whiskey tasting

Last night I joined Chip, Judy, and some of their friends downtown Oberursel for whiskey tasting! I learned a lot about the whiskey industry and different types of whiskey AND had a great time. We were served a tasty meal of bread, red lentil soup, and salmon and herb cream cheese on kartolfel puffins (little potato cakes).

Then, the whiskey expert (she has won awards) poured us all a whiskey rinse - poorer quality whiskey to swish all the food particles away and basically numb our tongue and gums. The numbing only lasted for a few minutes, as promised.

Next, we were each given a placemat (mine is pictured below) with a 2.5 ml glass of whiskey on each labeled circle:


We started with an 18 year old Speyside Single Malt called Tomatin (stress on the 'ma'). Speyside is the region of Scotland where this (and others we tasted) were made. We learned the proper way to drink: begin by deeply inhaling the aroma of the whiskey two or three times, drink a good mouthful and swish in your mouth at least one second for every year the whiskey has been aged, breath while swishing and smacking, swallow and exhale with your lips in the shape of an 'O'. This whiskey had flavors of vanilla, honey, and pear and when I exhaled there was a mild after taste of campfire (like roasted marshmallows - the expert said only Americans would say that).

We moved on to MacDuff - a 24 year old Highland Single Malt whiskey (and most expensive). This whiskey is only sold by the cask and had a smooth cherry, orange, grassy flavor. We tasted it again after eating a square of dark chocolate which brought out a slightly salty flavor - very agreeable (chocolate makes everything better. This whiskey is a blend (most are) consisting of 60% casked in recycled American Bourban casks and 40% recycled Spanish Sherry casks. The U.S. prohibits the reuse of casks so the American companies sell their old casks to the Scots for a real bargain. These casks are made from more poreous oak which has to be singed before making the Bourban and gives a slightly smoky flavor. The Spanish casks are made from more dense European oak and even the used ones are very expensive.

The next two were 12 year old Dufftown and 11 year old Benrinnes, both Speyside Single Malts. These two smelled very similar, used a percentage of Sherry casks, came from the same area of Scotland, were about the same age, and had almost the same alcohol content (58.9% and 57.8% - the other whiskeys were all around 40%). However, they tasted completely different! The first had a somewhat soapy flavor and was too strong for me. In fact, I added water to both of them (but not enough to dilute the alcohol content below 30% or it wouldn't be considered whiskey anymore). The second was much smoother. We retasted it after chewing on a chocolate covered coffee bean and it was amazing. We were told this particular whiskey is great in expresso with sugar. The difference in the two was in the distilling process. All distillers use a different sized and shaped distiller (but all are made from copper). And, they all have their own recipe for how long the barley is cooked, whether the steam escapes downward or upward, etc. But Benrinnes is one of the few who distill their whiskey 2 1/2 times rather than just 2 times. It made a huge difference in the flavor.

Our last two whiskeys were "peated" whiskeys (the barley was roasted over peat). The first was 7 year old Bowmore, an Islay single malt from the Isle of Islay. It had a slightly salty flavor because the distillary warehouse walls are also the sea wall during high tide! The second was 6 year old McDouglas, a vatted Islay malt also from the Isle of Islay. "Vatted" meant that a blend of several single malt whiskeys were mixed together - all from the Isle of Islay. These were both very strong whiskeys that I thought tasted very smoky (or as the expert said, very "peaty"). Even adding water didn't improve the flavor. Others in the group liked these the best. We had them last because the strong flavors would have interferred with the more delicate whiskeys we were served earlier.

Why is whiskey so expensive?? Well, you've already heard about some of the reasons. In addition, the heating process is expensive. There are three different washes over the barley which extract the sugar. Each is a little hotter than the previous. When the third wash cools about 20 degrees, it is used as the first wash for the next batch of barley to help save energy. Also, the casks lose about 3% volume each year during the aging process through the pores of the wood (1% alcohol and 2% liquid). And finally, only about 20% of ALL whiskey actually matures to the "house standard" of the particular distillary, the other 80% is unsellable. Even with monthly testing, a batch can go "bad" late in the maturing process.

Can you tell, I was really interested in the whole process and took good notes!! :) The most important thing I learned - old whiskey is expensive, but great with chocolate!

I purchased the bottle of 24 year old whiskey on the right - 100 ml for nearly 10 Euros or 1 liter for 100 Euros!!! I just wanted Murilo to taste it :). The store also sells wine, vinegar, oil, and other spirits. People can bring their own bottles OR purchase one at the shop. I also purchased the small bottle of a Balley's-like liquer that sold for only 3 Euro for 100 ml. I had so much fun and learned a lot but it sure was hard getting up for school this morning!