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¡Feliz Navidad! Joyeux Noël! Frohe Weihnachten!
Buon Natale! Счастливого Рождества!
Feliz Natal! Crăciun Fericit! God Jul! Glædelig Jul!
Vrolijk Kerstfeest! Hyvää Joulua! Veselé Vánoce!
Gleðileg Jól!
As the last month of 2020 comes to a close, we pray that the New Year brings better times ahead for you, your family and the world we share!
The pandemic has changed so much about the way we work and play and interact. We have each had to learn new ways of navigating life. Many of you now work from home, became a teacher or stay at home parent, experienced loss of friends and family. Our hearts go out to everyone who has been affected. Our hope is that the family of Rotary and all we stand for has been a source of strength or comfort to you. Rotary International and Clubs around the world have stepped up once again to make a positive impact as we fight this invisible enemy – donations of food and clothing, community toy drives so children won’t think Santa forgot them, assistance with utility bills, and donations to purchase personal protection equipment. Rotary will ALWAYS be there to support in times of need!
Please stay healthy and take care of yourself and those you love. Our warmest wishes for health, happiness and prosperity this Holiday Season and in the coming year!
Jaime and Terry Moore
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COCKTAIL TIME
Blood Orange Whiskey Cocktail
This one is a perfect balance of sweet, savory, acidic, and bitter notes. Even if you don’t have blood oranges on hand, any kind of orange will work perfectly with the cocktail’s components.
• 1 1/2 ounces whiskey or bourbon {I used Bulleit Bourbon}
• 1/2 ounce Amaro Nonino Quintessentia
• 2 1/2 ounces freshly squeezed blood orange juice (about two blood oranges)
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• 1/4 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice (about a quarter of a lemon)
• 1/2 ounce agave nectar
• 2-3 dashes orange bitters
• Sprig of thyme
1. Juice the citrus and set aside.
2. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the whiskey, amaro, blood orange juice, lemon juice, agave nectar, and bitters.
3. Shake until nicely chilled. Strain and pour into a cocktail glass filled with fresh ice.
4. Finally, squeeze the thyme sprig a few times to release its aroma and garnish!
This recipe can be easily doubled, and tastes great served up shaken and strained. If you have trouble finding blood oranges, navels or other types can be substituted. Depending upon the sweetness of the blood oranges, increase or decrease the amount of agave nectar, to taste.
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8 BOTTLED IN BOND WHISKEYS TO SEEK OUT
Recent releases have proved that bottled in bond whiskey is back and better than ever. To qualify as bottled in bond, a whiskey (of any style, not just bourbon) must meet the guidelines outlined in the Bottled in Bond Act of 1897—the whiskey must be 50% ABV, distilled by a single distiller in a single season, and aged for a minimum of 4 years in a federally bonded warehouse. Though the guidelines are specific, that hasn’t stopped distillers from churning out a diverse range of new bottled in bond releases, and this list features several high-scoring ones.
Among them is the follow-up to Whisky Advocate’s 2019 Whisky of the Year, George Dickel 13 year old Bottled in Bond. The new release, an 11 year old distilled in 2008, scored a whopping 95 points in the Buying Guide—and it’s in good company. These whiskeys are united by their high scores and bottled in bond style, but they vary in price and taste. So pour a dram and delve into this burgeoning style!
