Slainte!

[ornoth]

Some friends of mine have been running occasional scotch whisky tastings for about a year now. Last night was my first opportunity to attend. I brought along the Highland Park 12 that I think is both very approachable for new folks and quite possibly the best all-around scotch.

Unfortunately, I didn’t take tasting notes, but it was still educational. The only time I’ve ever had the opportunity to sample such a number of different brands was at a tasting in Austin with Rhonda, and that was all Islays, which aren’t my favorite style.

I started out the evening with a bit of the Highland Park 12, just to get my palate adjusted to scotch and set a baseline against which all others were to be compared.

Next I moved on to the familiar Glenmorangie. As expected, it had a bit more sting to it, but was an acceptable product nonetheless.

I wanted to spend the evening progressing from lighter whiskies to darker, more robust ones, so the next item on the list was Benriach, a spirit from Elgin that I’d never tasted before. Word was that it was very light, and I definitely found it so. It was curious. It had very little flavor at all, just a mild alcohol sting. Very drinkable, but not much to write home about.

Frankly, I don’t recall whether the Glenlivet was my next step or not. The Livet’s a fine scotch, whether I had it or not! It’s really about the best of the Speysiders, as far as I’m concerned.

But my next dram was eminently memorable. Bowmore puts out a huge variety of unique treatments, and Fallik had picked up a really dark Bowmore with a sherry finish. It was really robust, with a strong smoky aroma. Of course, like most Islays, it was accompanied by the iodine tang of peat, so I wasn’t as thrilled with it as I’ve been with the Talisker, but it was a strong character, nonetheless.

I approached the Lagavulin 16 last and with the most caution. One of the peatiest Islays, it was a bit of a slog to get through. Really, the only Islay I have any affinity for is the Bruichladdich, which I’ll probably bring along to the next gathering.

Naturally, I closed the evening by clearing my palate with another slug of my beloved Highland Park. It really is head and shoulders above anything else on the market, and it went over extremely well with the group, none of whom had tried it before. Sadly, the drawback of knowing how to pick a good scotch means your bottle might not last more than one session, whereas my friend who brought the Benriach got teased because it had survived no less than three scotch nights, with enough left for at least one more curtain call!

Other scotches I didn’t sample included the Glenfiddich, which I’ve never been a real fan of. Amusingly, I find I’m not attracted to either of the two major styles of scotch—Speyside and Islay—despite their comprising probably 80 percent of the market. I’ll stick to my islands: Orkney and Skye.

But overall it was an interesting and fun evening, and it retained a good balance, being neither too stodgy nor too debauched. I felt very little party-awkwardness, and met a lot of interesting people that I’d like to get to know better.

The next question is how much the stock of scotch changes from session to session. As I say, I’ll probably bring a Bruichladdich next, but I’m curious to see what others bring, although one can presume there’ll always be a stable of the regulars.