Day 20 - Expert Whiskey Tester

A fellow traveller on the Scotland trip had remarked that at the beginning of the Jameson Distillery tour, wait for the guide to seek 10 or so volunteers for whiskey tasting. I keep my arm cocked, ready for the question, and when she asks, "I need 10 people for whiskey tasting at the end of ...," my hand shoots up before her sentence is complete.

Having already been to Bells Distillery I'm eager to reinforce the whiskey making process. An expert can tell a good batch of barley merely by looking or feeling a grain, although this takes ten years experience. Then there's the washing, the mashing, the roasting, distilling and maturation in casks.

Some of the casks have glass covers, allowing you to behold the liquid's rich copper colour. These casks were initially full. The longer a whiskey is left to mature, the greater the evaporation - hence you can see why mature whiskey is more expensive - it takes longer and there's less of it left!

  

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The whiskey testers-elect take their places on the long bench, observed by the rest of the tour group (perhaps wishing they'd also had foreknowledge of the ultimate taste testing). Three shots are laid before us.

"There are no right or wrong answers," we're told. "I'm going to ask you questions about look, smell and taste. The three samples are Scottish, American and Irish."

Apparently the point of the exercise is to gather feedback for the distillery's benefit.

I adjudge the American whiskey (or bourbon to be more accurate) as having the best smell, but kindly judge the Irish as having the best taste. Perhaps I'm a bit harsh on the Scotch - the Irish like to say their whiskeys have none of the smokiness that marks Scotch, but this is one of the pleasures of Scotch - a full, peaty palate. 

Nonetheless, I am now an expert whiskey tester! 

(... and a little bit tipsy ...)