How to Drink and Enjoy Whisky.

We’re surrounded by reviews, opinions and views on every whisky under the sun. But the fact of the matter is a bottle of whisky costs money. Whether it’s scotch, bourbon, Japanese, Canadian… Whiskies are a lot of money so you need to get your bearings early on. That’s what this articles going to do.

I’m going to introduce whisky, and the appreciation of whisky to get you started.

First of all you need some good bottles – right now I’m working my way through a Woven Superblend

Pick Your Company Well

Pick your company carefully – if you’re drinking the whisky on your own fine make sure you’re not interrupted. Savour it enjoy the experience.

If you are with people, make sure its good company

The Glassware

When you’ve got yourself a bottle and you’re about to pour, make sure you select the right kind of glassware. It makes a huge difference in the delivery of smell and to a certain extent flavour to your pallet.

If you cant get a Glencairn glass, but you can use a wine glass. Use a curve sided glass that tapers in at the top. Rather than a glass that’s flared outwards such as a tumbler, however fancy they may seem. When you come to smell the contents, the aromas coming off the whisky aren’t concentrated. They’re wafting in every direction.

They’re not focused on your nose to half the extent that they are in a standard wine glass or a Glencairn glass.

The Pour

Traditionally whisky is served in a 35 ml measure, from a jigger (below) and yes that’s actually what they’re called apparently. When serving you must tap the side of the jigger to release the final droplets. The older a whisky the more, the more greasy it is as the oils are concentrated. As some whisky’s are eye wateringly expensive, you want every last drop. And obviously you wouldn’t want to leave anybody short in the glass.

The Smell of Whisky

What you don’t do is smell it quickly and knock it back like an out of control undergraduate. You’d be bypassing the experience completely. With whisky, and with any drink of quality, you need to give it time.

If you want I can give you the full lesson on eloquence, but it basically boils down to, let it sit for a while, let the aroma develop and then appreciate it.

The fancy posh way of saying it is once poured do not agitate the whisky and smell the light aroma, this is your first nose. Then give the glass a small whirl in your hand to coat the innards and smell the deeper aroma. This is your second nose.

You  also don’t want to stick your nose to far into the glass, you’re not snorting it. That hurts both metaphorically and literally. You want to allow the whisky to develop, and the aroma to come to you. Don’t rush it.

The Sight of Whisky

When you swirl the glass the coat line will appear halfway up. Where the liquor meets the dry section. A kind of whisky horizon. This will consolidate into beads and drip back down the glass. If the beads form quickly it means the spirit is less mature and younger.

If the beads are larger and slide slowly in the glass leaving lines (the legs) then it means it’s an older more wood experienced spirit. It’s had more exposure to ageing and the oils are more concentrated and greasy.

There’s a trick you can do with bottles where you turn them upside down and shake. The more bubbles you create the finer the whisky.

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The Taste

When you first taste the whisky, you should have it neat. You want to take a small sip. The first taste will give you the little nip of alcohol.

At this point you’ve got to decide if you’re going to add water. How much is entirely down to personal preference.

Water is the idea companion to whisky. So long as its clean fresh and flavourless.

Many people do drink whisky neat. It’s your glass, your whisky, go for it. Depending on the whisky though I like to add a little water.

If the whisky’s around  40% you’d add less water if its cask strength you’d add slightly more. You add water to release the flavour. To bypass the sting and tongue numbing experience of the alcohol. At this point a greater variety of aromas and smells will appear.

Time in the Glass

Never rush a tasting, take your time. At a tasting in Lagavulin they poured our glasses ten minutes before we were going to drink it. It’s a common mistake even experienced whisky fans make. To go too quickly and not allow the flavour to develop.

It rings particularly true with older whisky’s. You get more of an event, more of an experience, the more you prolong the smell and taste.

To Finish

Whist writing I was asked by a friend what I was writing.

I told him it was about how to drink whisky.

He said “oh, I assume with your mouth.”