The May meeting of the River City Whisky Society had a special guest/presenter, Stringbean Coffee owner Pete Cohen. Pete got us started off with a lesson on cold brew coffee…not to be confused with iced coffee. He passed around samples and we learned about the coffee business and his coffees.
It was a great way to get started and we found that a bunch of our members are already his customers. And after the tasting, a bunch more of our members will be his customers. And after publishing this blog, a bunch of our readers will be his customers. Crazy how that works out. Be sure to check out his web site by clicking………here!
Seriously, Pete has a great product line of nine different coffees and if you are a coffee drinker at all, you will find one that excites your taste buds. I have grown very fond of his Redeye Roast.
After the coffee we began our tasting. We were supposed to be presenting products of Pinckney Bend Distillery. They are out of New Haven, MO, which is a river town on the banks of the Missouri River. But due to the recent rains and flooding they were unable to attend. (They have rescheduled for the November tasting.)
So Mark and I searched the shelves of the local store and found five great whiskies that the club had not had. This is no easy task. After eight years of tastings and various events we have tried over 300 expressions.
We landed with some great choices. As always they were tasted, talked about and ranked. Each of these are good or great whiskies so don’t let their ranking keep you away. Here they are from least favorite to most favorite, along with tasting notes from the group:
- Chivas Regal 18 Year old, $70 – Smooth, Full of flavor, Mild peat with dark notes, Lots of oak, Sweet, Vanilla, Almonds, Short finish.
- Tullibardine 228 Burgundy Finish, $51 – Great nose, Tastes of chocolate, Very smooth, Notes of apples and cherries, Very mild, Gentle finish.
- Dunville’s PX Irish Whiskey, $47 – Sweet, Soft texture, Light butterscotch, Kind of plain, Fruity, Whiskey for women.
- Woodford Reserve Rye, $36 – Lots of caramel, Tastes young, Nice on the tongue, Smooth and crisp, Short finish.
- Balvenie 15 Year Sherry Cask, $100 – Outstanding, Great flavor, Nutty, Fruity, Buttery, Malty oak finish, Just plain good!
After a full week of rain and flooding, the skies parted and welcomed the tasting with fantastic weather…..as it should be!
Thanks to everyone who attended and to Pete for sharing his great coffee with us.
Doug