Taking time here to evaluate
Chalet Party Shoppe's St. Patrick's Tasting Event.
First of all, I brought a rookie with me, so I didn't have the chance to visit all of the tables. But that's ok, because it's always a great opportunity to introduce someone new to Chalet's great tasting events!
Table 10 had the standard
Jameson Irish Whiskey, Paddy Irish Whiskey and of course when you're talking Irish whiskey, you can't forget Red Breast.
I'm a huge Jameson fan, but wasn't offered to taste that one. I did, however,
ask to taste the Red Breast 12 Year. I was surprised that it wasn't smoother, at $49.99 a bottle. The taste was good, with a peppery spice finish and hints of a spicy liquorice. Although, I think, I'll stick to my Jack Daniels. (If I want liquorice flavor I'll drink Anisette.)
One of my favorites, Randy of RNDC, was manning
Table 6. Randy was probably more prepared for the crowd than anyone. He had an inexpensive Concannon Irish Whiskey mixed with ginger ale, ready to go, that went down smooth. Also, he had poured some Michael Collins Irish Whiskey and Tullamore Dew samples.
The Michael Collins has a very similar taste to one of my favorites,
Jameson. It is however, a little less expensive. Smooth, for the every day whiskey drinker.
For a little smoother taste (and not the average whiskey neat drinker), he also had Tullamore Dew poured. Tullamore Dew has a higher concentration of malt than your typical grain whiskeys, and is triple distilled, but still very reasonably priced.
Finally,
Table 4, had nothing involving the Irish, but I loved it. It's no surprise that Kevin from Crossroad Vintners had something to trick my trigger.
He had a couple of drinks mixed in shakers and was giving small tastings of those. I got a chance to taste the
Mezcal Jalapeno and the
Bone Snapper. The Bone Snapper reminded me of the
Italian Assassin, which is one of my favorite drinks, just a little lighter. I was surprised I liked the
Mezcal Jalapeno, so well, because I'm not typically a hot pepper person. Although, I do enjoy the taste of a good tequila!
Kevin also had a
Smokey Margarita and
Backbone Manhattan ready for anyone to taste!
Great table! Thanks, Kevin!
When asked for a sweet wine, Stan was able to point us in the right direction.
Table 9 had Enotria Moscato, which was the closest thing to a sweet wine in the whole tasting. For my sidekick, that was a little disappointing. Chalet tasting advisors might consider Moscatos are more popular now because more people like sweeter wines.
However, we did enjoy the new Shock Top HoneyCrisp Apple Wheat Beer, that Anheuser Busch brought to their table. We spent the night comparing it to the Redd's Apple Ale. I enjoyed both, but my sidekick preferred the Shock Top. Just goes to show everyone has their own palate!
Note: There were a number of wine tables I did not visit, and other tables that I have not mentioned in this article. Watch for future blog entries and updates to this article.