This September, LAWS tasting meetings officially resumed with a rematch: Chris and I (Adam) stepped into the ring and again duked it out to see who could choose the best bottles from their collections for a blind tasting meeting.

I won the first Battle of the Collectors (last year), and I again defended my title. Whatever that title is, I don't know, but it probably has "Super Awesome Person" somewhere in it. At least, that's what the certificate I'm going to make for myself will say. Let me know if you want a copy.
 

Leading the charge was a 27-year-old Port Ellen, bottled for the Japanese market.

The rules were: we each had to contribute 3 single malts that were not one of the 1,189 whiskies currently listed on the LAWS website, with a total cost of about $600. One sherried, one traditionally bourbon-casked, and one peated Islay style. Importantly, we couldn't have tried the whiskies before ourselves.

The group tasted all six whiskies blind, and each member assigned a personal rating to each bottle. I got the highest average score, but it was pretty close.  

[Editorial Note by Chris - We were tied based on the first 4 whiskies, and his peated entry beat mine by 1/3 a letter grade.  This is statistically insignificant, and therefore I am also making myself a Super Awesome Person certificate.]

Credit goes to the Duke for having all his bottles actually being long-gone collectibles. My approach was solely for flavor while ignoring release dates. If we do this again, I think the new rule should be that bottles must have been off shelves for a minimum number of years.

 Adam  Chris

 Port Ellen 1982 The Taster    Ardbeg 1974 CC

 Glenury Royal 1968 Tullibardine 1973 Signatory

"Speyside's Finest Distillery" OMC Cardhu 1975 Signatory 

(As usual, ratings/reviews will appear as members motivate).