One of the big treats of our trip was our visit to the Scotch Malt Whiskey Society. We have Disneyland annual passes, our friends in Edinburgh have a membership here. A club of whiskey fans that buys casks directly from distilleries for tasting and selling. There is almost nowhere else in the world to enjoy these whiskeys in this way. Commercial whiskey, which has to be bottled for consistency, is almost universally a blend of whiskeys from different casks, with water added. What you get at the whiskey society is straight from the cask, full strength (generally over 100 proof), and unmixed. Served with a pitcher of water if you prefer it a little more watered down, often recommended just to see how the flavor can change drastically with even a small amount of water.
We went on "Red Ribbon Tuesday" where drams of the best whiskeys, indicated by gold ribbons on the bottles, are sold at the lower red-ribbon price. Part of the charm is the detailed and imaginative descriptions of the various samplings they provide. For example, the first one I tried was labeled "Complex and Delightful" with the following description:
A rare chance to sample the malt from this Inverness
distillery built in 1846 and demolished in 1986. The nose begins with furniture polish and ‘magic balloons’ turning to toffee and scorched wood. There is also something fresh and elusive – peeled cucumber or boiled pasta, perhaps? The unreduced palate is scrumptious, with toffee, vanilla pod, fig and cinnamon, and some dry woodiness. The reduced
nose is complex and delightful, displaying melon and kiwi, chocolate, leather and Danish pastries. The flavour is now wonderfully sweet (puff candy, cinnamon whirls) but with nice woody notes (‘chewing sappy sticks’). Rather special.
But for me, the real standout among the 7 or 8 we all shared was my second dram, "Pastrami on Rye":
Leaving Kirkwall on the road to South Ronaldsay, you pass a temple of drams with twin pagodas. This sample is very like a sandwich – it smells of smoked ham or pastrami on rye with mustard and gherkin, all wrapped in waxed paper – but where did the Golden syrup come from? It is undoubtedly complex; with water the waxed paper turns to oilskins and wellies in the sun, then later it softens down to egg custard. Various flavour elements combine nicely together – sweet toffee notes, drying smoke and honey mustard. Best enjoyed as a sipping whisky at natural strength.
And I swear to you, that is a dead on accurate description. I mean this in nothing but a good sense, after every sip it felt like I had just finished a bite of a perfect New York pastrami sandwich. That satisfying oily, rich flavor lingered. AND it can get me drunk? I can think of no more awesome thing in this world that can be served in a glass.
At £69 for a bottle (~$140) I just couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger. But oh I was close. I'm still sitting here wondering what at home I could Ebay for $140 to justify having my friend courier a bottle over when he travels this way in October. It was a remarkable drinking experience and well worth that expense.