Pour your favourite dram and walk with us through some of the finest expression of malts. These offer varied expressions and impressions, covering varied regions of Scotland, including what used to be the Temple of Malts at one time, Campbeltown.
Springbank 25 YO: True blue Campbeltown malt, with a clean taste and warm palate. Long, chewy and deep, opens up layer by layer. With an ABV of 46 per cent, its complexity rubs salt tanginess with sweet grapes. Though Springbank is selectively known in India, it is worthy of your evening.
Talisker 18 YO: The only representative from the Isle of Skye presents one of the finest in its class. Easy on the palate, leads you to soft explosions of taste. Pepper holds sway and though the initial plate is strong and big, smooth flavours provide a long finish.
Glenfiddich Grand Reserva 21 YO: From the world’s largest selling malt, it is coffee and English toffee, sweet and spicy. Not very easy to come by, so ensure you pick up a few bottles. Best enjoyed with creme brule and caramelised bananas.
The Balvenie Portwood 21 YO: Combining the best flavours drawn from two woods, it’s a rich 21 YO. Feel this malt in a red wine glass—swirl and nose to get the full impact of great aromas and elegant wood.
Ardbeg 1973: If you still have not tried this, you are far away from malts. A true monarch from Islay, oily, wraps around your tongue, thick peat and salty tang, but is less smoky, with hints of spice and fruitiness. Big on taste, almost chewy. Well-done pork Medallions, with a soft peppery sauce can be a good combination.
Auchentoshan Three Wood: Sherry and some more sherry, deep vanilla, a bit of bourbon and raisin, overpowers the Lowland softness, but a good dram to roll. A good drink to begin the evening with. Enjoy with cold canapés and salmon rolls.
Mortlach 43 YO: With a black and white label from ’70s, this whisky is 70 proof. A collector’s product, Mortlach is available only in a few bars in India, but tasting will be only when you have your own bottle.
Benriach 30 YO: Enjoy a long finish, rich woodiness. The palate lasts longer than the nose. A fragrant whisky, which bursts into your mouth with oloroso wood, smoky overtones and gingery notes.
Kinclaith 301456: A rare and sought after whisky, it comes from the Strathclyde grain distillery complex. A 36 YO whisky from Duncan & Taylor, only 152 bottles have been produced.
Macallan 25 YO: A superior expression from the highly acclaimed Macallan Distillery, who has taken out a 18 YO bottling, since 1966. With an ABV of 43 per cent, it is a collector’s item, bottled in 1990.
Bowmore 1968: Silky luxurious finish, complex aromas, sweet scented and spice, balance on tropical fruit and firm oak. Playful malt with less peat; an Islay heavyweight but lighter in expression.
Lagavulin 16 YO: Not for the faint-hearted, this lavish malt overpowers you with surging waves of sweet coffee, heavy peat and smoke. With an ABV of 43 per cent, this malt has a lot of depth. Try and buy as much as you can since it is not easily accessible.
The writer is a whisky connoisseur and director of Spiritual Luxury Living India