Archive for the 'Project Whisk(e)y' Category

26
Sep
12

Project Whisk(e)y: The Tiger Hits Up An Aficionados Whisky Tasting

By SlickTiger 1 Comment
Categories: Project Whisk(e)y
Tags: , , , , ,

WP_000077Aficionados is a local online whisky store that sells a lot of well-priced and rare whiskies. I joined their mailing list recently when I bought a bottle of Laphroaig Quarter Cask from the site (very awesome whisky).

They sent an invite to attend a chocolate and whisky pairing at The Wild Fig so for the sake of Project Whisk(e)y I went to check it out.

I approached the evening with the highest level of professionalism and took detailed notes which, after my third whisky, rapidly started to degenerate into something closely resembling the ramblings of a village drunk.

The evening kicked off at about 6.30 and we tasted five different whiskies, not one of which I’d tasted before and some of which I’d never even heard of. I was more focussed on the whisky than the chocolate so you’ll have to forgive my lack of chocolaty detail below.

I felt a bit of trepidation going to the tasting solo, but soon made friends with a group of young-looking people who kindly let me sit at their table so that I could steal all the flavour notes they were picking up in the different whiskies we were tasting and pretend that I’d thought them all up myself.

So with no further ado, here are the whiskies we tasted and the notes I wrote down about each one, verbatim:

 

balblair-2000-bigWhisky No.1 – Balblair 2000 Vintage

“Balblair 2000 vintage, alone its kinda insipid. Very subtle sweeter notes, American white oak, very light in colour, slight alcohol burn dominating the flavours. With the choccie, a sharper taste, didn’t really make the sweeter notes pop. Beginners might like this wizzo, personally I found it lacking in flavour. Sugary like white sugar.”

The tasting notes say it all really. The Balblair didn’t blow my hair back in any way.

The flavour notes I was picking up were so subtle, the alcohol burn almost overpowered them and even that was mild. Nice bottle though so yeah… it has one redeeming feature at least.

Moving on, the next whisky we tasted was:

 

1328552495_311454107_2-Pictures-of--Isle-of-Jura-Limited-Edition-17-Yr-Single-Malt-WhiskyWhisky No.2 – Jura 17 Year Old

“Second one 17 year old Jura. Maritime influence, peat is different at the coast. Single barrel distilled in 1993, from bourbon to port pipe, extra matured because two different woods. Still single malt. Seven years in a port pipe.

Sweet cherry smell, nice maltiness, complex. Slight medicinal tones, 56% ABV, nice burn, not overpowering, more character than first one. Cherry chocolate brings cherry flavours to the fore, creates a much creamier finish.

Nice maltiness, darker colour. Bit of marzipan in the chocolate. Long cherry finish.”

Which is the long way around of saying the Jura 17 Year Old was a much more characterful whisky than the Balblair. It’s also pretty damn rare which is why I’ve had to use that crusty picture above, it’s literally the only one I could find of the bottle after trawling Google Image Search for a good 20mins.

Also, the fact that this whisky was finished in port pipes gives it a nice, dark amber colour and delicious spiciness that made it a winner in my books.

Next up:

 

IMG_5602Whisky no. 3 – Drayman’s Single Highveld Malt:

“There are only 3 SA whisky distilleries, Distel distillery in Wellington (3 Ships, Bain’s) a distillery that makes Wild Reeds Whisky (African shaped bottle) and Draymans is the 3rd. Beer makers end up making whisky. Low wines is the first distillation.

Drayman’s in matured in French oak. White oak vanilla flavours, American oak.

European oak rich fruity flavours. French oak quite spicy, not great for scotch. Rich dark chocolately flavours, digestive biscuit, almost eucalypsy notes, fresh spiciness, some richer fruit, mint? Surprisingly delicious. Cinnamon and orange chocolate enhances the spiciness.”

This South African “Highveld Malt” was my favourite whisky of the evening.

Whisky is mainly matured in either American or Spanish / European oak casks with a very small amount being matured in French oak casks.

