Close Your Eyes, What Do You Smell?

What is your defination of how the future taste? Close your eyes, take a moment to envision the future. You, married with your partner, taking your children to school. On your way out, you start the engine of your bubble-like plane. It slowly floats up into the air, you see many other vehicles in the airway with air-traffic control. Vehicles come in a myriad of colours, or maybe not. All plane-cars would be in red colour so they’re visible in the air. Then, as you drive your bubble-plane, your kid tells you “Whoaaa, mummy (or daddy), look at that cool robot flying and making funny faces over here!” You ensure you don’t bang into the tall 300-storey buildings as you identify your children’s school. Okay, I think I’m looking into year 3000. Wait, that’s not right. I might be dead by year 3000 unless I am immortalised.

Let’s look at the year 2050. Global warming. The earth dries up, there’s scarcity of resources, there’s man-made-everything that replaces mother nature. Weather goes crazy and people become mad and crazy with corruption and economic crisis. Okay, that’s the utterly-pessimistic-Kim that will never prevail.

The near future is going to look good where humankind values success over human selfish ways. In 2013, I will be making tons of money so I can insist that husband can stay home to cook for me (not just omelette and wan tons) and take care of things at home. In that year, I will also start making babies expanding the Ng empire and plop a “team sprint” from 2013 onwards, one after another. A team sprint comprises 3 members (in my case, minus the reserve member!) in track cycling.

Close your eyes again.

I am closing my eyes right now. At this point, I can smell the detergent as my mum is handwashing some clothes in the bathroom. Feeling rather hot, I can also smell the heat from my laptop. It’s not exactly a burnt smell, my laptop is getting old? I can also smell some leftover curry from the dining table as the air-conditioner blows (with my humble and reasonable compact home where everything is close by). If you put the three different smells together and turn it into a drink, how will it taste?

What’s the taste in your mouth right now?

Glenfiddich, one of the finest, most premium single malt whiskies around, infuses the best of taste to churn out an exclusive drink, only food and wine connoisseurs would appreciate. I’d like to term myself as a food and wine connoisseur but I’m twenty steps from being one. One fine Sunday, I was given the opportunity to learn more about whisky-tasting. Taste was subjective, drink it how you want to drink it. Drink responsibly and allow yourself to taste and appreciate it. Drink not to get yourself drunk, because you would want to remember special moments when you drink alcohol.

The entrance of Elle Six Art Gallery.

Glenfiddich’s “Taste The Future” event was to allow us to identify the different tastes of the six different years from 1997 back to 1979.

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Some finger-food that went along with the whisky.

Malt whisky is produced in six stages: Malting, mashing, fermentation, distillation, maturation and bottling (unlike wine, whisky does not continue to age once bottled).

The variation of taste.

A closer view. Take a sniff.

At the beginning of the session, we had five glasses filled with three sips of different tastes.

Mr. Ludoviq Ducrocq, the Global Ambassador for Glenfiddich travels around the world to conduct tastings, shared with us the essence of Single Malt Scotch Whisky tasting.

Take a browse of the different years and their taste.

My analysis: Very dry, yet musky and light.

1997: I was in Secondary 1 and shared the same classroom as my sister who was then in Secondary 5. She was in the morning session and I was in the afternoon session. This year,  declined the offer to be the class treasurer but wished I was a prefect. I was a prefect the next year. The kind of prefect who would take early breaks to sit in the Prefectorial Room where it was cool, neat and had a good fan. A much conducive place to study. *grins* I also started practising my voice on the microphone by giving school announcements. Hehehe.

The colour is a little darker as this layered malt is processed uniquely from the Scotch whisky distillers, it is matured in three types of oak cask, Spanish, traditional American and new American, before being married in their unique Solera vat. The Solera vat is never emptied and always kept at least half full, creating a deliciously harmonious and complex whisky. In layman terms, Solera vat is the big barrel that holds the whisky liquid, kept for years until some new flavour is added into it and taken out again and so on, the process continues.

My analysis: Good for those with a sweet tooth. Very sweet.

1994: I was a Prefect in Primary Four and came in second position in class after exams only to find myself in the twentieth position in the second semester. I was in my second year of ballet and had passed my ballet exams with a Distinction at Primary grade. My hormones also started raging, I started having a crush on this guy who played football across my home. My taste for guys changed drastically down the road and I now prefer frog legs way more than ’twigs’.

My analysis: Smooth, rich yet mellow and lingers around the tongue for a long while. I like this with abit of water.

