Ladies, want to get closer to your man? When my husband started drinking scotch more than 30 years ago it didn’t take me long to follow him down that road. I had also obtained my first certification from WSET – Wine and Spirits Education Trust – and I had to keep my palate educated. Like wine, you must sample all types of brown spirits to develop your palate. One of the best ways to do that is to join a whiskey club. The Drammers Club is where my husband Eddie and I have met some very nice other whiskey-loving couples, many of whom we socialize with outside of the club.
Drammers Club has members in over 45 cities around the world from the United States to Europe, the Middle East, and as far away as places like India and Singapore. It is a “whiskey, mezcal, and spirits club” that meets regularly in person and online, not to mention organizing group trips to whiskey and mezcal festivals.
The club is the brainchild of Charlie Prince, who likes to tell members that they’ve “got drinking buddies waiting for them all over the world” (and he does actually connect members when they’re traveling so that they can meet up). At events, couples and singles alike taste rare bottles the club has curated, sometimes old bottles they secured at whiskey auctions or special “Drammers Picks” — distillery-only bottlings that you wouldn’t get to try otherwise and that are exclusively available to club members. Their tastings rarely feature any bottles that you can find at your local liquor store.
In Las Vegas, or anywhere in the world for that matter, you’re welcome to join in on a tasting. I like the small intimate groups, the wealth of knowledge presented, the array of whiskey that I would have to look pretty hard to find on my own, and the ladies and gentlemen I’ve met.
At one Drammers event, we met the Glenmorangie National Brand Ambassador, Daniel Crowell. Dan was one of the first in the world to be certified as a Master of Scotch among other esteemed certifications. That night we enjoyed a bottle only available at the distillery in Scotland which was "The Lighthouse" single malt Scotch, aged 12 years in sherry and bourbon casks. The second bottle poured was my favorite of the night: the "extremely rare" 18-year-old bottle, with art by Azuma Makoto who had originally created a sculpture to commemorate the whiskey. The headliner of the night was the "Grand Vintage" 1998, bottled just recently. It had spent 23 years in oak, the final four to five years it was aged in charred American oak, and after 18 years in bourbon barrels it was released in the Grand Vintage Series and sells for $900 a bottle.
At press time, the fee to attend a Drammers Club (www.drammers.com) event is $50 per person. Meetings are held in a hotel suite or a private home and include a light dinner. Pretty good deal for a date night!
Eve Bushman is Wine and Spirits Education Trust certified, a North American Sommelier Association American Wine Specialist®, authored Wine Etiquette for Everyone, and has served as a judge for the Proof Awards, Cellarmasters, LA Wine Competition, Long Beach Grand Cru and the Global Wine Awards.