Best of Scotch Blog - Through the Tasting Glass

If all has gone well, I should be in Speyside when you read this, with plans over the next few days to visit George Grant at Glenfarclas, as well as The Glenrothes distillery, Aberlour, and Balvenie.
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Originally Posted - November 16, 2005

Through the Tasting Glass

I get a lot of suggestions from people for stories that I should write.

Kevin, how about a story on Irish Whiskey?

Hmm. Nothing wrong with Irish Whiskey. It's great in a Car Bomb*, but it's just not my thing.

But Ronnie Cox, the Director at The Glenrothes had a great suggestion:

Good to meet you Kevin. I believe you are starting something very interesting with your Scotch Blog. One of the key subjects that needs higher profiling is the glass type. As in most countries the tumbler is associated with whiskey. Need to tell people that to really appreciate Malt Whisky we need some sort of tulip shape to take the image correctly from one of drinking to one of savouring.

I do briefly mention the use of the proper glass in my book:

The glass favored by blended whisky drinkers is a short, cylindrical tumbler, usually referred to as a scotch or “rocks” glass. This type of glass is fine for tasting a blend with some ice, but is completely unsuited for the subtlety of malt whisky.

A tulip-shaped tasting glass is ideal for single malt, but if all you can get your hands on is a sherry or brandy glass, either will work just as well.

The tumbler/rocks glass does nothing to enhance the whisky drinking experience, instead it is simply a glass that is readily available at bars, restaurants, and in the average home.

The picture above is The Glencairn Glass, a very popular whisky tasting glass designed specifically for the Scotch whisky industry and introduced in 2001.

Glencairn's description:

The glass was designed with a tapered mouth to focus the aroma while at the same time being open enough to make it easy to drink from. This was married to a robust base that is comfortable in the hand and allow gentle warming of the liquid to open it up, resulting in a stylish attractive glass, a base to keep the hand clear of the liquid and it has no cuts or decoration that would obscure the colour while at the same time being easy to drink from.

If you don't have a proper tasting glass, you really need to get one. Ronnie's point is well taken.

David Wishart, Author of Whisky Classified:

To truly savor all that a single malt has to offer, the proper shape is of the utmost importance.
The nosing glass used in the whisky industry is tulip shaped like a sherry glass with a narrow mouth...The narrow mouth is important for containing the aroma that rises from the whisky, so that when we nose it we get the maximum fragrance.

Many restaurants and bars don't (or can't) carry the appropriate drinking vessel for every beverage, but you are really cutting your experience in half if you accept a single malt Scotch in a rocks glass from a restaurant or bar.

If I am trying a Scotch at a nice restaurant, I can be very demanding. And at $10-$20 per dram, why shouldn't I be? Sometime though, I just test the bartender.

The first thing I do is look at the Scotch menu. If it has less than ten bottles on it, I know I'll have to be specific, because chances are good that they don't get a lot of Scotch orders. I'm never surprised to see that one or more of the distillery's names have been misspelled. I always point it out to the bartender.

Then I order. Now I know a lot of the distilleries have interesting, sometimes hard-to-pronounce names, but I never fail to be amused when I order one, and the bartender doesn't understand me:

Kevin: I'll have the La-froyg
Ignorant bartender: Huh?
Kevin: The La-froyg, that one (pointing to Laphroaig)
Ignorant bartender: Oh is that how you say it?

Or when the bartender incorrectly corrects me:

Kevin: I'll have the Glen-fid-ick
Smarmy bartender: You mean Glen-fidd-itch?
Kevin: Yes, but it's pronounced Glen-fid-ick
Smarmy bartender: No it's not.
Kevin: Whatever.
Smarmy bartender: You want that on ice?
Kevin: Check, please.

But when I don't feel like training the bar staff for free, I get straight to the point:

I'll have the Macallan 18, neat, with a small glass of room temperature water on the side. If you don't have a whisky tasting glass, I'll have that in a brandy snifter. Thanks.

You'd be surprised at the street-cred you'll get from a good bartender when you know how to order.

But more importantly you'll experience Scotch the proper way, with a glass that allows you to aerate the whisky, a glass that concentrates the bouquet, and a glass that makes it tough to fit an ice cube into.
----------------------------
*If you read The Scotch Blog regularly, you know that I have since broadened my horizons and DO talk about non-Scotch whiskies.

Irish Car Bomb

Ingredients:
8 oz Guinness stout
1 oz Bailey's Irish cream
1 oz Irish Whiskey (Jameson's)

Mixing instructions:
Combine the Bailey's and Whiskey in a shot glass.
Drop shot glass into beer.
Drink immediately.

I get a lot of suggestions from people for stories that I should write.

Kevin, how about a story on Irish Whiskey?

Hmm. Nothing wrong with Irish Whiskey. It's great in a Car Bomb*, but it's just not my thing.

But Ronnie Cox, the Director at The Glenrothes had a great suggestion:

Good to meet you Kevin. I believe you are starting something very interesting with your Scotch Blog. One of the key subjects that needs higher profiling is the glass type. As in most countries the tumbler is associated with whiskey. Need to tell people that to really appreciate Malt Whisky we need some sort of tulip shape to take the image correctly from one of drinking to one of savouring.

