The club archive

Our history

The Club's first meeting was in June 2007 with seven members in attendance. All had already developed an appreciation for good Scotch, and most had tasted the occasional single malt, but none had any real understanding of or appreciation for the specific qualities that make a really great Scotch. So, with the simple goal of learning more about that which we already loved, we ratified the club rules shown below and embarked on this noble quest. If you think you might want to join us on our mission or just come for a visit, contact Don Ward at dwardm4@att.net or Mike Simms at msimms@peoplescom.net.

Original club rules

1. We meet once each month, Sat. at 5:00, for one to one and a half hours. The meeting day is the Saturday after the third Friday of the month (i.e., the Saturday after the ladies' book club).
2. The meeting host responsibility rotates among members .
3. Only single malt Scotches are tasted (no blends).
4. The Club agrees on selections before the next meeting (more of a goal than a rule). The price of the Scotch must fit within The Club’s budget.
5. Two 2-oz. tasting samples will be served to each taster. The host will provide bottled water and ice from purified water.
6. The host will provide some information about the Scotches being sampled .
7. The Scotch will be bought from a kitty generated by initial membership ($50) and a monthly membership fee ($15). The membership fee is assessed each month, even if you don't attend. The treasurer will provide a monthly statement showing all club transactions (Current Treasurer: Mike Simms) .
8. All Scotch bought by The Club stays in The Club (i.e. partial bottles will be saved for a later tasting) .
9. The tasters will rate the Scotches per the evaluation sheets and the club will maintain a record of the results (Current Scribe: Don Ward) .
10. During the nosing and tasting period, only one person shall speak at a time.
11. Guests may be invited, but host should be notified ahead of time so that adequate Scotch is on hand. Club member pays additional $15 for each guest.
12. Any gentleman over 21 who is an El Dorado property owner may join The Club until the membership reaches twelve.

A typical meeting

The host prepares for a meeting by setting up a table with enough places to seat the expected number of tasters. Each place will have one glass for water, with each member bringing two glasses for the tasting. The host will also provide bottled water and ice from bottled or filtered water as well as pens or pencils for the scoring. At the start of the meeting, the treasurer collects dues and the scribe passes out score sheets for the two Scotches to be tasted. One of the members (usually the host) will provide background information on the distilleries and the Scotches to be tasted. The host will then open the first bottle and each member will pour two ounces of spirits from the first selection into his glass. The evaluation begins by first observing the color, which ranges from pale yellow to mahogany. That's the easy part. Next comes the nosing. While many experts claim to discern five to ten unique aromas from a single glass, most of us still struggle to find three or four. Obviously, we need more practice. Undaunted by our shortcomings, we press on and test the palate. This is usually first done straight up with no water or ice. Some may then add a few drops of water or an ice cube. This often brings out tastes and aromas previously undetected. Common flavors are vanilla, tobacco, coffee, smoke, salt, etc. Finally, we consider body (mouth feel) and finish (short/long). We repeat this same process with the second selection. Taking all of these factors into account, we also score our selections from 1-100. Less than 70... we probably won't be trying it again. More than 95... well, that's the holy grail. It should be noted that during this process there is usually much discussion about a variety of serious manly topics.

The club’s tasting glass

The official glass for our club is the Glencairn Whisky Glass. The Glencairn Glass is a style of whisky glass developed by Glencairn Crystal Ltd, Scotland. The shape of the glass is derived from the traditional nosing copita used in whisky labs around Scotland. The glass first came into production in 2001 and in 2006 the glass was given the Queen's Award for innovation. Below is a photo of the club celebrating our first toast with the Glencairn glasses.

Special meetings

From time-to-time we will forgo our typical meeting to revisit some of our previous selections. This not only allows us to replenish our kitty, but is an opportunity to confirm (or not) our previous impressions. Instead of the usual two 2-ounce samples, we taste a flight of six 1-ounce samples. The experience more than justifies the challenge of the setup which is shown in the picture below.