Notes on Slate's tasting:
"Subjective tastings—also termed 'hedonic tastings' (as in 'hedonism,' the pursuit of pleasure)—are not as rigorous. Tasters receive no formal training, personal biases are not surpressed and descriptors may be more colourful. These are the commonest form outside a blender's nosing room and are no less valuable than analytical tastings."
from Malt Whisky, by Charles Maclean
Slate's live whisky tasting participants include: Slate movie critic David Edelstein (DE), NPR's Brook Gladstone (BG), New York Times film critic A.O. Scott (AOS), spirits and wine writer Malachy Duffy (MD), Slate TV critic Dana Stevens (DS), and d.b.a. co-owner Ray Deter (RD), and d.b.a. muse Catherine Lepp (CL).
DE: Welcome to this wildly experimental tasting. Let me introduce the people who were kind enough to help us today. I'm David Edelstein. To my left, Ray Deter, co-owner of d.b.a. and d.b.a. New Orleans. To his right, Brook Gladstone, co-host of NPR's On the Media; Malachy Duffy; Catherine Lepp, whisky connoisseur; and A.O. Scott, New York Times film critic.
We are starting with a surprise whisky, because several people were somewhat put out by the fact that we were running an article on Scottish whisky the weekend before St. Patrick's Day. It's a single-malt whisky called Connemara. This is a pot-stilled whisky.
MD: You get the peat right away. There's a nice sweetness to it. I'm getting a lot of citrus on this, too, which I associate with Bowmore.
RD: This is 40 percent alcohol by volume, or 80 proof. When whiskies get above 80 proof, or 90 proof, you want to start adding spring water.
DE: I find this very smooth, but the peat is a strange touch, but I like it. I disagree with you about the water, Ray, because I think that you really do free up some aromas when you add a drop of water. I love the oiliness of the spirit. When you add a drop of water, you lose the individual mouthfeel.
MD: All of the professional tastings I've been to, you do add water, because there are different characteristics that come out. I always add water to Talisker. We'll be trying that.
DE: We're moving onto McCarthy's. This is a three-year-old whisky made with imported peat, especially for Clear Creek distillery in Portland, Oregon. It's a three-year-old, which is very young for a single-malt whisky. We're putting it here in the tasting, because it's probably unfair to put it in with Islay whiskies. Ready?
(Ray Deter is burning peat, to create ambiance for tasters. In Scotland, they used to—and some people still do—burn peat to heat their homes, the way other people would use wood or coal.)
DE: I don't know how widely available McCarthy's is, but it's very affordable. Does everybody have theirs?
RD: What's the connection between peat and Scotch? Long before they had gas ovens to process the barley, they would use peat.
DE: The peatiness 200 years ago was somewhat inadvertent, because it was used for heat.
DE: McCarthy: I find that the nose, one byproduct of heavy-peating is a kind of machine oil. This whisky makes me think of fast cars, there's something kind of rubbery on the nose.
BG: I am getting that! I didn't think of that until you said that.
DE: I find it very appetizing.
AOS: But then it doesn't go anywhere. Once it crosses the lips, it sort of burns out.
DE: I think it's an awfully fine taste, there's a beautiful clarity.
MD: I think it's got great potential. It's a little unintegrated because it's so young, but it needs a little more aging in a barrel. I would have given this another couple of years.
RD: I'm still getting that rubber element that we mentioned. If you exhale from your nose as you swallow, you get a real blast of flavor, I find.
MD: On second taste, I liked it better.
DE: I think it's got enormous potential.
RD: It reminds me of the inside of a diving mask.
CL: I didn't like it at all. It reminded me of ammonia, verging on cat pee.
BG: I find it perplexing that I liked it, because it is exactly as you described it. Is the purpose of aging a Scotch the same as wine?
RD: Absolutely, the barrel thing is critical.
DE: Now we're going to taste Highland Park, 12 year. This distillery was founded in 1798, it overlooks Orkney's principal town. The Orkneys are north of Scotland, part of the way to Scandinavia. They are far from Highland. It's still a Highland whisky. I get peat, I get sherry. I get so much sweetness.
MD: This is beautifully integrated. Everything is right there.
BG: This is spectacular. It makes everything else seem "blech."
DE: One thing that Charles McClain and Jim Murray recommend, if you don't add water, if you cup the bottom of the glass with your hand, it will warm the whisky slightly, and it will release the aroma. (David demonstrates.) This smells so fantastic.
Audience member: How much does this cost?
DE: This was about $35.
CL: Whisky and milk is what Irish fishermen have for breakfast.
DE: If you have friends who don't want a peated whisky, but might want to get their toe wet...
AOS: This is unobtrusive. It doesn't scare you away at all.
DE: We're going to be moving into the scary ones later.
