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My first whiskey tasting was when I was about 7 years old. I was on holidays at my grandparents in Connemara and I had a toothache. My grandfather had a remedy which involved a bottle of Paddy* which he retrieved from his bedroom.

Slowly the cork was squeakily pulled out with a final soft pop I was told to topen wide, point out the offending tooth and then he dabbed the sore gum with the whiskey cork. With the spiritual potion applied I was directed back to my siblings where I breathed my whiskey breath on them to proclaimations of “Phew, you stink”. My first taste of whiskey! The pain subsided.

Well, it seems that innocent, first taste of ‘whiskey’ must have formed a positive opinion of ‘uisce beatha’:water of life because many years later I seemed to take to ‘whisky’ very easily. I was by now working here in London in a small design agency and one of the directors was a scot with an excellent single malt collection. Of course it helped that I started with the honied light Dalwhinnie, a lovely introduction to scottish single malts and one of the Classic malt range, then from United Distillers. From Dalwhinnie my tastbuds travelled all over Scotland and soon enough I had a very varied collection of whiskies myself, with or without an ‘e’ (one happy holiday was spent travelling up Scotland, tasting local whiskies. I highly recommend that as a holiday).

Then a couple of years ago we designed our award-winning gift packs for “Glenfiddich”:http://decoder.co.uk/portfolio/glenfiddich-gift-tins/. The highlight of that project was a glorious visit to the snow covered distillery at Dufftown. Stepping out of the car on that chilly, bright morning was like stepping out into a Christmas pudding. The malty aroma of a distillery, a kilt-clad worker crossing the yard and the ghostly hills around is one of the most evocative whisky memories I have. No wonder I love the drink!

All this personal whisky history was the reason I was excited to be invited to a Lagavulin tasting a couple of weeks ago at 69 Colebrook Row. Lagavulin is another of the great single malts from the Classic Malt range now part of the Diageo portfolio and is a delicious giant of a single malt. Smooth with an intense smokey, peatiness which slowly fades to a salty, sweet finish. Very complex but a wonderful dram both on the nose and in the mouth. I’m particularly fond of the smooth peaty whiskies, they remind me so much of Ireland (peat briquettes are a common source of heat) and of long walks across boglands. But there are some peaty whiskies which can be acrid and bitter. Lagavulin’s finish is sweet and salty and so is a particular pleasure to drink.

Now I know, many take time to take to the peaty whiskies. But I would encourage perseverance. Very few take to dark chocolate immediately (the best chocolate imho) nor to blue cheese nor even to olives! However, as you explore the wonderful world of whisky your palate will start to appreciate the differences of each whisky. The thing is to learn which whisky suits which mood you’re in!

After a brief introduction by Dr Nick Morgan, Scotch Knowledge and Heritage Director at Diageo, to the whisky production process we all moved on to our whisky tasting. We had seven wee drams sitting in a row, starting with the light floral Glenkinchie, then a Dalwhinnie followed by a Cragganmore, Oban, Talisker and finally two Lagavulins, a 16 year old and a Distillers Edition. Wonderful. I’ve always loosened my whiskies with a drop of water and Nick demonstrated why doing so releases some of the oils allowing the aromas and taste to blossom.

Next, which was very exciting for me, was a whisky food-match. I freely admit I would never, ever serve whisky with cheese but the pairings of Lagavulin with blue cheeses, Gorgonzola Piccante, Roquefort and Valdeón. The Roquefort, especially, was a revelation. It was an absolutely stunning combination which I’ll certainly use in the future (Dalwhinnie with an aged parmesan was another food match tip given).

As for the chocolate matches, well that wasn’t hard to guess that it would be good and of course the 64% Dominican Republic chocolate, a Port & Stilton Truffle and a special smokey Lagavulen Sour Truffle created by Paul A Young for the occasion were fantastic. I also like the combination of Paul Young’s lip-licking Sea Salt Chocolate Truffles with the Lagavulin (those chocolatey, salty truffles are divine).

Finally we finished with Lagavulin cocktails created by Tony Conigliaro and Stuart Bale of 69 Colebrook Row. While I preferred the Sterling Soda (Lagavulin mixed with lemon juice, barley water and vanilla cream soda) to the Lagavulin Liquorice Whisky Sour (Lagavulin shaken with lemon juice and liquorice syrup) I must be honest and say I went back to my pure wee tasting drams with the drop of water. Others raved about the cocktails but I know where my heart lies… with a drop of the pure stuff.

A perfect evening’s end.

*Paddy is a triple distilled irish whiskey and very popular in Ireland. 

This is an abridged version of a post which appeared first in Ailbhe’s foodblog.

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