Wine writer RICHARD CALVER changes the pace with a sit-down whisky tasting and the promise of some burning desire…

GARTH Brooks and his wife Trisha Yearwood sing “Whiskey to Wine”, a plangent duet about how losing the song’s lover is like a change from whiskey to wine:

It’s not the same high

I miss the fire

The burning desire. 

Well, instead of wine tasting I recently went to a whisky tasting: a few drams over a couple of hours, with plenty of food before and snacks during to make sure that the burn wasn’t too damaging or, worse, that I would burst into song a la Garth and wife. Representatives of Glenfiddich held the tasting at Walt and Burley on the Kingston Foreshore and couldn’t have chosen a better night to ward off the cold: the wind off the lake was like ice that some people take with their whisky (not me). 

I approached this event in the same manner I would a wine tasting: get a good whiff, sip and swirl and only swallow if you like the flavour. 

Ross Blainey, the Glenfiddich representative, was knowledgeable and effusive about the offerings, himself the real thing being a Glaswegian. I refrained from telling him my favourite joke about that town: what do you call a man from Glasgow who’s lost his dog? Douglas. 

He emphasised the purity of the water that went into the whisky making, and how that is a plentiful resource in Scotland, a matter I can attest to after a visit in July: it rains with persistent regularity. Single-malt whisky is made from only three ingredients: malted barley, water and yeast. The array of flavours that can be developed in the making is, however, myriad. 

We started with the 12-year-old whisky: Our Original 12. I enjoyed the sweet earth tones and a hint of pear and pepper on the finish. It’s an easy, mellow drink but at 40 per cent alcohol by volume, you need to be careful about pace and level of consumption. No more on the alcohol content, it’s all high. 

The second offering was the 14-year-old bourbon barrel reserve. This whisky matures in oak casks formerly used for bourbon and then spends two months in toasted American oak before it is bottled and this imparts a sweet vanilla finish which is not to my taste. 

The third dram was very different and my favourite. The 15-year-old Solera Fifteen is finished in a 18,000-litre wooden vat that is only ever half empty and has been that way since 1998. Ross explained how the wafts from this vat when you visit the distillery are of powerful caramel. That is one of the flavours that are delivered with a taste that is reminiscent of the best kinds of old-fashioned fruit cake. Smooth with a hint of smoke at the beginning, thumbs up. 

Next was the 18-year-old Small Batch. This is stored in Spanish oak rather than American oak, which gives it a discernibly darker colour. It had a fiery finish mixed in with baked apple. 

Penultimately was a 21-year-old started in sherry barrels and finished in single use Caribbean rum barrels for six months. This was delightful: sherry nose with smooth caramel below. A winner albeit with a volatile finish. 

Last was Fire and Cane. This is a smoky, sweet whisky that relies on peat to obtain a distinctive flavour. Peated whisky is given this smoky flavour by compounds released from the peat fires used to dry malted barley.  

I’d had a Laphroaig with these characteristics and had found it, frankly, medicinal and not enjoyable. Alas that’s also my view of this product.

I’m still a wine lover at heart, but it’s always good to get a different perspective:

An Englishman said to a Scot: “Take away your mountains, glens and lochs, and what have you got?”

“England”, replied the Scot.