Thoughts of an epicurean
At last we've made it, the wait is over: spring seems to have finally asserted itself against winter, not only supported by daylight saving time, the evenings are getting longer and brighter, it's finally getting significantly and visibly steadily warmer and the spirits of life are reawakening. How lovely! Welcome to the season when we can sit outside without a thick jacket again!
Speaking of "thick jacket" and "cold": Did you actually know that the wonderful spirit "whisky" especially in its perhaps most beautiful form, the Scottish single malt, is actually drunk/enjoyed significantly more often in the colder season than in temperatures above 20 degrees Celsius? I have a small, very fine whisky shop in the heart of Frankfurt, located between Dom and Main, with the beautiful name WHISKY FOR LIFE. And besides the annually recurring phenomenon of Christmas with the unsurpassed drink gifts in the range of over 40% (yes, by definition a whisky has to have that as well as at least three years of oak cask maturation) I can confirm that the purchases (and with that very likely also the consumption) of whisky - simply put - are more intense in winter than in summer. Actually funny, isn't it?
Okay, at felt and actual 30 degrees "plus" a nice little wine or beer can also be very tasty and also thirst-quenching; enough water to it goes without saying anyway, I can only recommend. By the way, I myself am not a friend of excessive "Radler" consumption, since the palatable sugar component of this drink is broken down by the body first, so that the inclined "normal body" then deals with the alcohol breakdown later, perhaps unpleasantly late as far as the possible hangover is concerned. But that's another matter.
I don't want to break a lance for whisky as the new "Trend thirst quencher 2017 in Germany", but just when balmy spring, summer or autumn evenings are coming to an end and the evening is still relatively young, .try a nice whisky. Maybe a great single malt or even something else special. You will be surprised by the variety of tastes, maybe and probably even thrilled. Feel your way slowly and try something new, it is truly worth it. And if you are already a whisky fan like me, you don't need to read any further, but can choose something nice from the great variety. Whether with smoke, peat or wood, you can decide for yourself or get advice on the selection, but please get rid of the cliché that (Scotch) whiskies are always smoky. Yes, whiskies mostly mature in casks in which another alcoholic beverage (bourbon whiskey, sherry, port, red wine etc.) was allowed to mature before and whose staves were also lightly toasted or even strongly flamed out in the vast majority of cases. And still, a big difference exists between the delicate smoke of a whisky, which comes more from the wood and the long maturation, and the peatiness, which comes solely from smoking the malted barley over peat smoke au guts in the early production process.
What I'm getting at is that these wonderful slow drinks taste at least as good in the warmer months as they do in the cold ones, to my taste sensation, although to combat the latter or on Christmas Eve you might have a few more arguments at the ready than you would in the height of summer. Just try it once.
I personally try every whisky first with a mini sip pure. Without ice anyway, because cooling reduces the great aroma of the whisky, which would be a real pity. But please decide for yourself if you like it that way or if you want to add a little still, ideally low-salt water. The way it tastes best to you is the way you should enjoy it. On that note, I wish you great enjoyment and the best of health. Or as the Scotsman says, "SLAINTE MHATH!" (Gaelic for "Good health!")
Text from: Frank Jerger
