Date Night Dinner with Whisky
In these stressful days we are unable to take our wives or loved ones out for that special night. Theatre, candlelight dinner, cocktails and/or a trip down to the pub.
My Whisky wife Jacqueline suggested we have a ‘date night’ at home with a special dinner and Whisky pairing with each course. I will be the one tasting the Whisky and Jacqueline will be enjoying her favourite Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and finishing with a Botanist Gin and tonic.
Jacqueline asked me to pick the menu for next Saturday’s ‘date night’. I went for it big style and selected all my favourites. I then had the hard task of matching a whisky with each course – what a hardship!!!
My selfish menu is:-
Starter
Avocado with king prawn Marie Rose sauce with a wedge of fresh lemon.
This one was not easy one but I think I cracked it Old Pulteney – ‘Huddart’.
This is a Maritime Malt with briny coastal notes. This one goes great with all seafood and best of all with shellfish especially oysters.
Main Course
‘T’ bone steak with hand cooked chips (done the Nigella Lawson method), mushrooms and fresh hand made onion rings.
This course has to have a champion Whisky, I chose The Balvenie Single Barrel Aged 15 Years.
This bottle from a single barrel with an outturn of no more than 350 bottles. A rich and complex dram, honey and vanilla and a long finish certainly complements this main course.
Dessert
Heavily boozed sherry trifle with lashings of double cream.
With a heavily sherried dessert it was not that easy to select a Whisky. My first thoughts were Aberlour A’Bunadh but on second thoughts this is too sherried and is also at cask strength.
The choice I made was for the Glen Moray Elgin Classic – Cabernet Cask Finish. It still carries a delightful and gentle red wine nose and palate and is delicate enough not to overpower the dessert.
Cheese Course
My main selection will be blue cheeses and extra mature Scottish cheeses. The selection will include Strathdon blue, Dunsyre blue, Arran oak smoked Cheddar and Mull of Kintyre 14 month matured Scottish Cheddar.
For me this is an easy choice. It had to be an Islay. A Scotch Malt Whisky Society – 53.287 “Ye olde medisin’ a 12 year old single malt, single cask at cask strength from Caol Ila. Tasting was wood smoke, salty, singed lemon skin and lobster pots.
P.S. Did I say at the beginning I enjoyed a wee aperitif about an hour prior to my ‘date night’ dinner. That dram was a Campbeltown Loch Blended Scotch Whisky from Springbank Distillers. A delightfully light and easy drinking dram to start the night off.
All I have to think about now is the Sunday after, a slow relaxing recovery day.
