When you are done, let’s head back here to discuss it. Specifically, her concluding suggestion.
Would our Lodges, perhaps our Districts do well to start Scotch Tasting Clubs?
Let’s chat about it, share perspectives with each other…
If you are within the Jurisdiction of Washington, and you are looking for a superb Educational program for your Lodge, might I suggest that you invite our Grand Chaplain, W. Brent Woodward to give his talk about the meaning of the verses given during the First Degree circumambulation? I heard him give it at Silverdale Lodge last evening, and it is superb!
I think that this is a truly superb idea from a Mason's Lady, and I agree with you, it would be a superb way to introduce good men to our Fraternity. Just plan a fun evening of tasting, and invite men who would make excellent Freemasons.
I don’t remember exactly when it was that I started enjoying scotch. I do remember the first time I tried it. I was just out of high school and had some Cutty Sark. It was pure kerosene. I’ve been fortunate to have been able to travel to Scotland a couple time and visit several different distilleries and taste some very good whisky.
A Lodge in my district holds a Robert Burns night in February and is a great event. They usually have 5-6 different scotches to drink and raffle off a couple of bottles. Poetry is shared and a faux haggis is served. It’s a fantastic night of fellowship and fun.
The idea of a scotch club or cigar club would be a great way to fellowship and have some fun education.
Scotch is something really new for me. Honestly, I always hated the stuff. (Which is kind of odd given some other booze that I really like, but I'll tell that story in a minute.)
But then my Masonic mentor VW Andre Dewald gave me a really good bottle when I was appointed DDGM, and that started to turn me on to it. Most recently Doric Lodge gave me the greatest tasting bottle I've ever had when I became GM, so now I've decided that I am a genuine Scotch man.
Turns out, I was just drinking some mighty bad stuff I guess.
As for the haggis though, come to Centennial Lodge in my hometown of Snohomish, they serve the real thing!
scotch tasting would be a excellent way for the Brothers to assemble and spend time outside a regular Lodge meeting. I would especially enjoy if we could also have a nice cigar to go along with the fine scotch!! Masonic education while gathered would be a huge plus!!
You know that I've got to agree with the cigar idea!
The new house (we moved a few months back) has an interesting basement, in that it was a beauty salon in the 1950's. So, it has a seperate entrance, a large open room, and an attached bathroom.
Once all the junk that we haven't unpacked yet is out of there, the plan is to turn it into a cigar lounge. I can see a lot of evenings with the brothers, enjoying spirits and the leaf!
Thank you for the link to "An Introduction to Scotch". Very fine summary and primer. I've been a single malt taster for many years and will do so for Life. When I was at university, the cheap blends made us think we were real scotch drinkers. Of course, not so much! Once I discovered single malts, what an education! The possibility of starting a Lodge scotch tasting club is a great one and I hope to do so in my home Lodge and maybe in the Lodges in my District. Once again, thanks for the great education.
Many years ago, I hosted a Tequila tasting event and class at my home as a small fundraiser for the Lodge.
I guess that I've spent so many years in Mexico over the decades that I've gotten to know tequila exceptionally well, but much like Scotch, people try the cheap stuff (or even the expensive stuff that is really cheap stuff just with better marketing in the US) and decide that they don't like tequila.
Excellent tequila is nothing like cheap tequila, but one has to be taught to know what to look for when buying the stuff.
Given the success of that little event though, I have got to believe that similar events featuring good scotch would be wildly successful.
On a funny little side note, truly exceptional Mezcal (no, not the stuff with a worm in the bottle, that is just a dumb thing they do to get tourists to buy cheap firewater) has a mighty similar flavor profile to many scotches. I've always wanted to share some with my scotch loving friends for I think they would find it quite surprising, but alas, one can't get truly exceptional Mezcal in the U.S., it's not even very easy to get within Mexico, except in fine restaurants in Mexico City.
Perhaps someday we shall have to go to CDMX together, have some exceptional Mezcal and pork chops in the Opera Bar.
Hmm. An organized scotch nosing or tequila tasting, where participants can learn what to look for and how to appreciate them… combined with a Masonic book club discussion on which books (articles, podcasts etc) one should pursue next, and how to appreciate them…
As with our MWGM, my first introduction to scotch was not a favorable one. I thought it tasted like medicine, and refused offers of it from that point on. I think it was Chivas Regal or Johnny Walker. Supposedly great Whiskies, but total crap in my opinion.
Then I finally tried one that wasn't like those more well known brands. The Macallan. OMG, that stuff is perfect. I generally drink bourbon and ryes, but I will occasionally treat myself to a decent bottle of 12 year old Macallan when I'm in a festive mood.
As a side historical note, South Korean President Park Chung Hee was assassinated in 1979. It was discovered that he drank Chivas Regal, a black market alcohol (only alcohol made in South Korea was allowed to be sold, thus, it was quite a bit of a scandal when this came to light). The popularity of Chivas Regal skyrocketed after that, and the black market was soon doing quite brisk sales of the stuff. It wasn't until the 1990s when alcohol laws were liberalized, and western styles of booze became more widespread.
But as I said, I think Chivas is garbage, but there's no accounting for taste.
A scotch nosing is a fine event. I went to one in Ottawa in 1991 and have enjoyed single malts since. It’s a treat to compare them with friends.
