Whisky, Water and Ice

Whisky Water and Ice.

First of all let me say that you should drink your whisky the way you like it best! It's like with wine. What law says you should drink red wine with red meat? If you prefer white wine or beer or milk to accompany your steak that's fine. The only thing that you could say is that a lot of people like to drink red wine with red meat. And dry white wine with fish. And sweet wine with your desert.  But in the end you decide!

In the case of drinking whisky however, it is always advisable to drink sufficient amounts of water as well to avoid dehydration, headache and hangovers! 

Another question all together is whether you should put water or ice in your whisky. Let's start with the ice. If you drink whisky because your girlfriend or boyfriend left you or any other reasons that might give you the blues it's better to drink your whisky with lots of ice! First of all that's less damaging to your health and secondly the ice helps to hide eventual deficiencies in the cheaper whisky. Because you don't open up an expensive Single Malt if you just want to forget!

On the other hand, when the weather is nice, you're outside and you take a little whisky as an appetizer you might consider to add a cube or two. Certainly refreshing! Lots of people from France and Italy drink their whiskies like that.

A little bit of ice or a small amount of still water will also help open up whiskies, particularly those that have a high volume of alcohol. Say Above 45% or 90 proof (USA). 

But be careful because a little too much can drown the whisky completely. It's a matter of experimenting I guess. Try a few drops first, taste and add some more if needed. 

When you really taste the whisky (for the sake of tasting and not for the sake of drinking) it's usually a good idea to add a couple of drops to be able to determine the effect. Does it bring more flavors to the nose? Does it take away a bit of the harsh alcohol or spices on the palate? Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I usually prefer to drink the Single Malts and very good blends straight and the day to day blended whiskies or bourbons with a bit of ice. In the individual tasting notes you can always find what a bit of water does to the whisky. In the end however you decide what you like best. But don't be afraid to experiment. I'm sure there will be lots of people around the world that will drink their Johnny Walker Red Label or Jack Daniels on the rocks for all their lives and are perfectly happy. That might be the case but they do miss a lot!!

Jan 

  

Whisky and (Artificial) Colorants

                                      Colorants in Whisky.         

One of my colleagues made the remark to me today that all whiskies seem to have the same color. In fact most blended whiskies and, unfortunately, a large number of single malts indeed contain (artificial) colorant, usually caramel. The idea behind it is twofold:

1- First of all, blended whisky producers will certainly aim to offer a consistent product (taste, presentation and color) at all times. This consistency makes that people come back again and again for the same product. And as different casks of spirit present a different natural color after maturation, a coloring agent is used at the moment of bottling. I don't see anything wrong with that as such for blended whiskies. Although there is a growing tendency to overdo it;

2- The second reason is that lots of people think that darker whisky (gold color) is better or older than lighter colored spirit. This is absolutely not true. In fact that's why Single Malts that do not contain any colorant are usually sold in green bottles to " hide" the lighter color from the potential buyers.

As I can understand and appreciate the reasons of presenting blended whiskies as a consistent product, I do not agree with adding colorant to Single Malts. I think the true value of Single Malts is the unique combination of distillery characteristics, region of production, water and barley used, craftsmanship, wood and what have you more that in the end determines the individual end product that is called Single Malt. Therefore I believe that different colors for different Single Malts should  be allowed to exist.

Jan

How To Store Whisky

Storage of Whisky.

Most single malts and all excellent blends have matured for at least 10 years. So the product is ready and matured when it's bottled. Different from wine it will not get any better in the bottle. So does it get worse? I think that with modern technology most bottles will be sufficiently closed so no air can come in.

If then the bottles are stored in a cool place (not too warm and not too cold) and are not exposed to direct sunlight, it is fair to believe that the whisky will stay okay for decades and decades. Provided they are always kept in the upright position to avoid any leakage. Personally I can't and won't wait decades to open my bottles. First of all I'm to old for that and secondly I want to taste my whiskies!

