Informal Tasting

[BamaWSO]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I have been following this website for over a year and have finally had a good reason to post.

I plan on hosting a Scotch tasting tomorrow evening that will serve a dual purpose:
1) Introduce a few of my friends to different types of Scotch and hopefully teach a little about the differences (just for reference, this is the equivalent of a high school senior teaching 8th grade science, but the knowledge should suffice).
2) Finish off all my Scotch before moving back to America (currently I live in Japan).

Anyway, I plan on bringing Johnny Walker Black, Glenlivet 18, Glenlivet 16 Nadurra, Tomatin 12 (all <1/2 full), and a full bottle of Dewars White Label. I plan on the following order for tastings.

Johnny Black
Dewars White
Tomatin 12
Glenlivet 18
Glenlivet 16 Nadurra
Tomatin 12 (to again compare a decent entry scotch to some of the more refined expressions)
Knob Creek bourbon (for comparison only)

Of course, others may bring a few others, but has anyone hosted tastings before or has any advice for how to make this a smooth experience (i.e. ideal snacks, time between drinks - I am currently looking at about five minutes in between).

Thanks in advance for any help I get!

[BamaWSO]

Just to follow up on this, about 12-15 people showed up and resulted in about 10 bottles of scotch. Everyone had a good time, but the next morning was...rough.

[Unregistered]

Just to follow up on this, about 12-15 people showed up and resulted in about 10 bottles of scotch. Everyone had a good time, but the next morning was...rough.

Any feedback from your guests (and you) that you can share with us?

[BourbonDrinker]

Just to follow up on this, about 12-15 people showed up and resulted in about 10 bottles of scotch. Everyone had a good time, but the next morning was...rough.

That's interesting. Single malt doesn't give me a hangover.

[BamaWSO]

That's interesting. Single malt doesn't give me a hangover.


I usually don't either and it wasn't a bad hangover, but after glass #9 things got...hazy.




As for feedback, there were a lot of people who showed up that were not big scotch drinkers, but enjoyed a few brands nonetheless. The Glenlivet 16 Nadurra was the first bottle to be emptied. The one surprise was a buddy preferring Lahproaig 10 to any others - after only trying 1-2 Speysides.

As for me, I was reminded why I can't drink Islay. It just isn't for me.