Today, I went to a Meet the Master Blender event with Richard Paterson from Whyte & Mackay, organized by The Baddish Group. Whyte & Mackay owns The Dalmore and Jura brands, among others. What an amazing appetizer for tomorrow’s main course (Whiskies of the World)! I’ve been talking about Richard Paterson a lot on this blog, and I was certainly starstruck to sit right next to him, to engage him in a conversation about his visit to Taiwan (which idiot served him boiled sea cucumber?!), and to be captivated by his enthusiasm and passion for whisky.
Richard gave us a quick tour around the regions of Scotland, gave us a lesson on how to nose and savor whisky, and led us through a tasting of The Dalmore 15, The Dalmore 18, and the Dalmore 1263 King Alexander III. My slow-developing palate gravitated towards the 15 year old, which was rich and creamy on the tongue and had bold notes of orange and tangerine. When diluted, it released some vanilla and toffee notes. It’s aged in sherry entirely in different sherry casks.
The 18 year had an alcoholic bite on the nose for me, which went away as I let it sit for awhile. It was equally silky and creamy on the palate, but brought some licorice flavor that wasn’t there in the 15 year, along with subtle notes of cream and vanilla. It’s aged for 14 years in American oak, and then finished off in sherry butts. Richard recommends not diluting the 18 with water.
The King Alexander doesn’t carry an age statement, but according to Richard, was distilled in 1992. It has 6 different finishes: port cask, madeira, marsala, cabernet sauvignon, small-batch bourbon and sherry butt. Wow! This makes for an exceedingly complex whisky, and very honestly, it made it very difficult for me to zero in on specific flavors. Like others at the table though, the King Alexander did taste different every time I went back for another sip. I’m sure the next time I drink this, my palate will be better prepared to appreciate it.
Here are some quick-hitter fun facts and observations from today’s event:
- Richard Paterson LOVES dates/years/numbers and history. When new characters are introduced in his stories, he often references their birth year and year of death, along with the exact year of the event he’s describing. My theory is that the technical side he applies to distilling comes out in this sense in his storytelling.
- I nosed the unaged, clear distillate that came out of a little bottle. It was a harsh rush of alcohol that gave way to some lemongrass flavors. Very interesting.
- Eventually, all the Dalmore expressions will feature the 3D metal stag in the near future, replacing the embossed versions that you see in the bottles below. Apparently, it was quite a “pain in the arse” to get the right curvature for the 3D stag, and it bumps up the cost of the packaging…but cool is cool and you can’t argue with that!
- Above, you see some pictures of the parlor trick that Richard performed by taking a glass of water, placing his napkin over it, and then pouring the whisky through the napkin, separating the water and whisky.
- There were two comments from Richard about whisky that really resonated with me. The first was that whisky is something that “can turn an ordinary dinner…into a sensation”…which I wholeheartedly agree with, because whisky is something that is definitely meant to be shared in the company of friends.
The second was when he likened the getting-to-know-you process and appreciation of a whisky to the work of Jackson Pollock. All the different flavor notes, the aromas, the color, the sounds, the finish, the emotion, etc. are like the drips and drops of a Pollock masterpiece — from afar, you can pick out colors and shapes and splashes and directions. But when all the sensory stimulants come together with the story and passion of the artist, you attain an understanding of the “inner world” of the artists that are behind the works of art. Cheesy? True?