Drayman’s is matured in French oak and wow, it tastes like no whisky I’ve ever encountered.

If you’re looking for something that is guaranteed to throw you a massive curveball that you’ll either love or hate, pick up a bottle of Drayman’s Single Highveld Malt from the Aficionados site here for R455, in my humble opinion, it’s worth every cent.

 

glenmorangie_quinta_rubanWhisky no.4 – Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban

“Glenmorangie quinta ruban. Process similar to Jura, bourbon cask for 10 years two years in a port pipe. Ruby is Ruban. Pinkish tinge from port, nose very subtle, lighter, sweeter notes almost no smoke or peat, coconut on the nose. 46% ABV. Tastes like, umm… umm… umm tastes like… WINNING!

more Snacks! YAY! wonder how many I can SMASH IN MY FACE BEFORE I BECOME THAT GUY…

Huh. As we can see from those highly detailed notes, by this stage I was starting to lose a bit of focus. Still though, the Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban was a great whisky, also finished in port pipes, hence its ruby colour.

This was many people’s favourite whisky of the night, which made me want to stab them with a fork because DRAYMAN’s WAS THE BEST DAMNIT!

Anyway, moving on, the last whisky was:

 
Whisky No.5 – Glendronach 15 year old Revival

“Glendeonach one third owned by a saffa. 15 year old. Light toffee on the nose. Sherry finish. 12, 15 and 18. 15 called revival.

Very common scotch style until 15 20 years ago, dried frutoness, actual taste is richly complex, lovely long finish, coffee notes, chocolate didn’t pair so well with choccie, nice. I want to soak my loins in it.

Got more draymans single highveld malt unbelievablely new woody taste. Like fresh sap. Iys charming as fuck. Christ south Africans are badass. nkozzi sikhelelele awww yeeaahhhh”

Yep. Like I said, the ramblings of a village drunk. Good thing we stuck with 5 whiskies and called it a night.

And no, in case you were wandering, I did not drive myself home that night.

I did the smart thing and took a cab because 5 whiskies will push you over the limit, no doubt about that. Just ask my taxi driver about the rousing rendition of “Come On Eileen” I belted out all the way back to Vredehoek and he’ll tell you straight.

So yeah, next time one of these tastings is going down, I’ll be sure to let you crazy kids know and we can hold hands and go together.

Good times I tell ya, good times Winking smile

-ST

20
Sep
12

Project Whisk(e)y: Johnnie Walker Platinum Launches

By SlickTiger 1 Comment
Categories: Project Whisk(e)y
Tags: , , , , ,

johnnie_walker_platinum_18Ahh, Johnnie Walker my old friend. I’ve been meaning to get round to doing a tasting on this site of one of my favourites from the House Of Walker, Johnnie Walker Double Black, but looks like that’s gonna have to wait.

As of last week, Johnnie Walker has officially introduced a new variant, Johnnie Walker Platinum which, judging from its price point, now sits just beneath Blue Label in the Walker range.

To launch this very sexy-looking 18 year old blended whisky, Johnnie Walker have opened what they’re calling the “One Bottle” liquor store in Melrose Arch, where people can bid for the first bottle of Platinum to land on SA shores.

You can either bid at the store itself, or online at www.facebook.com/johnniewalkersouthafrica with all the proceeds going to the non-profit organisation, South Africans Against Drunk Driving.

Bidding closes next week Friday though so you better get on that – the highest confirmed bid at the moment is R125k which is not too shabby at all.

 

 

The bottle is signed by the Master Blender himself (ie. the guy who created the blend) which, along with the fact that it’s the first bottle in SA, makes it basically priceless.

Platinum Label has an interesting story behind it – apparently the Walker family established a tradition back in the 1800s where private blends were crafted for favoured customers, directors of the company and private gatherings.

This inspired Johnnie Walker’s Master Blender, a man who goes by the name of Jim Beveridge (too perfect!), to create a whisky ideally suited for exclusive and intimate gatherings.

