Talking Whiskeyby Shameek
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dentaltownuk Lifestyle Watches | Cars | | Running | Style & Fashion | Health & Fitness by Shameek Talking Whiskey Popat A conversation with alongside everyone there, from shovelling that passes well in a flask among col- barley to building boxes for shipping. You leagues. My next would be Canadian Dr Paul McLaughlin, get as much out of the experience as you Club Chairman’s Select 100% Rye. It’s a Canadian dentist with put into it. Our group was quite involved, again easy on the pocketbook, stocked a great love for a dram whether we were clearing the malt floor at well in the bottle stores, and a very good 6 a.m. or checking the spirit still at representation of what Canadian rye is. midnight. The dedication of the employ- Lastly, Jura Superstition. It’s a good- Shameek Popat: Tell me about ees to their work and the respect for the tempered Island dram that has enough yourself and how you got into your love of final product is very evident. Of course, smoke and spice to satisfy most Scotch whiskey. being able to peruse the warehouses with a whisky connoisseurs. Paul McLaughlin: I’ve been a dentist whiskey thief and glass from time to time SP: I haven’t tried the Té Bheag but for more than 20 years now, living in was a nice reward for a hard day’s work! love the other two, and am a big fan of Nova Scotia, Canada, with a lovely wife SP: That sounds like a great experi- Jura whiskies; I’m enjoying Jura One for and a son who’s teaching me what it’s like ence, and I’m going to put it in my bucket the Road by master blender Willie to live with teenagers. (Kidding! He’s a list. OK, not an easy question to answer, Cochrane at the moment. What, in your great kid.) I’ve been drinking Canadian but what are your top three whiskies? opinion, is the most important thing whiskies for quite some time; there always PM: Since I truly select a dram on the regarding whisky? Is it the location of the was a bottle of Crown Royal to be had at mood I’m in, I really can’t tell you what distillery, the water, grain, bottling, the local bottle store or a friend’s house. I my top three favourite whiskies are. casking, terroir or aging process? remember being with a friend who bought Looking at of the number of empty bottles PM: I don’t believe that there’s that one me my first taste of Scotch whisky—a in my basement, I can tell you what we go important step to making whiskey. I do Johnny Walker, I can’t remember which. through the most in terms of volume in think that each distillery will focus on one It was jarringly different from rye, but my bar. ... I’d have to say that Té Bheag is of those aspects to produce its representa- quite good all the same. At about the same one of my top ‘purchased’ whiskies. It’s a tive product. Terroir will not be so evident time, our bottle stores began expanding well-rounded yet inexpensive Gaelic blend in a triple-distilled whisky, but cask their selections of all types of whiskey, so selection and aging will absolutely impart began my collection. flavour and character (think Auchen- SP: You recently did a Springbank toshan Three Wood). Maybe your water Whisky course in Campbeltown. source isn’t important to a distillery that PM: Springbank Whisky School was sits near sea level when you know your an amazing week. To be able to put peated spirit will be weathered and yourself to work in a live, unrestricted ultimately affected by salt water and low distillery and learn firsthand all the steps temperatures. (Bowmore’s No. 1 Vault is a that turn grain into liquid—what a good example.) fortunate thing for a whiskey lover to As you develop a particular taste for experience! You’re basically working whiskey, I think you gravitate toward a 62 AUGUST 2017 // dentaltownuk.com Personally, I enjoy blends and have the tasting group for the Arran White many in my collection. If a master blender Stag second release just last year. The has both access to quality ingredients and distillery managed to get the three an ability to mix something tasty, just en- single-cask samples to me in Canada—no joy it. Have you ever refused to eat a tasty small feat, considering Canada’s tight pizza simply because the mushrooms and liquor importation rules! —and actually cheese didn’t come from the same farm? used some of my tasting notes for the We have to be careful of this single-cask official release. The race was on for my or single-malt snobbery that some people wife and me to get to Lochranza to get my develop over time. If a cask-strength bot- bottle before the airlines stopped direct tling is your preferred drink, then fine, flights from Canada. We managed to get but don’t discourage the art of blending to the distillery at same time my bottle certain style that is emphasized by one or when it can produce something good. was hand-delivered from the packaging more of those variables. Whereas I may SP: I totally agree. One of my plant in Glasgow. They presented me with prefer an older malted barley spirit that favourites is Johnnie Walker Blue Label. Bottle No. 1 in James McTaggart’s tasting came out of a mouldy dunnage, you may Would you recommend people buying room. Amazing experience. prefer a corn-based spirit racked in new certain whiskies for investment? SP: That’s a great story worth retelling oak for a couple of years. PM: Yes and no. I think certain over a dram! Any advice you can give us Most whiskey ‘authorities’ and distill- whiskies will absolutely increase in price regarding whiskey? ery tour guides will say that the cask im- over time. I’ve seen a couple in my PM: Our olfactory system processes parts 60 percent or more of the character collection double and triple in value on much of what we taste, yet I see most of the final product. It’s not uncommon the secondary market compared with people at a warehouse tasting take a quick for a seasoned whiskey lover to be able to what I paid for it. I guess if you’ve the sniff before tossing the liquid down. If you tell what type of cask was used if tasting knack to buy the right ones at the right truly want to appreciate whiskey, take the blind, so I think cask and wood selection time, then why not make a dollar/pound time to nose it. Even after you take your is pretty important. After nosing and (or thousand)? Whiskey speculation is not first sip, sniff it again. Experience all the sampling the beer, low wines and new- my strong point, however. My collection liquid has to offer. If you just want to get make spirit at Springbank, I can definitely is an open one, with a small number of drunk, do vodka shots. say that cask isn’t everything—there’s a bottles not opened simply because they’re SP: Can you pair whiskey with food, nose and palate profile that carries straight being saved for a special occasion. I don’t and if yes, what’s your best pairing? through those steps and even survives 10 like the idea that I shouldn’t open a PM: When it comes to pairing whiskey years of resting in wood in a warehouse. certain bottle because I’m trying to make with food, the sky’s the limit. It comes That’s something to think about! money from it. down to personal preference. One of my SP: A nice answer! The whole package SP: I always say that if you leave good favourites is pan-seared scallops (in butter makes each whiskey individual, not one whiskey on the shelf, you have completely with just salt and pepper) served with a single thing. What do you think about missed the point of whiskey. It only has Redbreast 12-Year-Old. Always a hit. blended whiskies, or are you just a meaning when you drink it! What is your SP: I’ll have to try that! Finally, what’s single-malt guy? most wonderful whiskey experience so far? your favourite whiskey quote? PM: I’m just going to throw this out PM: Besides Springbank Whisky PM: “Life’s too short to drink bad there and let the arguments begin. Most School, it was being chosen to be part of whiskey.” n single malts are blended (vatted) together from a number of casks at a distillery before being bottled, or allowed to rest in a neutral (third- or fourth-fill) barrel before bottling. A blended whiskey is basically doing the same thing with product from more than one distillery (blended whiskies do not always contain neutral spirit, but now we’re getting a little complicated on the nomenclature.) Technically, the only way to avoid drinking a blended whiskey is to drink single-cask bottlings..