https://www.whiskyadvocate.com/8-outstanding-bottled-in-bond-whiskeys-to-try-now-list/
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George Dickel 11 year old Bottled in Bond Tennessee Whiskey (Distilled in Fall 2008)—95 points, $40
Lush, rich, and deep from the start, with blackberry, cherry, spiced plum, cinnamon, mint, and maple syrup aromas. Even more density on the palate, which has deep flavors of cocoa powder, Raisinets, roasted walnuts, cinnamon, mint, maple syrup, and chewy oak. Extraordinary length on the finish, which carries the chocolate, dark fruit, spice, mint, and rich oak notes for minutes. A phenomenal follow-up to its 13 year old antecedent, our 2019 Whisky of the Year. —Susannah Skiver Barton
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Wild Turkey 17 year old Master’s Keep Bottled in Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon—94 points, $175
Oak always leads the character of well-aged bourbon, sometimes dominating it, but here the balance is just right. The nose gives an impression of sweet syrupy fruit, like candied orange peel and cherries jubilee; there’s also creamy flan, dusty spice, cocoa powder, and leather bookbindings. Richly oaked and dense with flavor, the palate has dark chocolate, roasted walnuts, cola, black currant jam, and peppermint. It finishes generously with mint-flavored dark chocolate, blackberry jam, and coffee bean. Skip the water. (14,400 bottles) —Susannah Skiver Barton
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New Riff Backsetter Peated Backset Bottled in Bond Kentucky Straight Rye—93 points, $50
Deep, complex, and ever-developing flavor that doesn’t quit. The nose shows cherry Robitussin, leather sofa, old books, polished oak, and a refined sweet nuttiness, like Jordan almonds. Chewy and oak-driven on the palate, with cherry cough syrup, roasted pecans, dried ginger, white and black pepper, and ample oak; flavors of burnt ends and burnt marshmallow hint at the peat—which comes from the use of peated malt whiskey backset—but could just as easily be mistaken for barrel char. The peppery, ashy, chocolaty finish keeps going and going. (2,250 bottles) —Susannah Skiver Barton
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Frey Ranch Bottled in Bond Rye (Batch 1)—93 points, $60
Fragrant and inviting on the nose, with a juxtaposition of floral and fruit notes—rose petals, fresh cherries—then saddle leather, spice, mint oil, tea leaves, and almonds. Those aromas are echoed on the palate’s robust Gobstopper of flavors: dark chocolate-covered cherries, cinnamon, maple syrup, Italian plums, walnuts, and undertones of mint. More dark chocolate, mint, and almonds on the finish, which has remarkable length. Water is transformative, bringing out more fruit, but with or without it, this is an outstanding whiskey. —Susannah Skiver Barton
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Old Fitzgerald 9 year old Bottled in Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon (Spring 2020 Edition)—92 points, $90
Grain takes pride of place here, with kettle corn, honey peanuts, and corn muffin on the nose, as well as milk chocolate, licorice root, blueberry jam, cinnamon, allspice, and brown sugar. More sweet grain and nuts on the palate, along with blueberry, fresh ginger, cinnamon, and a hint of mint. Add some water to lift the veil on the more subtle flavors. The rounded finish continues with nutty sweetness, milk chocolate, and well-integrated oak. Excellent balance. —Susannah Skiver Barton
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Old Overholt Bottled in Bond Rye (2020 Edition)—91 points, $25
This relaunched version of Old Overholt’s bonded rye is not chill-filtered, and it makes a noticeable difference. Aromas of cinnamon-sprinkled apple slices, toasted grain, spearmint and peppermint candies, and Cinnamon Life cereal carry into the palate, which balances oak and grain superbly: fresh mint, licorice, black pepper, allspice, cinnamon, cacao nibs, and walnuts. The vivacious spices almost pop in the mouth, but settle down into a satisfying finish of black pepper, cacao, mint, and well-integrated oak. Well-balanced without water, but a few drops serve it well. — Susannah Skiver Barton
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Laws Whiskey House 6 year old San Luis Valley Bottled in Bond Straight Rye (Batch 1)—88 points, $75
An unconventional flavor profile with a nose featuring fresh mint and chocolate in abundance, along with secondary notes of candle wax tinged with a bit of alcohol heat. It’s the chocolate that sticks around through the palate, as gentle sweetness is quickly swept up in warming spices and bitter Mexican chocolate, supported by flavors of nutty, honeyed malt. Enjoyable and highly original. —Jeffery Lindenmuth
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Old Tub Bottled in Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon—87 points, $23
This is more about mashbill than barrel, a fine showcase of grain. Light and sweet on the nose, with peanuts, nougat, creamed corn, banana pudding, coconut cake, and Popsicle stick; water brings out fresh apple. It stays consistent on the palate, showcasing the purity and sweetness of the grain: cream, vanilla taffy, toasted coconut, and toasted wood. It finishes with peanuts, toasted coconut, clean grain, and oak. —Susannah Skiver Barton
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Why You Should Be Tasting Whisky Blind and How to Get Started by Ted Simmons
Being biased is part of being human, and that doesn’t exclude our taste in whisky. Some people may profess to dislike a certain brand or style based on an experience from long ago. The opposite can also be true; we tend to romanticize a whisky if our grandfather favored it or if we visited the distillery while on vacation. Tasting “blind” refers to tasting without knowledge of a whisky’s identity, and its main purpose is to negate these biases. Tasting blind is a great way to become a better taster, develop your senses, and learn more about your own whisky preferences.
