Whisky Review: Tomatin 18 years Single Malt Scotch Whisky

The brittle leaves, once green, had turned custard yellow, clay brown, red, purple and every stained-glass shade  in between.  Nippy autumn gusts had scattered the kaleidoscopic foliage all over Roger's lawn.

Our friend had invited Keith and I over this sunny Saturday afternoon to ostensibly hang out, but what he really wanted was cheap labor to rake his yard.  While I look fairly rugged in my fir green waxed cotton Barbour and Keith in his worn  and patched M65 field jacket, we are actually fairly averse to perspiration.  Yes, I know, shocking.

So, we were not warming up to these weekend plans, and instead made collective faux groans of tiredness over steaming espresso.  We hoped this near maudlin tactic tinged with a wee larceny would elicit some attempt at bribery from our good friend.

"You guys are shameless," Roger muttered in an Italian sandwhich bistro that morning.  He was sipping steaming Earl Grey with extra bergamot, and staring off at college-grade abstract canvasses hanging on the opposite exposed reddish-brown brick wall.  Suzanne Vega echoed off the terra-cotta tile floor.  Roger liked this quirky artist friendly cafe with the gently whirring ceiling fans, skylights and glass bead doorway separating the kitchen from behind the counter.  A place where hemp necklaces, eyebrow piercings, Birkenstocks and back issues of Mother Jones did not seem out of the ordinary.  Patrons sip from recycled paper cups containing unbleached tea bags while their sedate, eco-friendly Subarus and Volvo wagons lie in wait curb side.

"Shameless?  Maybe," I thought to myself, and as if on cue, Keith and I resumed to catalogue our respective aches and pains to the point of harmonizing like Crosby, Stills & Nash at Woodstock.  Suzanne would have jammed with us if only her tour schedule permitted it.

After some back and forth, we negotiated in exchange for our highly sought rake-wielding skill set: barbecued steaks in Cabernet-thyme sauce, adorned with pan fried mushrooms and sweet red onions, baguette, Gorgonzola cheese, spicy frites, and some Saint-Émilion vin Rog had tucked away.  I would supply the whisky.  Keith agreed to bear half that cost when he got paid next week, which meant I would bear the full cost.

Now, you may think that we were taking Roger for a ride, but he was paying for more than Fall leaf removal.  I had expertise to deliver in whisky meal pairing that he would benefit from for years.

I had to earn my supper, so I started thinking.

The question I had to ponder is what is an appropriate whisky in autumn that suitably compliments a steak-frites meal.

A Fall whisky has to be heavy.  Fairy dust light Lowland Scotches like Glenkinchie and Auchentoshan are for Spring.

Islay?

Never with grilled steak!

Islay is for seafood.  Pair your Ardbeg with oysters or pan fried scallops in butter, a match made in heaven.

What about Speyside honey and spice whiskies like Cragganmore 12, Glenfiddich 15 and Dalwhinnie?

No!  Absolutely not!  They are orchid delicate.  The flavours and complexity are blotted out by the barbecued tenderloin and the spicy frites.

You need a malt flavour profile that can go toe-to-toe with a Gorgonzola and still be there in the 12th round!

You need a sherried malt, hell, a sherry bomb.  Think GlenDronach, Glenfarclas, Macallan, Balvenie 15.  So, in that vein, I thought I would try something new: Tomatin 18 years.  The Tomatin 14 years in Portwood was a dream and suitable, so the 18 should be better.

Tomatin 18 years single malt Scotch is aged for fifteen years in bourbon hogsheads (purportedly Maker's Mark), and then finished for a further three years in first fill Oloroso sherry butts.  With an ABV of 46% this non-chill filtered malt should have the strength of flavour and character to not be bullied over by barbecued steak in rustic Gaulic gravy.

Nose (undiluted)
Powerful, punchy red fruit, you smell sherry big time, but woody too, all chased by Cabernet Sauvignon notes.

Palate (undiluted)
Sweet red licorice quickly turning to bold sherry.  Mid-palate there is a transition to steak spice, Montreal Steak Spice, Lea and Perrins, or in other words Worcester sauce.

Finish (undiluted)
Tarragon, sage, summer savoury, oak, too woody, damp wood, and in some way is spoilt.  Part your lips and breath and taste stale cigarette.

General Impressions
For an 18 year old single malt, this disappoints.  It lacks complexity of flavours, the sherry tastes old, stale and somehow spoilt.  There is a funkiness, a barnyard quality and Worcester sauce on the finish that makes you wish you had your money back.  My gut feeling is that there is a problem with wood management.  The quality of casks is just not up to snuff.

