26 • HOME TASTING eHomentertainment
Society whisky is made for sharing, but running your own home tasting can be fraught. For sure-fire success, just follow our handy host’s guide to the perfect evening
Whisky selection
The whiskies you choose to show off could simply be a line-up of your current favourite bottles. But we always find it’s more interesting to plan your tasting in a way that demonstrates some aspect of whisky appreciation. For example, you might try a variation on the classic taste tour of the five main whisky regions. As Society whiskies don’t strictly follow the typical regional characteristics though, why take your tour off-road with a selection that showcases the sheer diversity of single cask flavours and aromas? Or you could blind taste several casks from the same distillery, to demonstrate how cask type influences the mature whisky. For example 33.122: Big, brooding, masculine and intense (a first fill bourbon barrel) and 33.124: An engineer’s lunchbox
(a first fill sherry) are very different beasts, despite having been born of the same spirit. Finally, if you’re hosting a dinner party, consider matching a whisky to each course. Just like wine, you’ll find different whiskies complement different dishes – for example, salty food goes well with sweet whiskies, while very savoury food tends to lend itself to tannic whiskies. Experiment and see what works for you. However you choose, remember that your guests’ palates will change over the course of the evening. It’s always best to start with something light and refreshing, working up to the heavier whiskies and saving that fire-breathing peat beast for the end.
An example tour 9.67: Granny’s kitchen dram - 1st
fill bourbon barrel
35.75: Victorian walled garden in Las Vegas - 1st fill designer hogshead toasted & seasoned 26.89: An exotic tearoom experience - refill ex-sherry butt (but this one’s interesting because it’s perfumed and sultry instead of sherried) 71.34: Assignation in a boudoir -
THE SCOTCH MALT WHISKY SOCIETY
TOP TIP Keep
everyone talking and sharing their
observations; whether exotic or esoteric, the range of sensory
Refill ex-sherry gorda 30.74: Sweet, fruity and rich - refill port pipe (perfect to match cheese to)
33.121: Barbecued pork on rosemary skewers - 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel
associations conjured up by a great whisky are always interesting and never ‘wrong’.
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