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Business News/ Mint-lounge / Mint-on-sunday/  Letter from a dram
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Letter from a dram

Of memories from the Scottish isles and the many virtues of whisky

Photo: AFPPremium
Photo: AFP

It was around midnight. The narrow path up in the mountains was dark—it was practically the middle of nowhere for a couple of us tourists. We were still many miles from our B&B. Our car’s headlights were the only sign of humanity on these mountains of Scotland. 

We were both feeling lulled by the gorgeous five-course dinner we had just eaten at The Three Chimneys in the Isle of Skye when came the shocker—a herd of sheep occupying the entire, narrow one-lane road. Not enough space to go ahead. Too dark to back up, and how far will you back up anyway? There was deathly silence everywhere and I obviously made a very Indian, very un-Scottish move—I honked.

The sheep did not budge. For 20 minutes. Since there was no soul in sight, and I had no experience with herding sheep, we just had to wait. In pitch dark. The wife started praying. I started thinking about Allan Lamb, the English batsman, and then the braised shoulder we had at lunch. I wondered if I should have had one more glass of whisky at dinner, considering we didn’t now know the outcome of this evening.

That trip, many years ago, was the spouse’s gift to my love for malt, mountains and monkish silence—the best place for all three is Scotland. We made it back alright that evening, but that memory and all the fine drams of whisky I had in the five distilleries we visited continue to swim in me.

My generous ode to malt is not coming out of the blue. Saturday was World Whisky Day—yes, such a thing exists—and if there is any product in the world that deserves a day of its own, it’s whisky. A film called Whisky Galore released in the UK and the US over the past two weeks. This week, coincidently, an eclectic group of friends also had our monthly whisky meeting—we gather occasionally to mull over malt. 

So what makes whisky—which is basically a distillate made from grain, yeast and water and matured in a wooden cask for a period of time—so interesting? 

My choice of whisky (spelt like this in Scotland, Canada, etc., while “whiskey" is used by the Irish and Americans) follows a stereotype—men of a certain age visualize themselves with a glass of malt in one hand and a cigar in the other, seated in a leather armchair in the evenings, talking about buying a yacht or travelling to Copenhagen for a weekend. A stinging sip later, they can change subjects to stock prices or about their chat with Bono in business class. I have come only as far as the first step—the glass in hand.

Two, it makes for a great conversation starter. Imagine the number of questions you can ask provided you have the key to a well-stocked bar: Malt or blend? Scotch or Irish or Bourbon? Smoky/peaty or smooth and gentle? Speyside or Highlands or Lowlands? On the rocks or no? A few drops of water, perhaps, or neat? 

Soda? If you ask that question, you really should be drinking vodka instead. 

For the last few years, one issue that crops up often in these conversations is the lack of availability of Yamazaki, the award-winning Japanese malt, which disappeared off duty-free shops everywhere as soon as it was declared the world’s best. 

Now, even the most resourceful of people cannot lay their hands on a bottle for love or money. This, of course, augurs well for Hibiki, one of the other offerings from the same company, but never stops faithful glass-holders from cribbing about Yamazaki’s desertion.

Three, there are so many varieties to choose from—one can spend a lifetime and still not be done. In the nearly 125-year-old Quaich Bar in Craigellachie, Scotland, for instance, there are over 900 varieties of single-malt whiskies from around the world. The Craigellachie 31-year-old, incidentally, was 2017’s best single malt, according to the World Whiskies Awards.

Four, as a weight-conscious friend tends to argue—not entirely correctly—whisky has fewer calories than any other form of alcohol. While some people may take solace in the “lesser evil" argument, there really is no basis for this assertion except that with whisky, you may save the additional calories of mixers like colas or ginger ale.

Five, it’s versatile. Contrary to what’s widely assumed, whisky makes for good cocktails and is summer friendly. Several places in Mumbai ran making-and-tasting cocktail sessions over the weekend. As someone famously said, there is a whisky for every occasion and an occasion for every whisky.

Six, it makes for a good investment. Bloomberg reported last month how the price gain for Scotch is more than double of gold or silver over the last eight years and that investors are looking to put their money on the best barrel instead of the best bonds.

Finally, you have to appreciate how companies sell their products. Jim Beam got actress Mila Kunis to make their commercials rather fetching some years ago (in comparison, Indian brands have used Dharmendra).

Having established these pro-factors, let’s get one thing clear—this is not a piece to encourage drinking, which is damaging to health. In fact, moderation is the key, though I read an article that quoted the American Journal of Epidemiology as saying that one drink per day, three to five times per week, correlates best with a healthy weight. 

The trip to Scotland gave me a small insight into the complex world of whisky production and the intricacies of its taste. But it takes more than a while to be able to distinguish the hint of vanilla in one brand from the “tarry notes of seaweed in another", as Marc A. Hoffman describes it in Whiskey: A Fascinating Journey Through the Most Famous Whiskies and Distilleries Worldwide.

But once you develop the acquired taste, it’s hard to switch to any other drink—barring the cost factor, because malt is expensive. Hugh Morris’s eloquent tribute in The Telegraph says it best, “Perhaps a little trite view of the drink, but should incarnations of the world’s spirits come together for a dinner party, I’d put money on whisky being the last standing… while vodka lies passed out on the floor and gin weeps in the corner. Rum left hours ago to attend a more vibrant soiree."

Whisky drinkers are able to form a kinship, bond over bottles, break ice with strangers, compare tastes and laugh about their trip to Edradour in Pitlockry, Scotland—its smallest distillery with a staff of three and 100,000 visitors a year as of my last visit. 

If you are at all interested in my personal preference, it’s Laphroaig (my first taste of malt ever) and Macallan (a fan ever since I once sampled from a 21-year-old bottle)—with or without two or three drops of water. My most recent escapades have been with a 21-year-old Hibiki on a glorious evening and Octomore, said to be the world’s most heavily peated whisky.

I don’t have much recollection of either evening. 

Letter From... is Mint on Sunday’s antidote to boring editor’s columns. Each week, one of our editors—Sidin Vadukut in London and Arun Janardhan in Mumbai—will send dispatches on places, people and institutions that are worth ruminating about on the weekend. 

Comments are welcome at feedback@livemint.com

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Published: 20 May 2017, 10:49 PM IST
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