AOS: I liked this one a lot. This is excellent.
DE: Now we're moving into Bowmore, 17 year. Bowmore dates from 1779. It's in the middle of Islay, Scotland's whiskiest island. Let's just drink. It's an amazing thing.
AOS: That's lovely.
DE: What is it in Bowmore? I think it's kind of an ozone thing.
KL: Like negative ions?
RD: Yes, after an electrical storm, there's a smell that permeates the ground, and that's this smell.
MD: This is like a pomander: you know, that spiced orange you make at Christmas. It's clovey, spicy, there's a little, and if you really taste underneath ... chocolate.
AOS: Yes, a bitterness. Chocolate, like dark chocolate. The way the orange has the sugar and the harshness.
MD: This has a real "mouth" feel—it coats your mouth.
DE: It doesn't get any better than this. This is my favorite.
Rachel (David's wife): I thought you didn't have a favorite.
DE: Well, I guess this is my favorite.
MD: If you go to Islay, the warehouses will often be flooded. The barrels are porous, so you get a lot of salinity, and a lot of seaweeed character. When the whisky ages it takes time, and when you open the barrels they aren't quite full, thanks to evaporation, etc., and there's a gap at the top, and that empty part at the top is called "the angel's portion."
DE: There is some sweetness.
BG: The Connemara is like a Dunkin' Donut. It tastes sweet, but by the end, you're a little tired of it, and like you didn't get anywhere. It wasn't a very fulfilling self-indulgence, whereas this one is a very fulfilling self-indulgence.
DE: Morrison Bowmore, the owners of this distillery, are also owned by Suntori, which has bought a lot of whiskies in Scotland. That's Suntori as in "For a relaxing time, make it Suntori time."
[Amanda "Peat" Fortini of Slate announces that Martin Jensen, in Tulsa, Okla., and his friend Michael, are tasting alongside.]
Panel: Hello, Martin.
DE: Now we're moving onto Talisker, 10 year. Talisker, 1831, Robert Louis Stevenson in an 1880 poem called Talisker, "On o' the king o' drinks, as I perceive it."
Panelist Dana Stevens, one of Slate's T.V. critics, joins in.
DE: It's from Skye.
BG: I just had my non-watered taste. Do you suggest a drop or two?
MD: I would recommend one, yes.
DE: This is a little more kippery, a little more smoked fish.
MD: There's a lot of heat on the palate.
BG: Thai-peppery.
RD: Let me talk about the best way to add water to a whisky. Get your spring water, and pour a little bit in the bottle top, like this, just kind of gently add a couple of drops.
BG: I just added a couple of drops, and it didn't hurt the mouthfeel, or the pepperiness.
AOS: You still feel the burn on the tongue. It doesn't dull the heat.
DE: It upsets me to put water on this.
CL: But it really opens it up (swirling). I taste caramel.
DE: It doesn't anesthetize your nostrils quite the same.
RD: There's a great forwardness.
MD: This is a great whisky, too.
DE: This is spectacular. This for many years, this was a favorite of mine.
[Amanda "Peat" Fortini announces that two more people have joined "Martin" in Tulsa. Hello, Tulsa!]
The panel discusses "Scotch on the rocks." Good? Bad?
RD: I own a bar in New Orleans, and you have to deal with the heat down there. I don't disagree with it.
DE: For the record, like a really good blend, I will have it with ice, and maybe a little soda, to give it a little spritz. As Tony knows, I like my Manhattan's, with Booker's 126-proof and sweet Vermouth, but I would not do that to a Bowmore 17.
MD: David makes a good point about blendeds and single-malt whiskies. That's a big distinction.
AOS: Are single-malt Scotches thought to be superior to blended?
DE: There are some writers, Jim Murray, whom I revere, is a blender himself. He thinks that blended Scotches from many different distilleries, that the art of blending is in and itself transcendent. I could not disagree more strongly. They taste homogenized to me. Everything I want to get away from in whisky.
AOS: is there a trend in taste? It seems in the last 15 years, single-malts...
MD: Yes, there's been a resurgence in single-malts.
DE: A year ago, I could get Lagavulin for about $40, now there's been a distillery shorter, and Ray says they're discontinuing it. It was part of that Diageo series, and so there's been some distillery shortages, and now it runs about $70.
RD: It's going to go up.
BG: Tony, when you go into a bar, do you order scotch or a single-malt scotch?
AOS: I order a martini.
DE: Well, moving on, I don't know if it's worth $70, but let's give this next one a shot. (Panel tastes Lagavulin 16 year.)
DE: Some distilleries do add caramel artificial colors, which some writers feel is not good.
MD: I just feel it's dishonest. It's not part of it in its natural state.
BG: This smells very medicinal.
