pineapple version that I followed and picked it up from there.

Here’s a website that covers it. It’s a points game, but we played it as a cash game. We kept it super simple and played for $1/row (initially 50¢/row for a rotation to get the hang of it), with all losers paying the winner. If the winner scooped, then the losers paid the winner $6. We didn’t add in the other bonuses as we were a) learning and b) my game is a social game with the cards being a conversation catalyst.
 
IMG_8008.jpeg

Only the post game photo this evening.
It’s been a while, but finally started back up after the holidays, and pulled in a new neighbor for the first time- who walked away a winner and will be back, despite not liking whiskey.

I ran an open bar, plus 2 pre-mixed drinks. Turns out the N/A beer was the winner with a few more DC drivers than usual. The above were left behind as gifts, with the Hatozaki the winner and the Atlas Silent Neighbor beer redistilled into whiskey a lovely option. A couple of folks took advantage of the open bar and tasted around, trying whiskeys they missed in earlier events. Dinner was catered Italian, which was delicious.
 
warma said:
View attachment 1294100
Only the post game photo this evening.
It’s been a while, but finally started back up after the holidays, and pulled in a new neighbor for the first time- who walked away a winner and will be back, despite not liking whiskey.

I ran an open bar, plus 2 pre-mixed drinks. Turns out the N/A beer was the winner with a few more DC drivers than usual. The above were left behind as gifts, with the Hatozaki the winner and the Atlas Silent Neighbor beer redistilled into whiskey a lovely option. A couple of folks took advantage of the open bar and tasted around, trying whiskeys they missed in earlier events. Dinner was catered Italian, which was delicious.
Click to expand...
Have you had Amburana before?
 

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