When Crown Liquors puts on a Scotch tasting, they don’t fool around. It was advertised as 30 different drams to try but that number wasn’t at all accurate. There were 54 on the program and another 8 or so the distributor reps had under the counter. Whew. Goona be a long evening, what with a Replicale tasting just a block away from the Crown Liquors downtown store in 2 hours.
The basement was filled with 9 fueling stations and probably 200 people. We enjoyed splashes of Aberfeldy 12 and 21yo; Benromach Organic; Dewar’s Signature; Duncan Taylor Black Bull 12yo; Glenfiddich 18yo; Glenlivet Nadura, Glenmorangie Finealta (hot), 15yo French Oak, and Quinta Ruban (A+); Gordon & MacPhail Glenlivet bottling; Highland Park 18yo; Killerran (young); Laphroig 18yo; Smokehead (too smokey); plus Tomatin 12 and 18yo. That’s the imports. From the good ole USA McCarthy’s Oregon Single Malt (peat), Rogue Chatoe, and Wasmund’s Single Malt.
Splash was, gratefully, the serving sizes – appropriate to the amount, strength, and quite frankly, enough to wrap your senses around each and every taste.
People looked to be fairly generous with the donation jar. Proceeds from that went to the FACE Animal Clinic.
Crown’s Scotch shelves.
A short stroll away, 50 or so people were at the Tomlinson Tap Room to enjoy Imperial Stout Replicale’s from 9 Indiana breweries.
The board says 8 but Broad Ripple Brewpub’s version was there also.
Attendees included the usual suspects, brewers, homebrewers, drinkers, Beer Geeks, and the Indy Beer Meetup folks.
Notes from some of the attendees:
- Barley Island – Somewhat sweet, malty. Fruity apricot. Too sweet. Style is lost on this.
- Broad Ripple Brewpub – Light coffee.
- Crown – Very smooth, sweet, creamy. Terrible. Sweetness dominates. Loss of style.
- Great Crescent – Best of all. Great dry, smoky finish that balances the sweetness.
- New Albanian – (Served on gravity from a firkin). Good, dark. Sweet intro balanced by a very complex sensory explosion. Good sipping beer. Lower carbonation and warmer temperature are two of the highlights. Firkin is the proper way to serve and Imperial Stout.
- People’s – Our favorite. Bitter and malt balance. Not alcoholic as some are.
- Rock Bottom North – Bitter coffee. Too sweet. Almost sour tasting like bad fermentation.
- Sun King – The most unique. Subtle but deep citrus backbone cuts some of the sweetness by showcasing it.
- Upland – Slightly hoppy. Great smoky taste up front. Great mouth feel and balance. Complexity helps cut the sweetness. Perfection.
Jared Williamson of New Albanian wrote the recipe to emulate Ackerman’s Imperial Double Stout from the 1830s. Dave Colt has been driving the Replicales for, what, 4 years now?
More at the HBG site.
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