Whisky Boys – Back to School (again), Week 1
The Advanced Scotch Whisky Trail Certificate Course 2011 – City of Glasgow College (week 1)
After sucessfully completing the Scotch Whisky Trail Course in March of this year, my son-in-law Scott (Whisky Boy Nicola’s husband) and I decided to register for the Advancd Course which started on Tuesday 13th September.
Having kept in touch with our lecturer, renowned Scotch Whisky writer, industry expert and Master of Malt, John Lamond, we were both looking forward to seeing some old faces from the course earlier this year, in total there were 11 of us, all ready to learn more about our beloved Whisky.
The first topic to be covered on this course was Characteristics Arising from Distillation and Fermentation. This took an in depth look at the characteristics which arrive through foreshots and/or feints, metallic, sulphury, and off-notes, their cuases and manifestations.
After discussing various aromas which are usually associated with Aldehydic, Estery, Sweet, Oily, Cereal, Phenolic, Feinty, Sulphury, Sour, Off-Odours and Guaiacol, we moved onto my favourite part of the night – The Tasting. Unlike the tastings we enjoyed earlier this year, John had 6 unlabeled bottles sitting on his desk and asked us to gather some tasting glasses in preparation for our Blind tasting session.
John at this stage pointed out that we should all be educated enough in the world of Whisky to differntiate between a Blend and a Single Malt. The drams we enjoyed were as follows:
Grants Blended Whisky
Glenmorangie 10 Year Old (The Original)
Macallan 10 Year Old Fine Oak
Glenmorangie “Lasanta”
Highland Park 12 Year Old
Ardbeg 10 Year Old
I’m glad to say as a group we all managed to pick out the blend from the Single Malts but could not quite nail the exact Whisky we were tasting apart from the Ardbeg 10 Year Old which I am sure you are all aware of, is one of my favourite drams.
We have a further 7 weeks of our Whisky education which will cover the following:
20th September – Beyond Maturation
27th September – Regionalisation – Does it Exist?
4th October – Glasses and Their Influences
11th October – Brand and Craft
25th October – Visit to a Whisky Lab
1st November – Open Week
8th November – The Market
During the 1st & 8th November classes, we will be required to give a 10 minute presentation on some aspect of Whisky. This will be followed by an open discussion and appraisal.
Our readers can also enjoy the Whiskies which Scott and myself enjoyed during Week 1, use our shop window below and order your drams online today!