I do briefly mention the use of the proper glass in my book:

The glass favored by blended whisky drinkers is a short, cylindrical tumbler, usually referred to as a scotch or “rocks” glass. This type of glass is fine for tasting a blend with some ice, but is completely unsuited for the subtlety of malt whisky.

A tulip-shaped tasting glass is ideal for single malt, but if all you can get your hands on is a sherry or brandy glass, either will work just as well.

The tumbler/rocks glass does nothing to enhance the whisky drinking experience, instead it is simply a glass that is readily available at bars, restaurants, and in the average home.

The picture above is The Glencairn Glass, a very popular whisky tasting glass designed specifically for the Scotch whisky industry and introduced in 2001.

Glencairn's description:

The glass was designed with a tapered mouth to focus the aroma while at the same time being open enough to make it easy to drink from. This was married to a robust base that is comfortable in the hand and allow gentle warming of the liquid to open it up, resulting in a stylish attractive glass, a base to keep the hand clear of the liquid and it has no cuts or decoration that would obscure the colour while at the same time being easy to drink from.

If you don't have a proper tasting glass, you really need to get one. Ronnie's point is well taken.

David Wishart, Author of Whisky Classified:

To truly savor all that a single malt has to offer, the proper shape is of the utmost importance.
The nosing glass used in the whisky industry is tulip shaped like a sherry glass with a narrow mouth...The narrow mouth is important for containing the aroma that rises from the whisky, so that when we nose it we get the maximum fragrance.

Many restaurants and bars don't (or can't) carry the appropriate drinking vessel for every beverage, but you are really cutting your experience in half if you accept a single malt Scotch in a rocks glass from a restaurant or bar.

If I am trying a Scotch at a nice restaurant, I can be very demanding. And at $10-$20 per dram, why shouldn't I be? Sometime though, I just test the bartender.

The first thing I do is look at the Scotch menu. If it has less than ten bottles on it, I know I'll have to be specific, because chances are good that they don't get a lot of Scotch orders. I'm never surprised to see that one or more of the distillery's names have been misspelled. I always point it out to the bartender.

Then I order. Now I know a lot of the distilleries have interesting, sometimes hard-to-pronounce names, but I never fail to be amused when I order one, and the bartender doesn't understand me:

Kevin: I'll have the La-froyg
Ignorant bartender: Huh?
Kevin: The La-froyg, that one (pointing to Laphroaig)
Ignorant bartender: Oh is that how you say it?

Or when the bartender incorrectly corrects me:

Kevin: I'll have the Glen-fid-ick
Smarmy bartender: You mean Glen-fidd-itch?
Kevin: Yes, but it's pronounced Glen-fid-ick
Smarmy bartender: No it's not.
Kevin: Whatever.
Smarmy bartender: You want that on ice?
Kevin: Check, please.

But when I don't feel like training the bar staff for free, I get straight to the point:

I'll have the Macallan 18, neat, with a small glass of room temperature water on the side. If you don't have a whisky tasting glass, I'll have that in a brandy snifter. Thanks.

You'd be surprised at the street-cred you'll get from a good bartender when you know how to order.

But more importantly you'll experience Scotch the proper way, with a glass that allows you to aerate the whisky, a glass that concentrates the bouquet, and a glass that makes it tough to fit an ice cube into.
----------------------------
*If you read The Scotch Blog regularly, you know that I have since broadened my horizons and DO talk about non-Scotch whiskies.

Irish Car Bomb

Ingredients:
8 oz Guinness stout
1 oz Bailey's Irish cream
1 oz Irish Whiskey (Jameson's)

Mixing instructions:
Combine the Bailey's and Whiskey in a shot glass.
Drop shot glass into beer.
Drink immediately.

Comments

[Brad]

Im new to scotch drinking at the moment im simply drinking the local products found at any stores I commit a few sins as ive found out from reading this blog, I dont use the proper glass I sometimes use ice. And I have been know to mix it with coke when im in the mood for a drink thats mixed. But i get the impression im doing something horrible by doing so from reading this blog . atm drinking chivas 18 and glenfiddich, and other reccomendations

[Kevin Erskine]

Gosh Brad,
Either I'm doing something wrong or your taking things the wrong way.

I've stated on numerous occasions that you can DRINK whisky anyway you want it...that includes coke, ice, mixed drinks, whatever.

But there is a proper way to TASTE whisky. . . if you want to develop your palate. And that includes a proper glass, no ice, and is generally NOT done in a bar environment.

There is NO NEED to "taste" - just "drink" if you like. ;)

[Brad]

haha no I mean I used to be a big rum drinker and and managed to find quite a few nice ones. but from watching Scrubs and Dr.cox drinking scotch i figured hey why not ill give the stuff a try. Haha if i was drinking to get drunk id drink busch light I just enjoy the taste of scotch especially good ones mixed with coke. Ive actually gone out and bought the proper glass and tried it with the glennfiddich 12 I have. Im finding it quite enjoyable. Sadly I work midninghts and im stuck drinking at 7am or my 7pm :P if you could give me a reccomendation of where to order a higher quality scotch or your reccomendation of a few.