Raising Glasses Whiskey Tasting with the founders - John Hsu and Lorri Kern

As you well know, we love independent bottlers! When we discovered this new one that’s bottled some of our favorite distilleries, we had to get in touch and feature them in our group.

Please welcome Raising Glasses for our first of two tastings! This one will focus on WHISKEY. 3 expression of American Single Malt from our friends at Westland, 3 expressions of Single Malt Scotch from the Linkwood Distillery (one of my favorites!), and a sneaky ½ oz taste of their barrel of 21 year old Port Dundas – a mothballed single grain distillery.

We will have the founders, Lorri and John join us to tell us all about the brand and the liquid we’re tasting.

Here is the lineup for what we’re going to taste:

• Port Dundas 21 year old – Finished in a Sherry Octave – 55.7% (1/2oz)
• Westland 8 yr American Single Malt in Rum Cask
• Westland 8 yr American Single Malt in PX Sherry Cask
• Westland 9 yr American Single Malt in Banyuls Cask
• Linkwood Single Malt Scotch 9 yr Oloroso Sherry Butt
• Linkwood Single Malt Scotch 10 yr Oloroso Quarter Cask
• Linkwood Single Malt Scotch 10 yr Madeira Cask

Info on each expression

1 : Opulence (Port Dundas Single Grain Scotch 21 yr)
Being the savages we are, we purchased a brand new Oloroso sherry quarter cask (those suckers are NOT cheap) and used it to age over half of the Port Dundas for the last 9 months. The smaller size of the quarter cask accelerates the aging process (higher ratio of wood surface area to total liquid volume), imparting an oakier backbone and the rich fig & pistachio flavors of a first fill Oloroso sherry cask. Its deep copper hue will satisfy “Dark AF” fetishists too (you know who you are) !

21 yr Hogshead + 6 mo Oloroso Sherry Quarter Cask

55.7% cask strength ABV, Outturn: 150 Bottles estimated

2 : Stories (Westland 8 yr American Single Malt in Rum Cask)

The first bottle in our “Seattle Musician Series”, in honor of Brandi Carlile
Our “STORIES” 8 year American Single Malt bottling features Westland’s Five Malt barley recipe finished for 4 years 8 months in a Barbados rum cask, creating a well rounded medley with notes of powdery cocoa, brown sugar, toffee and lemon peel.

Cask Strength 55% ABV • No Additives or Chill Filtering

5% of profits go to the Looking Out Foundation

3 : Bloom (Westland 8 yr American Single Malt in PX Sherry Cask)
The second bottle in our “Seattle Musician Series”, in honor of Kurt Cobain

This “BLOOM” American Single Malt bottling features features Westland Distillery’s Pale Malt barley and is matured for 8+ years in a Pedro Ximenez sherry cask, featuring notes of figs, oatmeal, mincemeat & ripe autumn fruits in sophisticated harmony.

Distilled: 2/15

Bottled 11/23

Cask Strength 59% ABV

No Additives, Coloration or Chill Filtering

4 : Voodoo (Westland 9 yr American Single Malt in Banyuls Cask)
The third bottle in our “Seattle Musician Series”, in honor of Kurt Cobain

We honor the hometown of Westland Distillery with artwork inspired by Seattle’s greatest musicians. This “VOODOO” 9 yr American Single Malt bottling features Westland’s Peated Malt barley finished for 5 years in a Banyuls dessert wine French oak cask, resulting in a wicked union with notes of luscious grapes, gentle smoke, savory herbs and salted pretzels.

Distilled: 7/2014

Rerack into Banyuls: 10/2018

Bottled 11/2023

Cask Strength 57% ABV

No Additives or Chill Filtering

5 : Emergence (Linkwood Single Malt Scotch 9 yr Oloroso Sherry Butt)

Linkwood has always been a long time favorite here with the Raising Glasses staff and we jumped at the chance to obtain an entire sherry butt of this legendary Scotch. Its intensely floral nose immediately captivated us, followed by flavors of citrus zest, honey, fresh stone fruit and a toasty malty backbone.