Science supports the idea that our perception of taste and quality is easily influenced. Subjects served the same wine more favorably when they were told it had a higher price. In this instance, two identical wines were served and the subjects preferred what they believed to be the more expensive option. This is colloquially known as the “snob effect.”
It’s also true that most of us don’t taste very expensive whisky regularly, so we fall back on the price as our best indicator. A 1989 study found the lack of familiarity will cause consumers to use price as an indication of quality. Simply put, if told one whisky is $500 and another is $50, a drinker would expect the expensive whisky to be of higher quality.
Of course, there are good reasons and occasions to not taste blind, such as listening to a whisky’s story as you sip it, sharing a dram with the person that made it, or in the company of family and friends, and certainly in casual settings non-blind tends to be the norm. But when assessing a whisky’s quality, it’s not enough to wish to be impartial. The only way to eliminate cognitive biases is to taste blind.
FIVE TIPS FOR TASTING WHISKY BLIND
Become your very best taster with these strategies used by the Whisky Advocate tasting panel.
Make a Coordinated Effort:
Whisky Advocate employs a tasting coordinator to assemble whisky flights in advance, revealing only the general style of whisky to the tasters. If you have a friend who wants to participate without tasting, let them prepare the tasting in a separate room. They’ll be the only one in the know while discussion takes place.
Approach the Bench:
While it’s not critical, sometimes having at least one known whisky can provide a valuable benchmark to a blind tasting. Whisky Advocate tasters use this approach to assist in calibrating their palates across different tasting flights, considering how the blind whisky compares to the benchmark.
Shut Up and Taste:
When tasting blind, it’s best to reserve discussion until everyone is finished. Members of the group can be easily influenced by obvious positive or negative reactions of fellow tasters, especially if there are various levels of knowledge and experience in the room. And, while it may be tempting, avoid verbalizing guesses of a whisky’s identity.
Fill in the Details:
Now for the fun part. When it’s time to reveal the whiskies and open the discussion, be prepared with a handout that includes the date of the tasting, as well as the name, proof, price, and style of each whisky so tasters have all the information at their fingertips. This can be a helpful reference for their future tastings and purchasing decisions.
Don’t Believe Your Eyes:
A study in the Journal of Consumer Research involving 60 to 150 undergraduate students in various experiments determined that when tasting orange juice, the color had a greater impact on taste than its actual sweetness. Since whiskies like scotch permit caramel coloring, consider using dark glasses to hide the color.
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From the Scotch Whisky Association - November 2020
The Scotch Whisky industry continues to support a trade deal between the UK and the EU. The EU is an important market for Scotch Whisky and our largest export region, accounting for 30% of exports in 2019, valued at £1.47bn. UK and EU negotiators should intensify discussions to deliver a deal which allows for zero tariffs on all goods, protects UK and EU geographical indications, and puts in place governance structures to limit any new barriers to trade from forming.
The Scotch Whisky industry is well-positioned to weather any disruption brought about from Brexit, however we still want a free trade agreement to be in place to ensure the process is as seamless as possible during a challenging time for distillers. New customs and excise procedures will apply to UK/EU trade from 1st January 2021, and it is a race against time for businesses to receive all the technical guidance they need. The UK Government is putting in place new IT systems to manage data and declarations, and these must be reliable to ensure imports and exports flow smoothly.
Industry concerns about adjusting to a new trading relationship with the EU at the end of the transition period have been compounded by the ongoing impact of COVID-19 lockdowns and disruption to the hospitality trade in the UK and our global markets. The industry continues to be seriously affected by the 25% tariff on Single Malt Scotch Whisky to the United States in place since October last year, which has led to a significant decline in exports to our most valuable market of around £30m every month. Removing the tariffs will alleviate significant pressure on the Scotch Whisky industry, and allow us to focus on making the most of the UK’s new independent trade policy and playing our part in the post-COVID economic recovery.
https://www.scotch-whisky.org.uk/insights/brexit/
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“Never delay kissing a pretty girl or opening a bottle of whiskey.”
Ernest Hemmingway
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STARTING A CHAPTER
As interest in the Whiskey DRAM Fellowship grows, members have contacted us about starting their own Chapter. We hope you find this information to be helpful. And, as always, feel free to email the Fellowship with any questions.
The Whiskey DRAM Fellowship, sanctioned by Rotary International, is the governing body over all Chapters. Anyone that wishes to join a Chapter must first join the Fellowship and submit dues as follows: $35 Annually, $100 for a Lifetime Member, $125 for a Lifetime Member plus Spouse/Partner.
