Whiskey Tasting....Scotch 101 anyone?

Two weekends ago ~ I had the opportunity to do a scotch tasting with the Whiskey Professor, John Christie at the Old Town Whiskey Bar in the Saguaro Hotel.


The only thing I knew about scotch prior to the class was that it's a whiskey, made in Scotland and I knew some of the brands like Glenfiddich, Glenlivet, Macallan and Oban to name a few.

I had gone to the tasting with a couple of my co-workers and was looking forward to a good time and I was excited to learn more about scotch.

Having been to wine tastings before, I figured that this would be similar.....well....sort of.  lol

To kick things off, John spoke a little about the history of scotch.  Where it came from, how it's made, the difference between single malt and blended and much, much, more.

A brief history of scotch, no one knows exactly when the art of distilling was first practiced in Scotland; it is known though that the Ancient Celts practiced distilling, and that in ancient Gaelic the liquid they produced called ~ uisge beatha 
("water of life") - evolved into Scotch whisky.

There are five primary regions where scotch is produced, though some argue that there are six.

The regions are the Highland, Lowland, Speyside, Islay and Campbeltown and the sixth would be the Island.  The Island is typically considered as part of the Highland but some feel with its unique offering it deserves to be its own region.

We learned that in order for scotch to be legally called scotch whisky, the maturation time (aging) must be for 3 years and 1 day.

Casks are used for the aging process.  Different types

of casks are used for this process such as white oak, sherry, port and bourbon.  Typically used casks are what is used due to barrels are expensive.

Color can give a clue to the type of cask used to age the whisky.  Sherried whisky is usually darker or more amber in color, while whisky aged in ex-bourbon cask is usually a golden-yellow/honey color.

Single malt scotch is whisky made using a pot still distillation process at a single distillery, with malted barley as the only grain ingredient.  

"Malt" indicates that the whisky is distilled from a single "malted" grain. Several types of grains can be malted ~barely, rye and wheat ~ however, in the case of single malt scotch, barley is always the only grain used. 

"Single" indicates that all the malts in the bottle comes from a single distillery.

A few things that I loved about John Christie (aside the fact he knows his shit) is the passion he has for what he loves.  He does talk a little fast ~BUT he is more than happy to repeat if you didn't catch it and is happy to answer any questions that you have.  He is SO easy to talk to.

The other thing that I loved is that he's not about just making you a drink.  He likes to inspire.  Why do you like the drink that you like?  Wants to educate and experience the drink with you and perhaps introduce you to something else that you just may call your favorite.

Blended single malt scotch is a blend of malt and grain whiskies.  A blend typically can have 15 to 40 different malt whiskies and two or more grains.  The percent of malt in a blend can vary from 20 to 60 percent.

Malt whiskies are all different.

Blending is an art and blends are made to a formula but blenders can't always stick to that formula.  Their task is to create and/or re-create a product that tastes the same year to year.

In the blending, the mixture is stirred and then is either rested for a time before bottled or transferred to casks for one to six months to blend before bottling.

The first scotch we tasted was the Dewar's 12- a blended scotch from Aberfeldy, a small market village in the Highlands.

The Aberfeldy Distillery was founded in 1898 by brothers, John A. and Tommy Dewar.

Dewar's 12 has a deep rich amber color and comes from a bourbon cask.

I learned that just like with wine you learn about the flavor from the notes.  For me, the Dewar's 12 had honey tones and was smooth and had a warm finish.

Next, we tasted the Glenlivet 12- a single malt scotch from a distillery near Ballindalloch in Moray and is considered from the Speyside region. 

In 1824, The Glenlivet distillery was established by George Gordon and his youngest son, John Gordon Smith.  

The Glenlivet 12 has a light gold color and comes from an oak cask.

For me, the Glenlivet 12 had a fig and vanilla tone, a medium body and a strong finish that was a bit salty/peaty.   I did however enjoy this one over the Kold- Draft ice cubes.

We moved on to the Glenmorangie Lasanta 12 - a single malt from a distillery in Tain, Ross-shire and is considered from the Highlands region.

Alcohol production started at the Morangie farm in 1738 and then converted to a distillery in 1843 and renamed to GlenMorangie.  In 1918 the Macdonald family purchased and retained the distillery for almost 90 years.

Like most distilleries in Britain ~ Glenmorangie suffered from 1920-1950 with the prohibition, Great Depression and WWII.  The Macdonald family sold the company in 2004 to Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton.

The Glenmorangie Lasanta 12 has a light caramel color and is from a sherry cask.

To me this scotch had legs and was warm and spicy.

Our final scotch was the Laphroaig 10, a single malt from Islay.

Little is known about the full history of Laphroaig, but what is known is that the Irish had been distilling there for many years and the locals picked it up after their departure.

Around 1815, two brothers, Alexander and Donald Johnston leased 1000 acres on the land for rearing cattle. To raise cattle they had to grow barley and with the extra barley, they distilled whisky.

Me, I didn't care for the Laphoraig. By first smell, it reminded me of Mercurochrome (red topical antiseptic), a really strong medicine smell and the taste was really strong, FULL body and had a smoky burn.  Which was why we tasted this last.

We also learned that there are different ways of drinking scotch ~ neat, on the rocks and a splash of water.

John encourages people to try all three ways as each one can give you different notes and for sure your palate will be different with each method.

The glass we used for the tasting is a Glencarin glass.  The tapering mouth makes it easier to drink from and still able to capture the aroma. The wide bottom allows for the beautiful color and allows the notes to open up and breathe.

And the Kold-Draft ice cube I mentioned before, that is basically a pure, very dense and cold hard ice cube that is slow melting.

During the course of the tasting, John came by to each table to see how everyone was doing, what kind of notes we were getting from the aroma and the tastes.

They also brought out small plates to snack on during the tasting.

To end our day of tasting, John made us a "Pete Collins" using Springbank scotch from Campbeltown.

Springbank is the oldest independent family owned distillery founded in 1828 and is now ran by Hedley G. Wright, the great, great , great grand son of Archibald Mitchell.

Springbank 10 , lime juice, simple syrup, soda water and orange zest is needed to make this wonderful fresh treat.

Scotch may not be my ideal drink of choice but after having taken John's Whiskey Tasting class, I at least have more of an appreciation and a bit more knowledge for it.  It was very interesting and a fun class to take.  I think that whether you are a novice or a connoisseur, you can certainly take away something from the class if not at least make new friends for the next tasting in the process.

The next class in May 20th and will be featuring American Whiskey -types have not been announced as of yet.  Can't wait to see what they will be featuring and will be bringing a few more peeps with me.

Cheers!