I occasionally like ice in my Whisky.

There I’ve said it.

Of course this all harks back to my mantra; Let someone tell you how to drink your whisky when they start to pay for your whisky.

So let’s talk about ice.  As we all know, most industry professionals will tell you that the best way to enjoy a glass of whisky is neat or with a drop or two of water.  They will normally tell you that it “opens up the flavours.”  But what is actually happening?

Without going into too much chemistry, you are releasing some aromas and masking others.  But most importantly for our olfactory senses you are cutting the alcohol, breaking the surface tension and kick-starting an exothermic reaction.  This release of heat invigorates aroma molecules, which can then travel out of the glass more easily, opening up the whisky.

This is not the whole story though.  Within the glass you are also breaking up groups of alcohols and long chain hydrocarbons.  These can and usually do trap shorter chain molecules.  These molecules are essentially aromas.   The whisky’s flavours are literally being released.  And this is where things get interesting.


If you pick up a glass, generally the first thing you do is smell it (us Scots might check the quantity in it, but then we generally go for a nosing straight after).  The best way to enhance this experience is with some water.

Aside: If you are unsure about adding water, my advice is to add a drop at a time until the whisky smells and tastes best for your palate.  Remember you can always add more water to a whisky, but to take it out requires a distillery, a cask and a minimum of 3 years.  I will also add that not all whiskies will benefit from water or ice, some are at there most delicious in their natural state.


Chilling a whisky down will have the opposite effect on the nose.  The aromas will be encouraged to the bottom of the glass as the temperature decreases.  What will happen though, is a steady release of aromas as the whisky warms up over time.  A unique and satisfying way of drinking.

Another thing to remember is that some whiskies have top notes that some of us don’t like.  An extremely good way to get over the ‘Whisky’ smell that has put you off the stuff since you were 15 and pilfering whisky from your dad, is to cool it down so these top notes disappear, and enjoy the richer sweeter aromas peeking through.

Finally, harking back to the chemistry earlier, this 2007 blog post by Martin Lersch analyses a study which explains that releasing the flavour compounds in whisky is enhanced by the addition of water.  It also mentions another effective way of releasing flavours.  Coupled with this dilution, the most effective way of releasing flavour compounds in a whisky is, surprisingly, a reduction in temperature.

Even the Scientists have your back!

So what’s the scientifically correct way of drinking a whisky?  With this chemistry, my advice is to add a drop of water to release the aromas, but make sure that before drinking you wash your mouth out with ice cold water for maximum enhancement.  Or do what I do, add a lump of ice… and wait.

Cheers,
Craig


In my glass:  Glencadam 15 over a massive lump of ice.


Bibliography and diagrams:

http://blog.khymos.org/2007/06/03/new-perspectives-on-whisky-and-water/

September has been super busy, helping me get over the hard working week on Islay at the end of August.  Apart from launching this blog, I’ve also had a crazy schedule of events keeping me moving and shaking in the Whisky World.  Here are some of the highlights:

Olaf Meier

The distillery, Blaue Maus, is situated in Robert’s garage and he takes the production process very seriously.  In his garage he has a traditional german Schnapps still where he distils all of his spirit twice, collecting the heart of the run in sophisticated spirit safe, just like this one…




Blaue Maus New Make Spirit 82.7% 
This was in a small lemonade bottle with a hand-written label.  It had huge whiffs of barley and dust, as well as raisins.  Water brought out liquorice and a chocolatey after taste.




Blaue Maus 13 year old, 40%
2nd Fill Cask, distilled May 1998, bottled August 2011
Incredible balance, lots of gingerbread and peppermint with a long, herbal, aromatic finish.




Blaue Maus 14 year old, 40%
1st Fill Cask, distilled June 1990, bottled February 2005
From the last bottle of a batch used at the 1st ever Munich Whisky Festival.  This new oak example was orangey, woody, spicy and medicinal.  Water brought out tobacco and sugar puffs.




Spinnacker 12 years old 48.2%
1st Fill Cask, distilled July 1999, bottled July 2011
Made using chocolate roasted malt this was fruity, woody, meaty and almost cloying in its richness




Elbe 1 15 years old 40%
2nd Fill Cask, distilled June 1996, bottled July 2011
This whisky reminded me of a distillery.  Barley, wort and tea with too much sugar in it.  Lightest of the line up, but also sweetest.