DE: When I add liquid smoke to my hamburgers, when I'm grilling indoors, this has "essence of charcoal" and "essence of peat."
RD: You do get that iodine smell. It's 42 percent, which is not crazy, but it's up there.
AOS: There's a kick in throat.
DE: A little catch, sort of a charcoal catch.
RD: You want to roll these over the back sides of your tongue. You taste different things in different parts of your tongue, so you really want to let it roll over the back of your tongue, and flop to the bottom of your mouth. It sounds gross, but it works.
AOS: I like it better with water.
DE: You can taste the whisky better with a drop of water.
MD: If you put a little bit of water, it releases the sherry or bourbon characteristics.
RD: Which is from the barrel. I think it's worth $70.
DE: Frankly, if I'm going to spend that kind of money, I'd get a Bowmore 17.
DS: I was just saying that I'm the worst person to be on this tasting, because all Scotch to me still tastes the way alcohol tasted when you were little.
DE: Did you taste the Bowmore?
DS: Yes, I did. It is the best of the poisons.
DE: Ardbeg 10 yr. It is extremely clear.
BG: Champagne-colored.
AOS: And yet, very stinky.
DE: This is fantastic.
BG: This is so salty, it's sea-like. It's like the ocean.
MD: These three distilleries are lined up like pearls on a string on the south shore of Islay. Laphraig, Langulvulin, and Ardbeg. They're right dead heart on the ocean.
DE: To me, this is sea-air peat juice.
RD: I'd say brine juice.
Audience member: If you were to age this longer, would it get darker?
DE: I don't know for sure, but it would have to be. I find this a very rough whisky, sort of a rough-and-tumble whisky. The sweetness would be more knit if it was more aged. There would be more oak.
MD: You get an undertaste of the peat in this.
BG: But what about the sea in this?
MD: It's more prevalent here.
DE: If you want to know what peaty sea-spray, salty tastes like, this is it. (a common yearning, we're sure) This is "echt-Islay."
DS: It's the only one of the ones I've tasted that I'd like to keep drinking. And the name of it is the most beautiful.
DE: Ardbeg 10, this is my house whisky. Also it costs $35 a bottle.
BG: It'd be hard to serve to the uninitiated, though, I think.
DE: Now we're moving onto our final whisky: Laphraig, 10 yr. But it's worth saying that my mouth is pretty much burning from that Ardbeg 10. It's really on fire. But back to Laphraig. Laphraig, we're just getting into a different arena now. When you really heavily peat a whisky, you get this medicinal quality ... hospital bandages, what else?
MD: I get old ship ropes. Salty ship ropes.
DE: Old tar.
CL: Rusty.
MD: Seaweed, low-tide. Iodine.
RD: BUt I think the Ardbeg was more intense than this one.
(Brook sniffs the whisky and makes a face.)
DE: It's beautiful. I respect this a lot now, coming off all of these other whiskies. I have so much more respect for Laphraig. Some on the Fray say we should have also included the Laphraig 15.
BG: What do you guys (audience) think about this?
Audience member: It's crude. I'd add water.
DE: Laphraig's ad slogan is, I think, "Love it, or hate it." So they understand that people are ...
MD: I think it's delicious. It's a beautiful integration of all the seaside characteristics: the peat, the salt air, the iodine, that salt tang.
RD: I wouldn't touch this with water.
MD: I'd put a little water in this, but I'd go either way.
KL: The Talisker is my favorite.
RD: Do you have a favorite, Malachy?
MD: Probably the Bowmore.
DE: Yes, the Bowmore 17.
RD: I'm still a toss-up between the Bowmore and the Ardbeg.
MD: It's sort of like saying, "Which of your friends do you like the best?"
BG: But when I'm in a bar, I'd never order something like the Ardbeg. I'd be much more likely to order the Highland.
DE: But when I'm drinking, I focus on my alcohol ... I focus on what I'm drinking.
The panel is wrapping up, and David Edelstein adds: I think that everybody here deserves a second shot of the Bowmore 17. What do you all think?
Room: Yes!
DE: I don't know that we've reached any conclusions, but I guess the nice thing about a tasting like this, is that summations are beyond the pale. But I hope that people have learned something from this, and that people also understand that this stuff isn't about getting plastered, it's about getting a little bit of history ...
MD: Yes, it's culture, it's history, it's geography, it's weather, it's about sensuality.
DE: It's about hedonics. And I guess, we're done here, so talk quietly amongst yourselves. Cheers! (Applause.)
In addition, participants and viewers can go to d.b.a.'s Web site (http://www.drinkgoodstuff.com/) and access the bar's streaming video. It's a crummy, lurching, black-and-white video image that will do none of us tasters any favors, but after a few drinks you'll hardly notice.