 

 

Jimbo himself says it best:

This is an intense, smooth and contemporary blend, crafted from some of our most treasured whiskies, for those who know what they want in life – especially from their whiskies. Like the rare and precious metal after which it is named, Johnnie Walker Platinum Label is rich and refined – delivering the distinctive depth and complexity that is synonymous with Johnnie Walker. In fact, I believe that if John Walker were to create a Whisky today, Johnnie Walker Platinum Label would be the result.

I won’t lie, given a slight pay raise, a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label would have a permanent place in my liquor cabinet because all marketing fluff aside, it is arguably the best blended scotch whisky in the world.

Some insider info you might want to share the next time you order a dram and someone gives you a snobby look and tells you Johnnie Black is overrated – other Master Blenders the world over have a grudging respect for Johnnie Walker Black Label because it is one of the most perfectly balanced whiskies you will ever taste.

It is the stick in the sand by which countless other Master Blenders gauge whether their product is worth a damn and as it currently stands, it is the world’s best selling deluxe blended scotch whisky.

Which has almost nothing to do with Platinum Label other than the fact that I do love me some Johnnie Walker (especially Gold Label served from an ice-caked bottle and paired with dark chocolate or Blue Label neat as it comes in a tumbler, no ice, no water) so I am beyond intrigued to taste what the Platinum is like.

 

 

Don’t hold your breath for a review though. They save that stuff for legitimate whisky writers (ie. boring old farts) so the closest I’ll probably ever come to tasting it is licking the picture of the bottle I posted above.

Feel free to join me if the R1000 price tag is out of your league too.

Who knows though… got a birthday coming up, maybe a wealthy, kind-hearted reader will hook a brother up.

A man can dream Winking smile

-ST

11
Sep
12

Project Whisk(e)y: Bell’s Special Reserve

By SlickTiger 1 Comment
Categories: Project Whisk(e)y
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

BellsI know what you’re thinking. Bell’s. Old white men. Fishing. Their noses so red and swollen if you squeezed them whisky would dribble out.

Bell’s is not hip. Bell’s is not cool. If a guy arrives at a house party with a bottle of Bell’s, you immediately assume he stole it from his dad’s liquor cabinet.

Such is the stigma that haunts this perfectly good blended scotch whisky because it is marketed directly at old men who are so loyal to the brand that they buy it by the case every two months at Makro and have done so for the last 30 years.

I drank my fair share of it back in varsity because the only other whisky that competed at the same price point was J&B, which is my mom’s weapon of choice.

 

 

So when it came down to drinking mom’s wizzo or dad’s wizzo, I manned up and took the high road, silently patting myself on the back because I was drinking whisky and people who drink whisky are badasses.

Strangely enough, over time I’ve reached a point where I almost can’t stand Bell’s Extra Special Old Scotch Whisky. Too many nights subjecting that spirit to my own specialised distilling process which involved pouring it in vast quantities into my stomach and then inviting my friends tequila and jagermeister to join the party.

BUT, if it’s Bell’s Special Reserve we’re talking about then THAT boys and girls, is a completely different story.

Normal Bell’s is a blend of something like 40 different grain and malt whiskies. I went into some detail about what the difference between these two types of whisky are in my previous post so hit this link if you want the down lizzo.

At the heart of the Bell’s blend is a single malt called Blair Athol. This is the DNA of Bell’s. Most blended whiskies have a lead whisky that determines the broad taste profile of the blend and of other blended whiskies belonging to the same brand.

 

 

Blair Athol is what gives normal Bell’s its spicy, nutty flavour and you’re going to find similar flavours in Bell’s Special Reserve, but you’re going to find a boatload of other flavours too because unknown to pretty much everyone, Bell’s Special Reserve is one of the whisky world’s hidden gems.

What makes Bell’s Special Reserve so special is the fact that though it’s a blended whisky, it contains absolutely no grain whisky whatsofuckingever.

