LIQUID GOLD
How to drink your whisky right
OFTEN CALLED THE James Bond of Whisky, Scotsman Ewan Gunn has spent his life travelling, enjoying his favourite drink, and experiencing different cultures. “So I guess I get why the name has stuck. I just tend not to leave a trail of broken-hearted women behind like Bond does,” laughs Gunn, the brand ambassador for Diageo. Here are his top six tips to enjoy whisky:
Blends can be better
Although single malts have a unique flavour of one distillery—and that’s wonderful—I feel that blended whiskies have so many more layers of flavour. A blend has lots of different elements brought together by skilled craftspeople with generations of experience. Some people are snobbish about single malts being better, but that’s not true. They’re just different. Choose Scotland in a glass When it comes to drinking Scotch, I most often go for a Johnnie Walker Black Label. It uses Scotch whiskies from every part of the country blended in perfect harmony. For me, when I’m tasting a Black Label I’m tasting parts of Scotland in one glass.
Mix it up
Classic cocktails are making a comeback now with a lot of bars putting their own twist using local ingredients and creating their own bitters. They’re also serving them up in innovative ways using different glasses, domes filled with smokes. Because it has such a wide and varied range of flavours you can do so much more with Scotch whisky, some light and delicate and others powerful, smoky flavoured, than you can with other spirits. Back in the day, it was served with honey, lemon juice, hot water to give it a richer, heavier style. One of my favourite ways to drink Scotch is with a little ginger ale—a long drink for a hot summer’s day.
Don’t overanalyse your drink
Never approach a whisky in the way of sitting and analysing and nosing. Just enjoy your glass of Scotch, don’t over think it. Enjoy a tall drink with a mixer if you’re not one for an intensely smoky whisky.
Pair it right
Spicier, more intense dishes work well with smokier whiskies such as the Talisker or the Johnnie Walker range. When I was in India on holiday, I tried a Black Label with a tandoori dish and it was incredible. Lighter Scotch whiskies such as Glenkinchie or Dalwhinnie work beautifully with desserts like the panna cotta or crème brule. I think they might work well with a gulab jamun too. It’s not always about matching flavours, sometimes surprising combinations could work really well too. The idea is to keep your mind open and try lots of different combinations.