This bottle is not flawed, its just a style of whisky with less than ideal ex-sherry casks.  It tastes a lot like Tobermory, another less than stellar sherried malt.

Many 12 year old sherried malts would deliver equally well, if not better:  GlenDronach 12 comes to mind.

. . .

What did Roger think?

He liked the funky finish of barnyard and spoilt sherry.  He said it was distinctly French and something uncouth Anglophones like me could not understand.  That's ok, I am content to listen to a Francophile, hailing from Lancashire, spout forth, as I smoke his last Cuban.  I can be bought, just not cheaply.  So can Keith, our Chinese Canadian friend, who takes another swig of Saint-Émilion vin.  We can even endure some more Suzanne Vega, if need be.



Yours truly hemp necklace free,



Jason Debly

Review: Bunnahabhain 12 years old Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky

"I am taking the kids to the cottage for the weekend."

I am standing in the kitchen.  Hands in my pockets.  Still listening.

"You don't have to come, if you don't want to.  I know you have some chores to do."

And then she added with a wry smile, "please try to contain your excitement."

I sputter, trying to hold back the biggest smile spreading across my face with all the subtlety of a Howard Stern interview of  a porn starlet that reportedly slept with Charlie Sheen.

You see, two of my kids, ages 5 and 7, were in the habit of hanging on the French door, separating the dining room from the kitchen, by the door knob, and swinging back and forth like shutters in a Kansas tornado.  My other daughter is 15 years old, and far too cool for such nonsense.

Anyway, the door was in need of repair, as it was partially pulled off the hinges.  A carpenter was coming in to replace with a new one that would also have to be painted.  Plus, he was going to nail some flashing that was loose on the roof.  It would be really great if the kids weren't around to interfere with all that, I suggested in a low and hopefully hynotic voice over morning coffee to the wife (she hates being called "the wife").  I let my highly persuasive argument percolate in her mind, employed Jedi knight mind tricks, tried to put her in a superconscious state of mind that Reveen would be proud of, and other mental slight of hand, before gradually giving serious thought to bribery, as I stirred my coffee.

Fortunately, I didn't have to open my wallet (her's is fatter than mine anyway).  By Friday night, she had come around to my way of thinking.  So, while she would spend weekend evenings gazing at a seaside sunset (see above), I had my work cut out for me.  I had to do what I like best.  Organize a whisky tasting, but on very short notice.

 Islay Whisky Tasting & Suggested Hors d'oeuvres
A couple of late night emails, frantic phone calls, and madly typed texts, and I had my fellow whisky dogs trotting over for Saturday night.

I always try to have a theme for a whisky tasting, which is generally determined by what I have on hand or members of the whisky club can bring.   I settled on an Islay theme.  I had Caol Ila 12, Bunnahabhain 12 and whisky dog Ken would bring Laphroaig 18.  But, it takes more than a few good single malts to make a successful whisky tasting.  You need suitable food  or hors d'oeuvre pairings.

Since the whisky tasting was taking place at 8pm, there was no need for serious food pairings.  What was a prerequisite for a successful evening were light appetizers that compliment the featured whiskies. Crusty French bread  and water might be appreciated by prisoners on Devil's Island, but not by I and the whisky hounds.

So, I have an easy- to-make hors d'oeuvre for you to consider.  Simply take a plain cracker.  I use Carr's Table Water Crackers.  Spread some plain cream cheese on it, place a slice of smoked salmon on top and finish with a single caper, as pictured above.  Take a sip of a nice Islay malt, and then a bite of that properly dressed cracker and you have a nice melding of marine flavors.

What I like about this appetizer is that it does not overpower the taste of the whisky.  It would be a mistake to take a bite of Danish blue cheese, and then knock back some Caol Ila or the even more sublime Bunnahabhain.  The strong cheese taste would overpower the malt and muddy its subtleties.

Bunnahabhain 12 years Islay Single Malt

ABV
46.3%

Color
Natural.  No caramel E150a here.  Surprisingly light gold, hay.  Why surprising?  I guess so many 12 yr single malts are colored darker.

Nose (undiluted)
Light peat, garden fresh mint, piping hot brewed black tea, and a touch of loam.  Sherry lurking in the background.  Sherry?  Yeah, in an Islay malt?  I know.  Bewildering, but more about that later.

