Wow!  The last meeting was historic -- an in-depth exploration of the functions of various grains used in American whiskey.  Not since the Duke's bizarre "Taste and Smell Challenge" from (yikes) a couple years ago has there been such an elaborate meeting.

First, we tasted four young whiskies representing the common mashbills in American whiskey: Old Grand Dad Bottled in Bond - Most bourbon today contains rye as the "flavor grain."  This one has a relatively high rye content, around 28%.  Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond - A wheated bourbon (~20% wheat).  I.W. Harper Gold Medal - This bourbon contains very high corn (~85%).  Old Overholt - Straight rye (> 51% rye).

Those whiskies exemplified the taste and smells associated with the different grains.  Members kept samples of these on the table for Round 2, in which six premium whiskies were tasted blind.  The challenge was to guess the mashbill based on what was learned in Round 1.  The whiskies were:

I.W. Harper 15 Year      Sazerac 18 (Fall 2005)      Pappy Van Winkle 15       Old Taylor (Late 70's)
Old Fitzgerald 1849 (Late 80's)            Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2007 

The challenge proved more challenging than expected -- especially since extended barrel-aging can change a whiskey's character so much.  Most-enjoyed were the Pappy Van Winkle and Old Taylor.

And if that wasn't enough, an additional 30+ bottles of American whiskey from the Duke's overflowing personal archives were brought out for all to sample!