eat something with that scotch

Last week, Dave and I were lucky enough to graze our way through a lovely meal at Petit Bill's in snowy downtown Hintonburg, where it feels like winter is never going to end. The meal was carefully prepared to match with a tasting of Macallan Scotch(s). Dave likes Scotch. We have a growing collection of amber coloured bottles in our liquor cabinet that threatens to spill out and take over the kitchen. I, however, remain all about the wine but I wasn't saying no to an evening of Scotch. And wasn't that fiery elixir just the thing on a cold February's eve.

We sipped our way through five vintages beginning with a fruity ten year old that would make a nice meal starter on its own. My favourite pairing was a crispy fried rabbit egg roll with a twelve year old Scotch that had been aged in Oloroso Sherry casks; rich caramel and dried fruit notes danced about on my tongue with butter and apricots. A cask strength pour (which basically means lots of alcohol as it gets bottled with no dilution) was paired with a roasted quail, but I found it so heady that I just wanted to sip it without any interfering food stuffs as a satisfying wind-down to the meal.

What I learned:

-these were single malts meaning they were made at a single distillery from malted barley;
-the type of oak makes a big difference in taste (Sherry barrels impart a sweet, dried fruit aroma while fine grained barrels mean more floral and fresh fruit aromas)
-as with wine, the lighter and fruitier tasting whisky paired better with the lighter fare and the richer whisky was better with the meatier food on the plate
-Scotch flavour profiles vary from region to region

The evening was in support of The Parkdale Food Centre. Nothing like drinking for a good cause, but warning: this is what happens when you drink too much of the strong stuff!

Back to the wine for me.