Palate (undiluted)
Spicy dark red fruits of plum, Moroccan dates, figs delivered courtesy of aging in fine sherry casks.  But, this is not simply a sherried dram!  The sherry notes are lightly peated.  The peat action is not your usual over-the-top Islay blast but rather evoking pleasing dry, flint-like, weathered beach stone, graphite taste.

Finish (undiluted)
Sweet malt lingers with oak, tarragon and rosemary.  Wet wood beach bonfire smoke too.  A faint echo of peat.

General Impressions
Whisky dog Ken astutely pointed out that in a blind tasting this would not easily be recognized as an Islay malt.  A lot of sherry that melds perfectly with peat and sea salt.  That alone does not suggest the stereotypical Islay that is enormously dominated by notes of phenols, hospital bandages, ointment, iodine and powerful, in-your-face beach bonfire smoke.

Bunnahabhain takes the Islay malt classic and mixes things up with sherry accented by sweet malty action before a peculiar, what I can only describe as flint-like or stone taste, but all in a good way as far as I am concerned.  I think this stone/flint action is probably contributed to by the sherry and oak casks.  I like it because it is really different, but I am sure some readers may find it a bit odd.  Kinda like the humor of Andy Kaufman.  You are a fan of non-linear comedy or you aren't.

High ABV
At 46.3% I was expecting this to pack a serious wallop and be maybe a little too strong.  Not the case at all.  No raw alcohol or unrefined spirit taste to be found.  Bunnahabhain is remarkably smooth with a medium body, not heavy, but not light either.  You could add water if you want, but not necessary.

Not Well Known
Bunnahabhain is not a well known Islay malt.  Probably because it is one of the least peated Islays out there, and I suspect in the past much of the distillery production was for blends, most notably Black Bottle.  Nevertheless, you should seek this malt out and give it a go.  It does taste of the sea and other maritime flavors with the addition of sherry.  If you can get it for around $55-$60 a bottle, you are doing well.

Well, it's Sunday morning now.  I better head to the cottage and take in the Sunday evening sunset with my very significant other, otherwise I will be meditating on a view from the dog house come Monday morning.

Cheers!


Jason Debly

Copyright © Jason Debly, 2009-2013. All rights reserved. Any and all use is prohibited without permission.  Reveen poster image is widely available on the web without attribution as to its creator.  Used in this post  for artistic and literary purposes only.  All other photos taken by yours truly. 

Reader Email: Shabbat Dinner Whisky Pairing Advice!

I received an email from a reader, Alexandre.  I wrote back a response and asked him if I could also post his email here.  He agreed.  My original email reply is briefer than what appears below.  I added to it in an effort to maybe trigger a response from you too.  Please chime in if you are so inclined.

. . .

Hi jason,

I came across you whisky blog , which i find interisting, and I see you were giving well-pondered advices there, so I thought i may asking for some of your advices too. I really need it .

My first encouter with quality whisky was in a trip to Scotland (I know , how stereotuypic). we (me and friends) tasted some whisky at a distillery visit, but the real "shock" was when we' were offered a glass of Dalwhinnie 15. 

I was stunned, I never enjoyed a alcholic drink so much .

I returnerd form Scotland and brought with me a set of 4 small bottles of 5 ml of single malt scotch, I liked them all, but unfortunately i don't remember the names , except the talisker 10 which I liked the least.

A year after, I bought a bottle of Dalwhinnie 15.
I started to drink it on a weekly basis. I am jew, and we have a festive meal each week on friday night, and i like to conclude my meal with a quality drink.

I liked the smell of the Dalwhinnie (and i always like the nose more) , but i was a bit disappointed of it. I didn't feel it was as i remembered. It was more bitter than i thought it will be , and i didn't managed to sense the taste well.
I still enjoyed to drink whisky on friday night, but when i finished the bottle, i decided to try something else.

I saw the Laphroaig has a lot of love ont the internet , so i wanted to try it.
I bought the Laphroaig Quarter Cask
It was better that the Dalwhinnie 15. I loved the smell ,and I still love it .
I can sit half an our smelling it and enjoy .
I think I liked it for being strong. It does feel good after drinking it.
I don't know what to think about the taste , i enjoy the taste it left in the mouth, but like the Dalwhinnie , i'm not sensing all the flavors you are all talking about in reviews.

By the way , I read somewhere the Laphroaig QC nose has banana and coconut flavor in it . It is funny, but i hate banana and coconut and still am fond of this smell.

I happened to add a new bottle before i finished the Laphroaig , the Talisker 10 .
I still don't know if i like it better than the Laphroaig , i enjoyed to drink not less , and i think i managed to catch its taste better,but again when i like better the "after-drinking" that's when it is in my mouth .
One thing I'm sure of : I like the smell of Laphroaig more.

