Part 2 of this taste challenge.
How do you take your whisky?
- neat (straight)
- with water
- on the rocks
How Do You Take Yours – part 2
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Tag Archives: scotch
How Do You Take Yours – part 1
Part 1 of this taste challenge. How do you take your whisky?
- neat (straight)
- with water
- on the rocks
In the red corner: the world’s best whisky blender (from the Isle of Jura – see map below video).
In the blue corner: the world’s best cocktail mixer.
It’s the whisky worlds answer to Ali V Foreman, but who will win?
Please leave a comment. How do you take yours?
Preparing the Barley
A great video (just over 4 minutes) that discusses the basics of how barley is brought into the making of single malt Scotch, from allowing the barley to germinate, to smoking it using peat.
Tastings
How would you like the opportunity to taste up to 800 single-malts at one location?
And what about the two questions for any lover of Scotch. Does size matter? Is older really better?
(Size refers to big or small distilleries)
Tastings provide a chance to sip and learn. It’s not all about the booze, either. Tasting get-togethers offer a hearty dose of historical, cultural, and fun facts about our smooth beverage.
With some 800 single malts in stock, the Dundee Dell claims to have the largest ready-to-pour supply of any bar in the world, according to manager Monique Huston.
Although a beginner may say that they all look similar, knowledgeable sorts like Huston, who moderates the tastings at the Dell, can easily distinguish the pale yellows from the ambers and the golds.
Experts look, smell, and taste. They swish the glass and notice the stickiness. They smell and notice different scents which could remind you and I of banana or butterscotch, and others. They taste and notice woody, oaky, briny, peaty, and more.
More affordable types of Scotch that you might come across at your local watering hole are a blend, a combination of up to 50 single-malt whiskeys with grain-neutral spirits. Single-malt Scotch, like the kind spotlighted at tastings, is considered the finest.
And what about those 2 burning questions? Does size matter? Is older really better?
Visit the Dundee Dell’s website to see their impressive list of in stock beverages.
To read Cindy’s complete article, visit this Omaha World-Herald article. Then make sure you come back and comment. We would especially appreciate comments from those who have actually been at the Dundee Dell.
English Whisky?
Did you know that there has not been any “Made in England” whisky in over 100 years?
Scotland is famous for Scotch, and after a 3 year maturing process in charred white oak casks, the first English whisky in more than a century is finally ready to flow.
It is all happening in the village of Roudham, at St. George’s Distillery by the River Thet, in eastern England. James, 63, was son to a farmer who grew malting barley that was shipped to Scotland. In 2005 he raised the idea of keeping that barley closer to home, and his dream started to come true in January 2006 when all permits were obtained. Distilling began that November.
What was really special to James and his partner/son Andrew (37) was that the distillery was officially opened in March 2007 by Prince Charles, the heir to the throne.
And where, you might ask, did they get the expertise to do all this?
They talked Iain Henderson, formerly the distillery manager at Scotland’s famous Laphroaig whisky producer, into coming out of retirement. It worked, as their whisky has earned top reviews.
The Nelstrops hope to market their whisky to Japan, Singapore, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Nordic, as well as the northeastern United States.
Visit a more complete article here, and then come back and make a comment below. You know I like comments. 
Have you had a chance to taste some of this fine whisky from the English Whisky Company? If so, please leave a comment, including where you purchased it. Thanks.
Single Malt or Blended
Single Malt or Blended. That is the question.
Many people get confused about the difference between single malt and blended Scotch. The blended variety consists of approximately fifty different grains, and single malts, sent from many different producers. The term single malt refers to one single distiller, and therefore is indeed not the product of blending.
They say that 50 years is the levelling out point on Scotch, as it will no longer get better with age. Prior to that point it is like wine and will continue to produce a better taste. The differences in many of the distillers of fine Scotch in Scotland can be very noticeable, as the geography lends to different techniques.
Each region of the Scottish territory yields a different product due to varying methods of development. Many methods can be employed, right down to the grains and water used. Some distilling companies even use certain peat mosses on the grains for added flavour.
Bottom line? You must try them all, to consider yourself a true aficionado. Isn’t that right, Gerry?
“The light music of whiskey falling into a glass – an agreeable interlude.” (James Joyce)