This entitles the member of the Fellowship to a Whiskey DRAM lapel pin, the quarterly newsletter, invitations to events and socials, opportunities to net(work) at the Whiskey DRAM House of Fellowship at the annual Rotary International Convention, an invitation to our Board Meeting, and an invitation to off-site events/socials held in conjunction with the Rotary International Convention.
Below is the list of suggestions and to-do's to successfully start a Chapter:
1. Notify the Whiskey DRAM President of your intentions.
2. Decide on an appropriate name for the local Chapter, typically covering one Rotary District.
3. Contact all the known Whiskey DRAM members in your designated area. This list can be obtained from the Whiskey DRAM Secretary - Jaime Moore can be reached at jaime_moore@bellsouth.net.
4. Hold a whiskey event, perhaps a tasting or dinner paired with whiskies. (It has been our experience that there are many restaurants willing to help you with such an endeavor.) Invite all the Whiskey DRAM members and every whiskey loving Rotarian you can contact from all the Clubs in your area to attend. Have an interesting format or program that will appeal to most of the attendees. Have fun with this!
5. Ask all the attendees to become members of the Whiskey DRAM Fellowship and at the same time, the local Chapter. Local Chapters can charge their own dues but from polling other Rotary Fellowships, Chapters typically do not assess an additional fee. However, any event held by the local Chapter are paid by the attendees directly to the Chapter. NOTE: All local Chapter members must be Whiskey DRAM members.
6. Encourage prospective members to become a Lifetime Member ($100 USD) or Lifetime Member plus spouse/partner ($125 USD). As a Lifetime Member, there is no annual billing, which means less administrative work and more commitment from the new member.
7. Plan at least four whiskey events during the Rotary year and promote the event to ensure good attendance and to sign up more members. Local events can be publicized in the Whiskey DRAM newsletter and on the Whiskey DRAM website. Use our Facebook Page to advertise your event; we encourage postings and photographs! You should also advertise in your District's newsletter and calendar of events. Send before and after event information to Terry Moore at tr_moore@bellsouth.net.
8. Arrange to have one or more whiskey event fund raisers so you can do a Rotary service project.
9. Name a charity of choice. Consider donating your Chapter's excess funds at the end of the fiscal year to a Rotary cause. For example, Whiskey DRAM's charity of choice is Rotary International sanctioned clean water initiatives.
10. Have a booth at all Club and District functions advertising Whiskey DRAM and your local Chapter.
11. Inform your District Fellowships Chairperson about Whiskey DRAM and your local Chapter members and ask for help in promoting the Fellowship.
12. Inform the District Governor about Whiskey DRAM and your local Chapter and ask for his/her help in promoting the Fellowship.Suggest offering a whiskey reception at the District Conference hosted by the local Whiskey DRAM Chapter.
13. When you have a decent number of members in your Chapter, hold an election of officers, elect a Board of Directors and adopt a set of By-Laws patterned after the Rotary Fellowship Standard By-Laws (recommended). The Whiskey DRAM By-Laws are on our website and are an excellent guideline.
14. Include a provision in your By-Laws to indemnify (hold harmless) the Whiskey DRAM Fellowship (Drinking Rotarians And Members) and Rotary International for the actions of the Chapter. Do a risk analysis of your Chapter's liability and obtain event insurance coverage, etc. as needed.
15. If you plan to collect money to fund your Chapter's activities (socials/events), you will need to set up a bank account once you have procured the proper tax identification number (if necessary). It is recommended that two Board Members be listed on the bank account.
16. Encourage your members to attend the Rotary International Conventions and participate in Whiskey DRAM activities and events.
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SHARE YOUR WHISKEY ADVENTURES WITH US
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This is YOUR newsletter! The COCKTAIL TIME, WHAT ARE WE SIPPIN' and RECIPE sections are included for you to share your whiskey adventures. Members are encouraged to contribute to the newsletter by sending us tasting notes, mixology, food pairings, fellowship photos, as well as recipes using selected whiskeys. Please send these to jaime_moore@bellsouth.net.
Terry and Jaime Moore
HOW TO REACH US:
Rotary Whiskey DRAM Fellowship
c/o Terry Moore
230 Marion Avenue
Summerville, SC 29483
USA
Website: www.whiskeydram.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WhiskeyDrinkingRotariansAndMembers/
Twitter: @WhiskeyDRAM
Email: RotaryWhiskeyFellowship@gmail.com |
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