The first in our series of Linkwood releases, this EMERGENCE edition was fully matured for 9 yrs in a refill oloroso sherry butt and bottled at cask strength, resulting in a dram of velvety oily texture and powerful elegance.

Distilled: 9/2013

Bottled: 1/2023

Age: 9 yr

ABV: 60.6%

6 : Ascendance (Linkwood Single Malt Scotch 10 yr Oloroso Quarter Cask)

The second in our Linkwood series, this ASCENDANCE edition was matured for 9+ yrs in a refill Oloroso sherry butt, then finished for 9 mo in an Oloroso sherry quarter cask, then bottled at cask strength. The double Oloroso maturation makes for a majestic dram of dark fruit, leather, bitter almonds and citrus-infused honey.

ALC.59.1% BY VOL CASK STRENGTH

700ml

DISTILLED 9/2013

BOTTLED 9/2023

AGED 10 YEARS DISTILLED AT LINKWOOD DISTILLERY

OUTTURN 167 BOTTLE

7 : Eminence (Linkwood Single Malt Scotch 10 yr Madeira Cask)
The third in our Linkwood series, this EMINENCE edition was matured for 9+ yrs in a refill Oloroso sherry butt, then finished for 9 mo in a first fill Madeira cask, then bottled at cask strength. The Madeira maturation makes for a decadent dram redolent of stone fruit nectar, tropical syrup and floral oils.

ALC.58.3% BY VOL CASK STRENGTH

700ml

DISTILLED 9/2013

BOTTLED 9/2023

OUTTURN 207 BOTTLES

About our speakers: John and Lorri:

John Hsu and Lorri Kern are serial entrepreneurs with 6 previous companies in various industries including music, technology, and market research. As long time collectors of whisky, rum and other fine spirits (currently over 1000 bottles, at least half of which do NOT suck!) we’ve always longed for a chance to turn our addiction into a real company so we could collect great casks from all over the world, have an endless supply of booze, and qualify for semi-dubious tax deductions!

The sale of John’s 22 year old web software company in 2020 enabled us to finally pursue this dream! We kinda forgot how hard it is to do a startup (especially one that’s 49% filling out legal forms, 49% lifting extremely heavy boxes, and 2% drinking of alcoholic beverages), so Raising Glasses will be our final company.

We love sharing spirits and talking about spirits almost more than drinking them, so feel free to hit us up via email, DM, Facebook, Instagram, smoke signals or Westeros raven!

About Raising Glasses:

Raising Glasses is a Boston-based independent bottler of single cask whiskies and rums and a licensed MA distributor/wholesaler since 2021. We bottle our spirits with no additives and at cask strength (whenever possible). Every bottle features original artwork commissioned specifically for that bottle and 5% of the profits of our “Folklore” Rum series go to a charity from the rum’s country of origin.

Our whiskies include Port Dundas, Linkwood, Westland and New Riff and our rums include bottlings from Barbados (Foursquare), Australia (Beenleigh), Madeira (O Reizinho), Boston (Privateer), Guyana (DDL), Martinique (Le Galion), Réunion (Savanna) and Thailand.

We believe that drinking spirits should be fun, informative, affordable and transparent, and that’s reflected in our tastings which are entertaining, educational and packed with inside stories behind every bottle!

Our bottlings are available for purchase and direct delivery to your home in 42 states!

____________________________________________________________________________

As always, the samples are complementary when you sign up for the experience.

In person handoff/pickups are encouraged.

We have pickup locations in:

• Burbank
• Culver City
• Torrance
• Bellflower

If you select "Local Pickup" please reach out to us so we can connect you with with your local group.

Shipping is possible but we are not responsible for loss, damage or delays once packages are tendered to the shipping service or its designated representative.

International shipping is not available at this time.

*We may share your contact information with the brand. By signing up for this event you agree to allow us to do that*