Wonderful Whisky

Is anyone else going to the Scotch Malt Whisky Society's Single Malt & Scotch Whisky Extravaganza in San Francisco November 7? It's a pretty deluxe event. (Expensive too.) But they let you try the good stuff, like the 30-year-old Balvenie I had last year. In preparation, I've been drinking a lot of whisky (you know, as opposed to normal) to try to get my mouth ready. The lovely folks at Glenmorangie sent me two bottles recently. They're both 12-year-old single-malts, one finished in sherry wood and the other in port wood. This means that they were originally aged in American Oak casks, then transferred to casks that once held sherry or port. The wood imparts a significant amount of flavor to a whisky, so this was a great way to compare the same stuff in two different types of wood. I can smell the difference in the casks far easier than I can taste the difference. When my tongue gets involved, I notice the similarities in the whiskies rather than the differences. With each sip it seems like I notice something new, then go back to the other bottle and taste it there. All this is all very interesting, but I'm going through both bottles extra fast.