Whisky, and why I drink it

Mainly because it tastes good.

The funny thing though, is that it didn't at first. My first sip of whisky (although it might possibly not have been) was from a bottle that had the label torn off, was relegated to the back of the cupboard behind the cognac and the brandy, and was occasionally liberated only so that the contents could be used as rubbing alcohol or as an antiseptic. It was a sneaky sip at a fairly young age (definitely under 12 years old), just so I could find out what it tasted like, seeing as it was always mentioned in the same breath as vodka, gin and brandy. The first two would remain mysteries for nearly another decade, while brandy had been tasted, assessed and set aside about 5 minutes before I reached for the whisky.

It reminded me of this:



Or more precisely, the smell that one associates with cockroaches, something acrid and choking, with an almondy edge to it. It's a mixture of phenol and p-cresol, together with some hormones, and Oriental cockroaches secrete it as a defence mechanism. Not something one expects to taste in a bottle of whisky.

For about a decade and a half after that, I took care to drink whisky only in the company of Coke, lemonade or some other mixture to mask the taste. It was mostly Jack Daniels, which probably explains why I never had the urge to try it neat for 15 years (even a bottle of Chivas Regal became chocolate truffles). About 2 years ago though, someone gave me a dram of Teacher's Highland Cream. I wasn't too inclined to try it, but googled it on a whim one day, only to find that there are at least as many tastes to whiskies as there are distilleries - that is, about 300 globally, some of which distill more than 1 distinct type. And this is before vatted malts, blended malts and bourbon are considered. That dram of Teacher's eventually went into my tasting notebook, and very fine it was too (although in this case it was more of a textural pleasure - more later).

Funnily enough, phenol and its derivatives are what gives good peaty single malt whisky its distinctly delicious flavour. The barley used to make the mash is dried with peat smoke after it's malted (begins to germinate after being soaked in water). The peat flavours the barley with certain compounds that imbue the final product with flavour. Most of these compounds are phenolic in nature (and they do include p-cresol and phenol, although probably not the hormones).

Be that as it may. There's a lot of stuff (smells, flavours and textures) lurking under the surface of the brown liquid. And technically it's not always brown either, as the colour comes from the wood finish (many rosy gold whiskies are matured in port pipes) , is sometimes enhanced by added colouring, and frankly the marketing departments find it easier to sell whiskies that are deep brown or sort of goldy. Plain faecal matter brown doesn't shift off the shelves very well.


After some practice (frequently, after all it makes perfect), I've discovered a host of impressions lurking in the brown liquid, mostly fruity and spicy ones, but others evoke the sea and the mountains, and maybe grass in the sun after a rain shower... it's in the smell, the taste, the way it rolls across one's tongue, how it lingers and transforms after swallowing...

Whisky, the water of life. Not the stuff that tastes of cockroach.