Inaugural Meeting

Let the record show that the first meeting of the New England Whiskey Society was held on a wretched, blustery President's Day. Pankaj and Brother Daryl hosted the affair, and it was a ringing, boozy success. Their apartment was perfect, having no fewer than three separate liquor stashes, each of which seems to be hidden proportionally to the quality of booze it contains. There were rumors of a floating stash, containing booze so rare that it gets moved from hiding place to hiding place daily. I suspect one of them has a bottle in a briefcase they keep chained to their wrist like the nuclear football.

We tasted ryes - Old Overholt, Jim Beam, Sazerac, and Wild Turkey. That was the official menu, anyway. After a couple of "tastings," Brother Daryl got expansive and revealed a bottle of Old Potrero from Stash #2.

After we'd tasted the entire flight of happy hooch, it was time for cocktails. I was feeling quite proud of myself for scoring some Peychaud's Bitters for authentic sazeracs, but Other Brother Daryle trumped me by bringing some real absinthe for the drinks. And it's true: an authentic sazerac, made with Sazerac rye, Peychaud's and absinthe rather than a pastis, is a truly sublime experience.

Next came Cocktails à la Louisiane, again courtesy of Other Brother Daryle and his bottle of Benedictine. It should be noted that he brought all of his treats in a truly chic liquor attache case that folded out like somthing James Bond would get from Q. Anyway, these were also scrumptious. Next, Brother Daryl made some Manhattans, but he was too woozy to finish the job. Other Brother Daryle and Pankaj got them, though, and seemed appropriately cockeyed.

We then sent Pankaj to work with a definite list to starboard.

Luckily, we had plenty of grub. Linguisa in a blanket, as well as tofu pups in a blanket, pizza, Crab Mornay, and some ginger noodles I prepared, hoping to riff off a rye highball in the spirit of the night. They came out tasty, if I do say so, but were so salty that my fingers were wrinkled after a few bites. Amelia brought some delicious Indian food that was spicy as hell and provided an excellent excuse to drink more.

All in all, a smashing success. Next month, we do Irish whiskies. Tasting notes from rye night to follow.