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Weekly Wine & Spirits Columnist - Michael Vaughan

The Joys of Scotch

(Copy for Saturday, January 22, 2000 National Post Toronto Section)

The secret to enjoying malt whisky is simple: Find one that you like
(Illustration: A highlight The Macallan Highland 12 Year Old)

Attempting to describe and rate different brands of scotch is both a hazardous and difficult proposition.  Hazardous because each person has his or her own taste preferences and what appeals to one person's palate may not be equally attractive to someone else.  The secret, of course, is to find the malt that appeals to your own taste.

The problem is, the variety of tastes in malt whisky can be overwhelming.  I blind tasted 22 of the 43 items available at the LCBO.  Here are the results:

The world's most popular malt Glenfiddich Highland ($35.95) which accounts for one out of every four sold in Canada was bright, dry and slightly spicy.  It was the lightest in colour of the entire group and the only one without an age declaration.  Author Michael Jackson rates it 75 (anything above 75 is "especially worth tasting").  You will pay a pinch more for The Glenlivet Highland 12 Year Old ($38.95) but it delivers more lightly peaty, dry, buttery toast, beeswax flavours.  This may sound like heresy, but neither malt had the charming smooth flavours of the top rated premium blend Chivas Regal which is comparably priced at $37.95 (see the results from my blended malt tasting).

Of the other Highland malts tasted, three were preferred.  The creamy Glenfiddich Solera Reserve 15 Year Old ($59.95) has wide appeal with its smooth, gently chocolate flavours.  Better yet is the rather peaty, richly textured Longmorn Highland 15 Year Old ($46.95) which has 45% alcohol and smooth, spicy, baked pear, vanilla tinged flavours.  Not widely known, this delicious Speyside malt is worth of a detour - Michael Jackson rates it an 87.  Finally, the highlight of the group is the deeply amber coloured The Macallan Highland 12 Year Old ($59.95) with a lovely sherry honeyed tea nose and bright, flowery, faintly peaty, well-balanced flavours and lingering finish.

If you want to explore the impact of wood, consider the Glenmorangie malt tasting pack of four minis with glass.  Along with their regular 10-year-old, three special Highland malts were finished in different type of wood after spending 12 years in American white oak - Sherry butts, Port pipes and Madeira drums.  Of this group, my favourite was the latter with its rather creamy, sweet, gently smoky, rummy-caramel flavours.  The tasting pack is still available at Vintages for $32.95, while all four are also available by the bottle.

Last but not least were the distinctive west island malts.  The intensity of the dry, medicinal, smoky, tar-driven flavours in Laphroiag Islay 10 Year Old ($44.95) is definitely not for everyone - it almost seems to burns a hole in your tongue!  For peatiness where you don't feel that your lashed to a burning stake, try Talisker Isle of Skye Distillers Edition ($66.95).  This 1986 vintage dated malt (45.8% alcohol) was my favourite at the recent Toronto Winetasters event (see below).  Its dry, viscous, caramel, smoky-peaty flavours gives your palate a nice nip.  From the same distillery we have a cheaper 10 Year Old which is $10 less.  In every instance, the more expensive vintage dated Distillers Edition has been more deeply coloured, flavourful and better than the less expensive x-year-old edition.  Is it worth it?  Yes, I think so, especially where the spread is very small (the Lagavulin spread is only five dollars).

Finally, for those who find malts too dry and demanding, let me recommend the rich, sweet, honeyed, deliciously smoky Glenfiddich Malt Whisky Liqueur ($39.75).  It's the kind of elixir you could put into your morning cereal.

Scottish Wines

One of Scotland's best-kept secrets is its wines.  Yes, there are a wide variety of flower, honey and spice based items to tantalize your taste buds.  And what could be better than the absolutely delicious Hutchisons Spiced Ginger Wine ($10.95) which is sweet but refreshing with a tangy, hot (from the chilies), fresh ginger flavours and an excellent long finish.  Only 60 cases were released in Vintages this month and it's perfect with spicy Thai and Hunan cuisine.  It also makes a perfect 'Whisky Mac' a blend of 1/2 ounce of Scotch and 3/4 ounce of Spiced Ginger poured over the rocks. Yum!

If you like honey, you'll love the ambering Moniak Mead ($17.95) which also was released at Vintages last week.  The creamy, sweet, honeyed wildflower flavours make it a perfect sipper on a cold winter day.  Be careful, it's got 14.6% alcohol.  For a hot mulled wine heat half a bottle with an ounce of Scotch, a squeeze of lemon, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and perhaps a splash of water to taste.

There are no hard and fast rules for drinking scotch.  One suggestion is to always keep your eyes open while swallowing; otherwise you might discover that someone has made off with your bottle!  Some argue that the flavour of scotch is best assessed when it is served neat - without ice or water.  Others claim it should be "cut" with distilled water.  It goes without saying that nothing improves the flavour of water like scotch.

Toronto Winetasters Blind Tasting

Last week I led a comparative blind tasting of all six vintage-dated Distillers Edition single malts available at the LCBO.  In terms of the number of first votes, two single malts finished way ahead of the others. The rounded, smooth, toffee-directed 1980 Oban Distillers Edition West Highlands ($66.95) tied with the very peppery, somewhat tarry-flavoured 1980 Lagavulin Islay Distillers Edition ($69.95).  The former was the group favourite!  Why?  Because the latter had the highest number of last place votes!  In fact, more people hated it than loved it!  The conclusion is that Oban is a pretty safe bet, while if your taste runs to peaty, distinctive malt, don't be shy about trying the Lagavulin.

To make things somewhat confusing for buyers is the fact that the 1980 Lagavulin Islay Distillers Edition was aged in a different manner from the Lagavulin Islay 16 Year Old ($64.95).  Although both are highly rated by Michael Jackson in his excellent Malt Whisky Companion (1999 4th edition, Dorling Kindersley, 336 pages) - the Distillers Edition is much sweeter than the 12-year-old.  Jackson, by the way, uses the Robert Parker method of evaluating malts out of 100 points.  Another excellent source is The Malt Whisky File by John Lamond and Robin Tucek (1997 2nd edition, Lyons Press, 240 pages). The latter rates the actual sweetness, peatiness and availability out of 10 points for each malt reviewed.  You might want to wait for an updated edition of the latter.

Where to Discover the Joys of Malt

Check out Allen’s (416-463-3086) a haven for Scotchophiles on 143 Danforth Avenue, where some 180 single malts are available for tasting.  Aficionados will gather there next week on January 25th in praise of Burns featuring a three course traditional menu and music by the Duncan Cameron band and highland dance performances, along with Burnsian Sandy Wyness who will address the haggis at 8:30.  All for only $40 all-inclusive.

Another special destination is Feathers on Kingston Road (416-694-0443) where Ian Innes has assembled a staggering 230 malts, including many rare original "cask strength", at what may well be the most reasonable prices on the continent.  He also assembles a monthly Malt Challenge featuring various themes were participants have to identify name and region of each of 8 malts tasted (you are given a list of ten being tasted).