Otto’s Uisge Beatha 3 years old 47.4%
Distilled September 2007, bottled July 2011
The first peated whisky from Germany.  So much colour, so much flavour.  As a fan of the Islays, the level of peat and flavour in here intrigued me.  Reminding me of painting fences with bitumen and burning tar.  A corker of a dram.  This was bottled exclusively for Otto, a German shop owner who loves the spirits from Blaue Maus.  He was correct, this whisky was ready at 3!




Cheers,
Craig



In my glass Blaue Maus 13 year old 2nd Fill

The only civilised stags I’ve seen were mounted at Deanston and Glenfiddich

I’m just back from a 5 dram tasting at 10am for what was described as a ‘Civilised Stag Party.’  A bit of an oxymoron, you might think, if you’ve ever been out on a Saturday night in Edinburgh recently.  I think that civilised wasn’t too far off the mark, but to be honest the more accurate terminology might be ‘burst’, considering they had been out in Ratho the night before.

Anyway, the whole affair got me thinking about delivering a tasting experience they would remember, at least until the next pub.

Theory has it that the taste buds are at their most effective first thing in the morning, before we have contaminated them with anything else.  What do you do if you can still taste last night’s nondescript meat kebab and the last two or three Jagerbombs that your stag party decided you had to down before chaining you to a lamppost?
What I am about to share is a tasting technique that is not only for these occasions, in fact, I think that a 5 dram whisky tasting on these occasions is probably the worst way to treat a hangover.  It is a tasting technique that can soften the blow of a cask strength whisky early doors, and I find it a fascinating way to release a delicate and generally sweet experience from the most unlikely of drams.

It is also a great way to savour an Islay with water, without diluting the robust smoky aroma.  (A great number of friends love the smell of Islay drams, but detest the flavour.)



If you are NOT an Islay fan, grab a dram of your least favourite and try this, I would love to see if I can use it to convert you to the darker side of Single Malt Scotch…

Here’s the trick:

1. Grab your Islay and take a sip of it neat.  (Maybe punishing for some, but you need to experience the level of peat before to know if this technique works…)  Swirl it around for a few seconds and swallow, just like it was any other whisky.

2. Take a gulp of water to wash away the after taste.

3. Take a second small sip of water, but hold this sip in your mouth…

4. Now physically drink the Whisky through the water…

Tell me you didn’t enjoy that!

And that’s how to introduce an Islay just before breakfast!

Cheers,
Craig

There’s a big tenth anniversary happening tomorrow the likes of which cannot be ignored.  It’s an event that will be of historical interest to most people who find themselves on this page, yet it’s one which most people get by in their day to day lives not really thinking about.

Of course I am talking about Bruichladdich bottling their first ten year old since re-openning their gates back in 2001.

The resurrection of the Laddie is a fantastic tale of hard work, perseverance, determination, blood, sweat and tears and can be recounted in the brilliant book by Stuart Rivans, Whisky Dream: Waking a Giant. A must read for any fans of Scotch Whisky.

It is not this story I would like to tell today, because as I mentioned, it has already been told quite superbly.  It is one I may revisit in future posts though.  What I would like to share on the eve of the Bruichladdich 10, is the story of exactly what goes into a bottle of whisky… a story we all (including myself up until last week) think that we appreciate.

I have just come back from a week of working on Islay.  A Whisky Adventure like no other.  I was invited out to work at Bruichladdich for 4 days, with a day off in the middle to work at Ardbeg.  A privilege it was impossible to turn down and one which made me appreciate even more the effort which goes into a bottle of our favourite tipple.