Roughly 10 whiskies go into Bell’s Special Reserve and every single one of those is a different malt whisky.

Now, as any master blender will tell you, it’s very difficult to blend only malt whiskies and come out with a product that is palatable. Malt whisky is generally full of flavour, character and complexity – too much of a good thing and you risk tipping that vital balance between spiciness, sweetness, maltiness and deliciousness (yes, that is a legitimate flavour) that defines a good whisky.

 

 

Bell’s Special Reserve gets this balance so right it’s scary. The only other whisky that I think compares is Johnny Walker Green Label (also a blended malt whisky) but if you compare the two price-wise, you’ll soon see why Bell’s SR is one of my favourite go-to whiskies.

On the nose you’re going to find some sweet honey and chocolaty notes with a hint of that time-honoured Bell’s nuttiness (think ground up almonds) coming from the Blair Athol.

But pour that delicious golden nectar past your lips and those rich honey notes are going to come alive followed by some deeper, dark chocolaty notes and a subtle spiciness that is drawn out to a warm, peppery finish that has me grinning from ear to ear every time I taste it.

A bottle of whisky this good should cost R400, fact. Johnnie Walker Green Label sells for R569.95 a bottle at Makro. Care to guess how much Bell’s SR goes for?

Try R229.95 (also at Makro). For that goddamn price you could practically use the stuff as cologne if you wanted to.

 

 

Take my advice on this one, go get a bottle this weekend, pour a dram into a tumbler with a block of ice and sip on that bad boy at a leisurely pace.

Hell, you could even practise your casting while you’re at it if you really want to get into character, but anyway you slice this one, you can not beat this whisky for value for money.

End. Van. Storie.

Tune in next week folks as I continue my search for awesome blended whiskies that won’t break the bank.

-ST

30
Aug
12

Project Whisk(e)y: Black Bush

By SlickTiger 5 Comments
Categories: Project Whisk(e)y
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

bushmills-black-busk-irish-whiskey__76468_zoomLast week we went through some of the basics when it comes to how whisk(e)y is made and what the differences are between Irish and Scottish whisk(e)y, so now that you guys have nailed that part, let’s get to the fun part shall we?

The first whiskey we are going to taste together is one of my favourite Irish whiskeys of all time, Bushmills Black Bush.

I’ve chosen this specific wizzo because at the moment it’s one of whiskey’s best kept secrets, which is awesome because it means the price is ridiculous (about R280 from Makro) considering how amazing the whiskey tastes.

Bushmills Black Bush is a blended whiskey. This means it contains a mix of both grain and malt whiskey.

 

Malt whisky is made exclusively from malted barley in a batch process using pot stills. This means that the distillery will make one batch of malt whisky at a time, reset everything and then make the next batch.

Malt whisky is more expensive than grain whisky to produce and typically has a lot more character than grain whisky.

Grain whisky can be made from any number of starches including maize, wheat or rye. It is produced in a continuous column still, meaning a lot more can be produced at a lower cost than malt whisky.

Grain whisky is much lighter in character than malt whisky and typically contains much sweeter notes.

Master blenders blend grain whisky with malt whisky to soften the flavour profile of malt whisky and produce a spirit that is more accessible to the masses.

 

 

As a general rule, people find blended whiskies easier on the palate than single malts and blended whiskies are a lot more affordable.

If you’re drinking an Irish blended whiskey you can pretty much guarantee what you’re going to taste is going to be light on the palate with delicious sweet notes on the finish and is not going to overpower your senses with peatiness or smokiness.

So please join me in cracking open a bottle of some of Ireland’s best whiskey while I play a little Snow Patrol in the background (another notable Irish export).

 

 

People always ask me what the right way to drink whisk(e)y is and I tell them all the same thing: drink it however you like it.

I mean hell, you paid for it. Smash it with Creme Soda if that’s your thang, skies the limit!