It’s a great idea to hold events at a Lodge. My neighbor isn’t a Mason (yet!) but he’d love to join us.
We don’t have to start with the Islays, but we have to include them!
I think that this is a truly superb idea from a Mason's Lady, and I agree with you, it would be a superb way to introduce good men to our Fraternity. Just plan a fun evening of tasting, and invite men who would make excellent Freemasons.
I don’t remember exactly when it was that I started enjoying scotch. I do remember the first time I tried it. I was just out of high school and had some Cutty Sark. It was pure kerosene. I’ve been fortunate to have been able to travel to Scotland a couple time and visit several different distilleries and taste some very good whisky.
A Lodge in my district holds a Robert Burns night in February and is a great event. They usually have 5-6 different scotches to drink and raffle off a couple of bottles. Poetry is shared and a faux haggis is served. It’s a fantastic night of fellowship and fun.
The idea of a scotch club or cigar club would be a great way to fellowship and have some fun education.
Scotch is something really new for me. Honestly, I always hated the stuff. (Which is kind of odd given some other booze that I really like, but I'll tell that story in a minute.)
But then my Masonic mentor VW Andre Dewald gave me a really good bottle when I was appointed DDGM, and that started to turn me on to it. Most recently Doric Lodge gave me the greatest tasting bottle I've ever had when I became GM, so now I've decided that I am a genuine Scotch man.
Turns out, I was just drinking some mighty bad stuff I guess.
As for the haggis though, come to Centennial Lodge in my hometown of Snohomish, they serve the real thing!
scotch tasting would be a excellent way for the Brothers to assemble and spend time outside a regular Lodge meeting. I would especially enjoy if we could also have a nice cigar to go along with the fine scotch!! Masonic education while gathered would be a huge plus!!
You know that I've got to agree with the cigar idea!
The new house (we moved a few months back) has an interesting basement, in that it was a beauty salon in the 1950's. So, it has a seperate entrance, a large open room, and an attached bathroom.
Once all the junk that we haven't unpacked yet is out of there, the plan is to turn it into a cigar lounge. I can see a lot of evenings with the brothers, enjoying spirits and the leaf!
Thank you for the link to "An Introduction to Scotch". Very fine summary and primer. I've been a single malt taster for many years and will do so for Life. When I was at university, the cheap blends made us think we were real scotch drinkers. Of course, not so much! Once I discovered single malts, what an education! The possibility of starting a Lodge scotch tasting club is a great one and I hope to do so in my home Lodge and maybe in the Lodges in my District. Once again, thanks for the great education.
Excellent VW! Very glad to hear that you plan to move ahead with the idea!
Many years ago, I hosted a Tequila tasting event and class at my home as a small fundraiser for the Lodge.
I guess that I've spent so many years in Mexico over the decades that I've gotten to know tequila exceptionally well, but much like Scotch, people try the cheap stuff (or even the expensive stuff that is really cheap stuff just with better marketing in the US) and decide that they don't like tequila.
Excellent tequila is nothing like cheap tequila, but one has to be taught to know what to look for when buying the stuff.
Given the success of that little event though, I have got to believe that similar events featuring good scotch would be wildly successful.
On a funny little side note, truly exceptional Mezcal (no, not the stuff with a worm in the bottle, that is just a dumb thing they do to get tourists to buy cheap firewater) has a mighty similar flavor profile to many scotches. I've always wanted to share some with my scotch loving friends for I think they would find it quite surprising, but alas, one can't get truly exceptional Mezcal in the U.S., it's not even very easy to get within Mexico, except in fine restaurants in Mexico City.
Perhaps someday we shall have to go to CDMX together, have some exceptional Mezcal and pork chops in the Opera Bar.
Hmm. An organized scotch nosing or tequila tasting, where participants can learn what to look for and how to appreciate them… combined with a Masonic book club discussion on which books (articles, podcasts etc) one should pursue next, and how to appreciate them…
Yep. I think that the idea is a winner!
As with our MWGM, my first introduction to scotch was not a favorable one. I thought it tasted like medicine, and refused offers of it from that point on. I think it was Chivas Regal or Johnny Walker. Supposedly great Whiskies, but total crap in my opinion.
Then I finally tried one that wasn't like those more well known brands. The Macallan. OMG, that stuff is perfect. I generally drink bourbon and ryes, but I will occasionally treat myself to a decent bottle of 12 year old Macallan when I'm in a festive mood.
As a side historical note, South Korean President Park Chung Hee was assassinated in 1979. It was discovered that he drank Chivas Regal, a black market alcohol (only alcohol made in South Korea was allowed to be sold, thus, it was quite a bit of a scandal when this came to light). The popularity of Chivas Regal skyrocketed after that, and the black market was soon doing quite brisk sales of the stuff. It wasn't until the 1990s when alcohol laws were liberalized, and western styles of booze became more widespread.
But as I said, I think Chivas is garbage, but there's no accounting for taste.
Thanks for sharing this story about South Korea, that is interesting to know.
The current favorite, thanks to the Brothers at Doric Lodge is Scarabus. It is superb.
Not scotch, but your Lodge gifted me a bottle of Bainbridge, and that too is quite excellent! I've been enjoying it slowly.