It's something else completely if you ask me if you can store whisky for a long time after having opened the bottle. Once exposed to oxygen the whisky might lose some of its original characteristics. In July I bought a bottle of Bowmore Enigma, a very fine Single Malt from the island of Islay. You will find it high on my list of favorites so far. One of the distillery characteristics is the skillful combination of not too heavy peat smoke and not too heavy sherry finish. However, we are now in November and the bottle  contains less than half of the original 1 liter. This means of course more oxygen in the bottle. As a result, a large part of the original smoke is gone. It's still a fine dram but it's not the same whisky I opened in July. So I suppose it's best to finish the bottle in say three months. That's too fast? Then you could consider decanting the whisky into smaller bottles so it will have less contact with oxygen. 

At all times however, keep the bottles (opened or unopened) out of the sun. Not so easy here in Brazil!! 

Jan

The Nosing of Whisky

Today I would like to share my experiences with you on the subject of nosing whisky. I didn't start by poking my nose in my Tasting Glass trying to detect Wet Violets on a Sunday Morning in a little village south east of Vienna. Instead I started to read about the basic flavors that can be detected on the nose and on the palate when tasting whisky. So I started sniffing and tasting fresh and dried fruits, marmalade, honey, sherry, beer, spices like pepper, cinnamon and crave , lemon and orange zests, coffee, tea , corn syrup, toffee, cake, fresh bread and chocolate. After that I learnt about the different regions of productions and I started to nose flowers, heather, ashes, leather and salt. When I had to go to the port of Santos for my work I even went for a walk around the quays sniffing cables, fish, brine, the sea etc.

Of course It was impossible to remember all these impressions during my first tasting sessions but after some 10 different whiskies including Single Malts, Blends and Bourbons I felt I started making progress. In the meantime I've done over 60 whiskies and I now feel much more comfortable when I start nosing. To get you under way, here are some tips that might help:

The Nosing of whisky takes time. On average I nose the whisky on at least two different days, each time for at least 20 to 30 minutes. This gives the whisky enough time to open up in the glass. In case you only give it a couple of sniffs, the chance is very high that you will only get one or maybe two of the 4 main odours that usually pop up in whisky:

1-  Malt. In the end whiskey is made from malted grains;

2-  Wood and spices from the contact of the spirit with the American Oak Bourbon casks;

3-  Sweet Sherry from the Spanish Sherry Casks;

4-  Smoke and Peat in all whisky from Islay and some other islands as well as some (coastal ) distilleries on the Scottish mainland. But in other whisky producing countries like Ireland and Japan you will also find peated whiskies.

One last important tip: If you stick the whole of your nose in the nosing glass, you will probably just get the wafts of alcohol. Try to nose the rims of the glass and use all angles. You will see or rather smell different flavours in different places.

Auchentoshan 12 Years Review

Country: Scotland

Brand: Auchentoshan

Type: Single Malt Whisky

Region: Lowlands

Age: 12 Years

Alcohol: 40%

Tasting Dates: 06/11/2011 and 29/04/2012

Colour: Copper

Nose: Oak, Malt and Biscuits at first. Some Floral tone. This whisky really needs opening up before it reveals anything at all. Hints of Spices, Dried Fruits and Baked Apples. Lemon and Caramel. Disappointing really for a Single malt.

Taste: The delivery is very smooth and a bit sweet with some light Sherry, a hint of Leather and Spices like Cinnamon and White Pepper. Quite uneventful. 

Finish: Medium Dry Finish with light Honey, Oak and Lemon.

Rating: 80

Nose: 20 – Taste: 20.5 – Finish: 19.5 – Overall: 20

General Remarks:

This Single Malt is triple-distilled just like most Irish whisky. Maybe that explains both its smoothness and lack of personality.

Don’t add water to this Auchentoshan for you will drown it completely although it does add more malt to the nose.  

Drinking Experience Neat: Good

Conclusion: Certainly easy going on the palate . But we should expect more from a Single Malt. This is only slightly better than your average blend and it’s much more expensive. No value for money whatsoever.

Jan van den Ende