Here’s what we know from various distillery tours:

To call a whisky a Single Malt Scotch Whisky it must,

1. Be made from malted barley, water and yeast and be fermented with natural enzymes from the barley, no sugar can be added to the mixture
2. It must be distilled in copper pot stills
3. It must be distilled in Scotland
4. It must be matured in Scotland, in oak for a minimum 3 years
5. It must be a minimum 40%abv 
6. It must be the product of one distillery

You Malt It:

Barley is brought into a maltings where it is dressed, steeped, germinated and kilned to a distillery’s specifications before being transported to the distillery.  We tend to forget the farmers who have to grow the barley to a specific standard, and then sell it to the industry.  (Bruichladdich have actually convinced Islay farmers to grow barley on the island for them, this accounts for upwards of 40% of their yield per annum, and has led to a change in rural landscape on Islay.)

You Mill It:

The mashman then mills the barley to a specific grind to ensure he gets the most out of his crop.

You Mash It:

This grist is then mixed with water at a very specific strike temperature (generally 63.5C) to kick-start starch conversion into soluble sugars.

You Ferment It:

The Worts (Useless Information Alert!: short for worthy liquids) are then drained off through an underback, cooled and fed into a washback ready for the addition of yeast to start fermentation.  The final waters are recycled and used in the next batch.  We miss the use of the excess heat from the cooling process being reused to heat the waters for the next batches.  Bowmore even use this heat, as well as heat from other parts of the process for kilning!

You Distil It:

After a few days fermentation, our yeast is spent.  The high alcohol beer (7-10%abv) is then ready for distillation.  Distillation happens at least twice at Scottish malt whisky distilleries and is used to concentrate the alcohol level to upwards of 70%abv.  We don’t get told that the stillman knows which dials are wrong, and which stills generally misbehave.  We also never see the fact that a hot still is emptied as a second one is filled, this ensures that the wash is heated and takes less energy to boil. Engineering ingenuity at its best!



You Mature It:

This spirit is then pumped to the warehouse to be filled, and now the hard work takes on a whole new level!


Most of us are well aware that the Scotch Whisky Industry uses second hand casks for most of its production.  This was traditionally a money saving technique, but is also seen as vital to achieving a certain balance in our whiskies.  I like to think of casks like teabags, every cup of tea made with a single teabag becomes gradually weaker in strength of flavour and colour, the same goes for casks.  Every refill gives less to the whisky.  Casks therefore are the most important component in whisky as we know it today.  We need to use one for at least 3 years to even label our spirit Scotch!

The question is, how much do you know about our oak?

3 years ago I was invited to Jerez in Spain to learn all about oak, and even got the chance to build a sherry butt with a team of my Whisky peers.  This was an eye opening and humbling experience, and still did not cover the whole story!

An oak cask starts it’s life centuries before we even put whisky into it as an acorn.  It then grows straight and true in the forests of Europe, America and Japan before being felled to be honourably coopered into  vessel for holding whisk(e)y.

1. The cask I helped to make had been felled in the north of Spain.  
2. Here it was cut into staves (you get a maximum 2 sherry butts from an oak tree in Spain).  
3. These staves were then shipped to Jerez in the south 
4. They were laid to dry in the Spanish sun for 4 years
5. Then they were coopered into 500 litre sherry butts by 2 Spanish coopers or 6 random whisky geeks

p.s. didn’t mention chill filtration or spirit caramel, because Bruichladdich don’t use those techniques…


In my glass: Bruichladdich Sherry Classic

All About Smoke (and Blues)

Tuesday 20th September
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society
28 Queen Street
Edinburgh
7pm til late

All About Smoke (and Blues) promises to introduce you to the slightly sinister side of peaty whisky and to the musical talents of Booker’s Guitar, an acoustic blues duo from our fair city of Edinburgh.  (Check them out here: Booker’s Guitar on Facebook)

I’ll be presenting 5 smoky whiskies from the excellent inventory of Single Cask, Singe Malt Scotch Whiskies held at The Scotch Malt Whisky Society.  These will be punctuated by stories from my recent trip to Islay, as well as with stories and techniques I’ve picked up from all over the world during the last 8 years of Whisky Adventures.  And if that isn’t enough, this will all be accompanied by a fine supper from the Society’s Michelin Guide recommended kitchen at 28 Queen Street.

If you feel this is of interest and you are a member of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, then get on to http://www.smws.co.uk to book a ticket.  If you are a non-member, and want to see what the Society is all about, again check out their website and call them about tickets and of course membership.