However, if you want to TASTE a whisk(e)y, I always take the first sip neat in a whisky tumbler, let the full force of the whisk(e)y hit my palate, then I add a tiny measure of water to open up the aromas and soften the alcohol burn.

The Irish call adding a dash of water to your whiskey “the opening of the rose” while the Scottish call it “THE WAKING OF THE DRAGON”, which is a great summary of Irish vs Scottish whisk(e)y if I ever heard one.

So that’s what we’re going to do with our Black Bush.

 

 

Pour it neat into a tumbler. Pause for a second to admire it’s deep amber colour. This is the direct result of maturing for up to seven years in Spanish oloroso sherry casks and sweet bourbon barrels, which is what gives Black Bush its distinctive rich, dried-fruity nose.

Nose that badboy. Go ahead, breathe it all in. What are we looking for here? A little honey, a little toffee sweetness, a subtle hint of smoke (more so than you’d normally find in an Irish whiskey).

Now take a sip. Don’t be afraid to let the whisky wash all over the inside of your mouth to get its full flavour and hold it there for a good few seconds. It’s been maturing in a barrel for seven years, the least you can do is give it a couple of seconds on your tongue.

Now swallow and let the flavour of the Black Bush wash over you.

 

 

What are you getting? A little bit of spice there? Sure, there’s a little spice there, no doubt about that. What else?

Some honey / cinnamon on the tip of the tongue? Yes siree, we are definitely getting some sweeter notes coming through nicely. What else?

Some Christmas-cakey flavours? Yep, right again! A bit of maltiness there on the finish? My man, you’re NAILING IT!

A bit of sweaty saddle there on the centre of the tongue? Umm… a little far out but ok, I’ll allow it…

 

 

See, that’s the great thing about tasting whisk(e)y! If you’re tasting aunt Mildred’s panties, you’re tasting aunt Mildred’s panties! You can never be wrong about what you’re tasting because you’re tasting it and your palate is uniquely yours.

So kick back, relax and pour another Black Bush, but this time add a little water to really let those sweeter, fruitier notes come alive.

Black Bush also works amazingly well with a mixer – throw a little soda in that badboy, go ahead. It’s also great with ginger ale.

That brings us to the conclusion of our first tasting. Great job people, I’ll see you all next week for our next foray into the world of wizzo.

-ST

22
Aug
12

Project Whisk(e)y: Shit You Need To Know

By SlickTiger 4 Comments
Categories: Project Whisk(e)y
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

iStock_000006313545XSmallAfter a vague introduction last week about SlickTiger Industries newest venture, Project Whisky, it’s time for us to officially get this party started.

My goal here is to get you crazy basterds drinking and enjoying whisky as much as I do because it is truly the greatest spirit ever distilled and your life will be all the better for it.

Step one is the right music. You can’t crack open a bottle of Ireland, Scotland, Japan, America, Canada, hell even India’s finest without getting into the right frame of mind. To get you there I’m calling in a favour from my good buddy, Jim Morrison.

Take it away Jimbo!

 

 

Are we on the level here? Good. Get nice and comfy because before one single drop of whisky passes our lips, the first thing we gotta do is nail a few of the basics so that the next time you’re at a bar you can melt people’s faces off with your intense whisky knowledge.

Quick disclaimer before I launch into this – my brain is not what it used to be, so even though I’ve done numerous whisky tastings and been half trained as a whisky presenter, some of my “facts” might not be a little wonky.

 

 

So feel free to jump in and correct me if I wander off the beaten path Winking smile

First thing’s first: the spelling

Whisky is spelled both with and without the “e”. Without the “e” indicates the whisky is from Scotland or has been distilled and matured according to the Scottish style of whisky-making.

With the “e” indicates the whiskey is either from Ireland or America or has been distilled and matured according to either style of whisky-making.

Never use an “e” when spelling Scottish whisky. The Scottish are a volatile bunch and have been known to kill people for less.

 

How whisk(e)y is made

Whisky is one of the purest forms of alcohol known to man, fact.

