The Scottish Spirit: Whisky
Ah Whisky, the spirit of the north. I couldn’t go to Scotland without fully immersing myself in this beverage.
Note - I’ll be talking Scottish Whisky, otherwise known as Scotch. Remember, there are subtal differences between Scotch, Irish Whiskey, Bourbon and Tennessee Whiskey. Although you wouldn’t call it ‘Scotch’ in Scotland, it is worth remembering that when they spell ‘Whisky’ it doesn’t have the ‘E’ that the rest have.
To call this Scottish Whisky or Scotch, it must be both distilled and aged (for a minimum of 3 years) in Scotland.
One of the distilleries that I visited while in Scotland was Dalwhinnie - I drink Dalwhinnie at home, it’s well priced supermarket available release ‘Winter’s Gold’ is an unpeated drinkable scotch and was a good introduction into the world of Whisky. However I was there to try their 15yo, and exclusive Distillery Editions.
The private tasting allowed me to taste 4 different varieties paired with chocolate (I’m always in for a pairing), and these worked exceptionally well.
One of my favourite Whisky’s was the Olorosso cask aged Distillers Edition. Aged for 15 years, with it’s time finishing in Olorosso Sherry casks, this Whisky developed deep flavours and a rich colour. Fruitier than I was expecting, at first I thought Christmas spiced fruit, which moved onto warm apple and blackberry crumble with a toasted nuttyness - either way, sweet, fruity and delicious. I took some of this up a mountain with me the next day and enjoyed it mid hike (shortly after I got hammered with rain, although the photo wouldn’t let you believe this).
There is an art to evaluating the tasting notes of Whisky, and it is NOT the same as wine. For me, I felt the flavours were enhanced on both the nose and palette by adding a few drops of water into the glass. Some people feel this dampens the flavour, and it can mute some Whisky’s but for this one it helped the aromas open up and the heavy alcohol fumes were easier to get past to really sniff and enjoy this.
As mentioned, Dalwhinnie are an unpeated distillery - which means when they dry their grains out they don’t use peat which gives a very characteristic smokey flavour. If you find this overpowering in your drinks try an unpeated version from Dalwhinnie, with a few drops of water and see if it opens your eyes to the world of Scotch.
