My grandfather, as far back as I can remember, has always enjoyed single malt scotch. I tried it once and all but spit it out. My first experiences with beer and coffee were much the same, I now enjoy rich, dark, malty beer and drink my coffee strong and black. I will be on a fishing trip with the family over the 4th of July and one of the many items on my "bucket list" is to drink and actually delight in a glass of single malt scotch with my grandfather.
The other day I bought a cigar on a whim, it was a Makers Mark cigar in a glass tube like this. I enjoyed it so much that I decided I would purchase some more online. I began doing my research on finding the best price for said cigar, which I may try doing a review on later, that began a trip down the google rabbit hole and lead me to some youtube videos about the history of whiskey. My interest was peaked, and my research was underway.
After reading all of the beginners guides i could stomach, I came across ralfy.com. I watched a few of his reviews, which I found for some reason only furthered my resolve see this through. More research ensued and coupled with this review I came to the conclusion that I would skip scotch of the blended variety and move to single malts straight away. Glenmorangie original to be specific.
Mission Status:Today on my way home, I stopped by the liquor store and picked up a bottle. Begin operation Glenmorangie (pronounced glen-morange-y as stated by the Scottish fellow in the video review above). Now I am just starting out and to avoid the bad experiences that surrounded my previous scotch encounters I am going to water down the Scotch. How much water you say? My answer to that is until I can stand to drink it and then gradually less and less each day. So as I said before I have a bottle now and today I poured about a half an ounce and took a whiff...
Okay, this is going to take some dedication. Determined and despite my initial reservations I pressed on. I added some room temperature distilled water, not quite a 50/50 mix let it set about 7 more minutes and took another whiff. It should be noted that this second whiff was a much more tentative whiff and was performed by breathing in through my mouth and letting some of the aromas flow through my nose...
This was a whole new experience. I could get past the alcohol and smell the scotch, and i have to say even start to appreciate it. I followed with the tiniest of sips and focused on the flavors of the whiskey... Holy crap! There is flavor in whiskey. I could actually taste the honey, the malt and definitely some oak. Operation Glenmorangie has a chance at success, I may even try some Glennfiddich with my grandfather in the coming weeks. This is way more of a first blog post then I thought I had in me so I will update the status of Operation Glenmorangie in the weeks to come. Thanks for reading - J