It has the lowest fat content of any alcohol and is made from only three ingredients: water, barley (or a suitable starch) and yeast.

The first step in the whisky-making process involves malting the barley by steeping it in water. This kickstarts the germination process so that sugars are released inside the barley seed.

The germination process is then stopped abruptly by drying out the barley once germination has taken place.

If it’s scotch you’re making you dry out the malted barley by burning peat and letting the thick, rich peat smoke dry the barley.

 

 

If it’s Irish whiskey you’re making, you dry the barley with hot air.

This is one of the reasons why Scottish whisky is generally smokier and peatier than Irish whiskey.

After that, the malted barley is ground up into a coarse, grainy flour called “grist”.

The grist is mixed with warm water to create a translucent, gloopy substance called “wort”. Yeast is added to the wort to start the fermentation process.

The result is a kind of beer with an alcohol percentage of roughly 8%. If it was beer you were making, you’d add hops at this point and after some more fermentation, BADA-BANG!

 

 

Distillation

From there, this beer-like substance is put in a massive copper still and boiled. The shape of the still has a massive impact on the flavour of the resulting spirit.

This is because as the beer-like substance boils, the alcohol vapours released condense on the sides of the still only to trickle back down and be turned back into vapour again.

Each time this happens, the resulting vapour is lighter and more pure than it was before until it eventually reaches the top of the still.

 

 

See, a CONVERSATION takes place between the alcohol and the copper during this process.

A deep, meaningful one where all the impurities in the alcohol are stripped out by the copper and the alcohol vapours eventually become so light they are able to rise out of the still, condense in the arm at the top and trickle down into…

 

 

Another still.

Here the process is repeated to make damn sure the resulting alcohol is pure as the driven snow. If it’s Irish whiskey, the spirit is distilled ANOTHER time, making the total number of times THREE for Irish whiskey.

So yeah, it’s not just Jamieson that’s triple distilled. They were just smart enough to make it their tagline. EVERY Irish whiskey is distilled three times, that’s why Irish whiskey is generally lighter, sweeter and fruitier in character than scotch.

Maturation

At the end of the distillation process, the “new make spirit” which comes out at roughly 60 – 70% strength.

The new make spirit is then matured in 2nd hand oak casks. These casks are typically ex-sherry or ex-bourbon casks, this is important because depending on the cask, it can give the whisky different flavour notes.

Typically sherry casks add to the spiciness of a whisky whereas bourbon casks give the spirit sweeter honey / cinnamon notes.

All whisky has to mature in a barrel for a minimum of 3 years or it cannot legally be sold as whisky (or whiskey).

 

 

Some whiskies are matured for a much longer time period, this is what the age statement on a bottle refers to. In other words, if you buy a 12 year-old single malt, it’s spent 12 years maturing in an oak cask.

That’s a motherflippin long time. Think back to what you were doing 12 years ago and if the answer is swimming around in your dad’s balls, you’re way too young to be reading this.

The maturation process gives the whisk(e)y about 85 – 90% of it’s flavour and 100% of its colour.

As a general rule of thumb, the darker a whisk(e)y, the longer it has matured in oak casks for.

And THAT is how whisky is made.

[SFX: Crickets]

In the next instalment we’re going to start your whisky journey by easing you into things with a nice, gentle Irish whiskey that, much like the Irish, is friendly, approachable and up for a good time.

Then we’ll drink scotch, swear loudly at each other and break a chair over that guy’s head.

 

 

Good times Winking smile

-ST

07
Aug
12

SlickTiger Industries Presents: Project Whisk(e)y

By SlickTiger 4 Comments
Categories: Project Whisk(e)y
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

whisky-glass I must’ve been about three the first time I tasted whisky. My mom’s tipple of choice every evening was a J&B and soda, which she would sip intermittently as she made supper.

One night she made the mistake of leaving her whisky and soda on her bedside table while she was reading, so naturally 3 year-old SlickTiger walked in and drank it.

