Mike found a really interesting article in The Evening Times the other night about the Whisky Festival going on in Glasgow right now. In order to get 20 - 30 somethings more interested and educated on whisky, the festival coordinators set up whisky speed dating sessions. We went to one last night at the Brunswick Hotel Bar.
The sessions were free and it was just a first come, first serve basis. They had four different tables set up and each whisky rep was to bring two different whiskys. Each couple went from table to table and learned all about what the rep brought. We had five minutes at each table and then the bell rang and we moved to the next table. We actually tried nine different whiskys last night and learned all about them and why each one tastes the way they do. It was really interesting to first learn how to actually properly drink them and to learn all about the huge variety of Scottish whiskys. Here are the whiskys that we tried: Johhnie Walker Black Label, Talisker 10 year, Bell's 8 year, Caol Ila 12 year, Dalmore Single Highland Malt, Jura 10 year, Jura Superstition, Glenrothes Select Reserve, and Highland Park 18 year. Our favorite of the night was definitely the Jura whiskys and we highly recommend trying it if at all possible.
I actually tried all of the whiskys whether I liked the smell or not. (We were told if you don't like the smell, you won't like the whisky.) I have actually quite amazed myself over here. Not only have I tried whiskeys, but I have tried haggis (and like it!), eat lamb and beef, actually like Guinness, and generally at least try anything that is put in front of me no matter what it looks like. I've come a long way from the girl who HATED meat and would definitely not eat it unless there was a massive pile of ketchup on my plate and would DEFINITELY not try anything that looked odd. I won't eat pork though, and I'll still choose a salad over steak any day of the week.
3 comments:
ANYONE that does not like Guinness definitely has a screw loose or some type of deficient gene!
When Lynn and I were in Dublin, the Jameson Distillery tour offered a Whiskey tasting session at the end of the tour. They did the same sort of teaching about the differences between all of the various types.
Lucky for me, it was about 10am and I didn't need to be hammered on the tour bus for the rest of the day so I skipped the tastings. Couldn't talk Lynn into doing it either.
So, just how do you "properly" drink whiskey? Shots aren't it? I'm pretty sure they don't recommend mixing with Coke either!
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