1991: I stopped sucking my thumb at this old age (shushhhhh!) and went to Primary One school in Convent, Ipoh. I became assistant monitor and my leadership qualities started from there. Hehehe.

This one, at 21 years, after being finished off for four months in casks that have previously held Caribbean rum, it takes on the rich toffee sweetness with notes of vanilla and hints of new leather. New leather!?!?!?!?!? You must be thinking, why put leather in a drink. It’s the hint of it, the dry and neat smell of it.

My analysis: This is my personal favourite as a chocolate lover. Although the next drink you’re about to see has dark chocolate taste, I find it too strong as compared to this one – taste is just right for me!

1988: I was a happy-go-lucky little girl and performed hawaiian dance in kindergarten. I played alot of Barbie dolls with my sister this year.

My analysis: Alcohol is too strong for me. Too potent, its texture is too thick, although it has the flavour I like – dark chocolate.

1979: My Supermom and Superdad had alot of fun somewhere after my mother’s birthday in October and in the following year, my sister was born!

Come, taste the future with me.

Huai Bin http://www.sixthseal.com and Ringo http://www.cheeserland.com were with me.

There’s one man in the photo that resembles me alot!

During this whisky-tasting session, Mr Ludoviq Ducrocq explained the processes of making Single Malt Whisky and how it differentiates from other forms of alcohol; beer and even normal whisky.

I finished them all. That doesn’t make me a champion for finishing them all, that also does not mean I am an alcoholic. I didn’t get tipsy at all too, as I had lined my tummy before that with buffet lunch that was also served, and I sipped slowly and made sure I appreciated the taste. I think it is really important for a female to hold her drinks well especially in this age where it is sometimes unavoidable to refuse at least one drink. I don’t believe alcohol is to be appreciated by only men, but also female.

One for the photo.

Special offer at RM2,499.00 for the entire set that day.

Looks like William Grant has done it right by creating the ‘best dram in the valley’, a long-held dream that turned into a reality with the completion of his distillery in just a single year. He focused on obtaining the right source of water to make good whisky. It’s not just about the ingredients used, it’s mainly about the water from the bubbling springs called Robbie Dhu in Scotland.

Here are some tips on how to take an appreciative sip of single malt whisky. 

Look at its colour. This tells you what kind of oak cask it was aged in. A light, honey-golden hue indicates it was aged mainly in Bourbon casks. A deeper, darker colour indicates sherry casks. 

Check out its legs! Swirl the whisky to coat the sides of the glass. The streaks that run down the inside of the glass are called legs. The closer together they are and faster they run, the younger the single malt is. Legs that are farther apart and run more slowly indicate an older whisky. 

Nose it. But don’t bury your nose in the glass! That will quickly overwhelm your sense of smell. Pass the glass about an inch below your nose and inhale gently. Add one part still water to three parts single malt and mix well. The water will bring out more of the aromas. Keep nosing for 10 minutes or more – you can even dip your nose into the glass now – the aromas will change over time. The better the single malt, the longer the variations will go on. Now taste the watered whisky; hold it on your tongue, take in air and then let the whisky fall off the sides of your tongue. The taste should confirm the aromas you discerned. 

Try its mouth feel. Hold about a teaspoonful on the middle of your tongue for a few seconds. A hot, spicy feel indicates youthfulness, a warm, mellow one, more maturity. 

Consider how it finishes. What kind of impression does it leave after you swallow it, and how long does it last? The older and finer the single malt, the longer the finish will be, from five seconds to five hours. 

(Source: kuali.com)

Taste the future.

I can smell you reading this blog. You smell of “curiosity”. Come, explore with me.

Glenfiddich = GLEN – FEE – DICK.

Glenfiddich Website: http://www.glenfiddich.com
Glenfiddich Blog: http://blog.glenfiddich.com

The Glenfiddich Distillery is located in The Glen of Fiddich, a short distance north of Dufftown, Banffshire, in the Speyside area of the Scottish Highlands. You can always make a booking to visit their site on a tour, just make an appointment with them from the contact listed in their website. I would go there next time. Good tourist site.

For locals in Malaysia:

“Single and Available” the distributor is now open in two locations: D-0-3 Plaza Damas, Jalan Sri Hartamas 1, Kuala Lumpur and G21, Bangsar Village, Kuala Lumpur. Visit their website at www.geocities.com/singlemaltwhiskyandavailable. 

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