I thought I’d been poisoned. The whisky burned like petrol going down and I turned to my mom with this look of abject horror on my face, as if to say, “You drink this?!” She explained that whisky was a grown-ups drink that my grandfather loved and that one day I might love too.

“Whatevs, yo,” I remember thinking as I staggered off to bed to pass out, “that stuff tastes like hell.”

 

 

For the next 15 odd years the smell of my mom’s nightly J&B and soda sent a shiver down my spine and though she’d often ask me to make her one, I was never tempted to sneak a sip.

It was only really in varsity that I started consuming whisky in vast quantities, but my god, the stuff we used to slam back in those days was more suited to cleaning engine parts than actually drinking.

First Watch was a favourite because it was cheap and got the job done. Bell’s was my go-to drink when I was out, always on the rocks because I thought it made me look like  a badass.

Two Keys and Three Ships were also regulars, as was Black Douglas and Teacher’s. My two buddies Graum and Van Barman were also partial to some wizzo from time to time, and so when it was one of our birthdays, the other two would chip in for a bottle of what we thought was the height of whisky sophistication and taste – Jack Daniels.

 

 

It’s laughable how naive we all were back then. In a way it was a great introduction to whisky for me because having tasted those whiskies, I had a great idea of what entry-level blended whisky tasted like.

I continued in a similar vein after varsity, drinking cheap whisky for kicks, completely ignorant of the world I was barely scratching the surface of.

My formal education in whisky started when I was 24. We’d won the Whisky Live Festival as a client and so I started working on the PR and communication for the festival.

To get us all up to speed when it came to whisky, my company at the time arranged a whisky tasting at our offices which I attended with eager anticipation as it was my first real introduction into the world of single malt whisky.

 

 

We tasted five different whiskies as part of the tasting, each one of which laid claim to a host of different flavours like “pear drops”, “cinnamom”, “honey”, “fresh-cut grass” and “peat” to name a few.

To say I was thoroughly disappointed would be a total understatement. To my untrained palette, the whiskies we sampled tasted like “whisky”, “whisky”, “whisky” and “whisky” respectively.

What a load, I remember thinking. Whoever markets this stuff is a genius to get everyone thinking that this stuff is so exceptional. Whisky is whisky. I like it, but I’m hardly about to drop more than R300 on a bottle of it if this is what the good stuff tastes like.

By my estimate, I’ve done another 6 whisky tastings since then, both when I used to work on the Whisky Live Festival and in subsequent years when I worked on Bell’s, Bushmills Irish Whisky, Johnnie Walker and, ironically, J&B.

I always quote Winston Churchill when trying to explain how my love of whisky evolved because when asked about his love of whisky, Churchill famously said, “The water was not fit to drink. To make it more palatable, we had to add whisky. By diligent effort, I learned to like it.”

 

 

A perfect explanation because by diligent effort, I learned to like whisky too.

It started with Bushmills Irish Whiskey. In that time-honoured Irish spirit I discovered a whiskey was was easy on the palette, friendly, approachable and easy to appreciate.

From there I started branching out to smokier, peatier whiskies. The Singleton of Dufftown became a firm favourite, as did Talisker 10 y/o, Johnnie Walker Black Label and Highland Park.

I’ve made mention of my love of whisky on this site before, but never felt comfortable diving into that deep, bottomless amber pool while I still worked on whisky brands because it would throw my integrity into question.

Sadly, my days of working in the whisky industry ended when I left my previous job, but the plus side is that I can now blog about whisky until the cows stagger home, drunk as sailors on shore leave.

 

 

And so, the major stake-holders and board members of SlickTiger Industries met last week and came to the conclusion that from now on, whisky reviews will become a feature on this site.

So batten the hatches party people, by the time I’m done with you crazy kids, you’ll be hardened whisky experts who can not only hold your own whenever someone starts mouthing off about whisky, but will also (hopefully) share in my love for the greatest spirit ever distilled.

Project Whisk(e)y starts today.

Sláinte!

-ST