Уиски Жокери – Част II
We continue with the topic telling about the little secrets and tricks of consumption of whiskey. You will read slightly strange, but easily applicable techniques with which to arouse the interest of friends or even win the whiskey heart of your beloved.
Do you want to impress your friends with your whiskey knowledge? The following advice is for you!
One part of whiskey tasting is sensing the flavors. It's a very individual moment and different people experience different nuances. It's happened both to people sniffing a glass of whiskey for the first time and listing a huge range of flavours captured, and passionate enthusiasts commenting with just one or two words. Still, let's follow the steps.
- Choose your glass. Our recommendation is to take a standard tasting glass with a long stem. The advantage to this is that it is easy to hold, there is no direct contact with the glass and so the liquid doesn't get warm. It is not too wide, but it's not too narrow at the top, where the aromas concentrate and don't disappear if it's a standard width.
- Point your left or right nostril towards the rim of the glass, but not too far over so you don't get irritated by the alcohol fumes, but not far enough so you don't feel anything.
- Take a breath through one nostril, but at the same time let your mouth be slightly open. This allows oxygen to circulate in the nasopharynx, which opens up the aromas as much as possible. If your mouth is closed, you will feel a pronounced alcohol influence without much development in the flavors. Test with your mouth open and closed to see the differences.
- One nostril is more strongly developed than the other. The one through which you feel more spirituousness and alcoholicity is the weak one, and the other, through which you feel everything else, is the stronger one.
- What can you feel? General perceptions: sweetness, spiciness, spirity, bitterness, smokiness, florality. You can see more in-depth varieties in the aroma wheel.
- Don't be surprised! Some whiskies have a unique richness of flavours, but these are lost on tasting, as well as the opposite of being shy on the nose and developing huge depth on the palate.
- One of the deepest aromas you can smell when whisky is drunk! Leave the drunk glass unwashed and smell in the morning. You will be left speechless or breathless! The aromas will be intense, rich and different, but unfortunately the glass will be empty.
- Last tip: Don't leave everything to the aroma, but sip with relish.
With or without ice? A question we have been asked many times. If you are tasting and want to enjoy the amber distillate to the fullest, take the ice out immediately.
And, why? Because ice constricts the receptors of our tongue and we feel mostly its alcoholic influence. However, if quantity rather than quality is important to you, mix the whisky with whatever you choose, but we'll close our eyes wide.
Water drops are widespread, but we recommend them for high proof whiskies or others with flavours you don't like. Water drops open up the bouquet of flavours even more, but don't do this with your favourite whiskies because you might water them down afterwards.
Have you seen whiskey stones? They are beautiful square cubes made of natural basalt or another type of stone, and they may even be metal. They serve to chill the liquid, so you need to keep them refrigerated beforehand to keep them as cold as possible. They're not our favorite, but they look nicely in an interesting glass, and you'll attract attention at the next table...if you break a tooth.
However, we do recommend having one The Macallan with Ice Ball. This is serving the whisky with a round ball of ice made from a gorgeous copper ice press, plunged into the glass where for the first 30 minutes it mostly chills rather than dilutes the drink. The question is: after those 30 minutes, won't we be drinking water? The answer is: who drinks The Macallan for the whole 30 minutes? If we do drink it for more than 30 minutes, it's at least our third drink.
These and more secrets can be found at www.vida.bg or at Caldo whiskey bar.
