We all love soup. But sometimes, you need something a little stronger. Fancy a dram?
For the Year of Food and Drink, May is whisky month. And as has been pointed out on our Kickstarter page, soup and whisky share one significant similarity (apart from being liquids). To taste their best, both soup and whisky need time for their flavours to come together.
But it turns out they have something else in common: both are loved by Elaine Mason. You see, Union of Genius is part-fuelled by whisky. It’s one of Elaine’s passions, second only to soup (most days). So I asked her to share her favourites.
“I like peaty whiskies and I especially like smoke, so I’m a rather large Islay whisky fan. Set me down near a Caol Ila or Lagavulin and I’ll cuddle either of them for hours,” Elaine enthused. “Bunnahabhain is a comfort whisky for me – I find it smooth and gentle. It has light peat and a bit of smoke. The Lagavulin Distillers Edition is sherry-cask finished, and is truly amazing. Very rich and smoky, with the sweet-savoury flavours turned up to 11.”
If you fancy trying any of these, I recommend Bennets in Tollcross, Bow Bar in the Old Town, Whiski Rooms on the Mound or Teuchter’s Landing at the Shore.
Elaine had an even better suggestion though. “The Malt Whisky Society [in the New Town] is really worth exploring. They list and describe their whiskies by flavour, so you can discover new things. They go for the unusual and only have limited numbers of any whisky, so if you like one, buy it straightaway. Don’t think you’ll go back for it later because it’ll be gone, forever, and you’ll be left mourning that perfect whisky which got away.” Noted.
Since Elaine had told me that “whisky is such a personal thing. One person’s favourite is another person’s mouthwash,” I also asked my pal Gregor, who runs rare whisky bottler Lady of the Glen, if he could offer us a few alternatives. He recommended their 20 year old Secret Speyside, “a single malt which is nice and fruity, with more tropical notes,” and a 20 year old Glen Garioch, “another sweet whisky, except with a more toffee and nutty taste profile. It would be ideal if you were having a tasting to try this before your big peat monsters!”
You can buy Lady of the Glen whiskies from their site, but like the Malt Whisky Society, once it’s gone, it’s gone. Imagine if you had a bottle though. You could have a celebratory dram from it, after you helped us reach our Kickstarter goal. Just sayin’. Find out more and back us here.
Amy