I finished the two bottles now , both Laphroaig and Talisker , I enjoyed drinking them but I'm thinking peraphs I'm missing something in this Single Malt drinking since I'm not sure I feel all of these wonderful tastes, peraphs I'm a bad whisky drinker .

Two things I may do wong :

- Drinking after an heavy meal
- Not adding water

I tried adding water and drinking before eating , that was not THAT better , but may be a good direction (thought i really like the drink-after-lunch thing)

One more thing ; when i drink something like a Chivas 12 , I do feel it's poorer than those single malts i drink , even if i its taste is not complex at all.

It's time for me to buy a new bottle , and I wanted to ask what do you think should be my next step : try something different , and what? continue drinking the laphroaig or the talisker until i get the taste ? stop wasting my money of drinking Single Malt ?

I you read it all , thank you for taking your time an answering me .

regards

Alexandre

Shabbat Dinner Appetizers by Flickr member: Julie

Shalom Alexandre!

Thank you for your email which raise a great many interesting questions.  Not sure I can respond to them all, but will try.

I presume that the meal you refer to is the traditional evening Shabbat meal.  I understand that it is a meal with many courses.  Accordingly, those present are going to enjoy a wide variety of flavors over a couple of hours, as various dishes are sampled.  These flavors will most likely interfere with the optimal tasting of fine Scotch whisky.  So, it comes as no surprise the glass of Dalwhinnie 15 you enjoy in isolation, is not as pleasant in the midst of a wonderful supper offering a multitude of tantalizing tastes.  By the way, Dalwhinnie 15 is never bitter on its own.  No doubt the food you enjoyed before affected your palate such that the Dalwhinnie tasted bitter.  For example, I can just imagine chowing down on some pita bread dipped in spicy baba ghanoush (Salat Hatzilim), and what that would do to my taste buds ability to appreciate any single malt, let alone one as delicate as Dalwhinnie.

Baba ghanoush

Shabbat meals vary depending upon the background (Sephardic or Ashkenazi), as well as the geographic location (ie. Brooklyn versus say Haifa).  The wide ranging flavor possibilities will mean there are no hard and fast rules for pairing with whisky.

The Sephardi of North Africa enjoy "chreime," a fish in a spicy tomato sauce.  However, to pair such a dish with Dalwhinnie would also be a mistake, and if there was ever a need for a 614th mitzvoh, it would to function as a prohibition on such a pairing.  Meanwhile, I can well imagine Talisker 10 or Laphraoig 10 being an excellent compliment to the spicy fish dish. 

                                              Sephardi-style fried fish

So, yes, drinking a particular single malt, after a heavy meal, may not work where the flavors of the meal do not compliment the malt.  How does one determine which foods work with which whisky?  Trial and error.  In time it can become more intuitive too.

Coincidentally Alexandre, in the same weekend that you sent your email, the whisky club I belong to had a barbecue.  There was a fairly extensive collection of bottles and the menu consisted of corn on the cob, steak, and lobster (clearly not Kosher!).  The disappointment you experienced with Dalwhinnie was similar to mine with Talisker.

When I landed at the barbecue, I chose Highland Park 25 years to start.  I figured, I hadn't eaten anything, so I should be able to enjoy the whisky without a palate that had been impaired by other foods.

The Highland Park 25 was mouth-watering, rich stabs of brown sugar, sandal wood and cinnamon.  Good?  Yes.  Great?  Nah.  While enjoyable I found it a little too woody for my liking and the price you pay.

I followed the HP 25 with a snort of Macallan 12 that seemed a little more flat than usual.  Just before the meal was served I moved to Talisker.  I couldn't appreciate the Talisker at all.  Didn't taste particularly good, but I knew otherwise from many tastings of the bottle without food accompaniment.  I didn't even bother to finish the Talisker.

The food arrived and I just knew intuitively that what would work was a gentle Islay single malt or a good quality blend.

There was an old bottling of Bowmore 10 years that worked perfectly. A lightly peated, oily, easy seaweed wonder of an Islay malt that was not overwhelming, and no long finish. Exactly what I needed to compliment my meal. The Bowmore worked well with the corn, the steak and the lobster.  This experience defies the ordinary wisdom that steak must be paired with a sherried malt.

This particular bottling was released by the Opimian Society (a Canadian non-profit wine purchasing cooperative) that is better known for their catalogs, which enable members to order cases of obscure wines from around the world. Once a year they obtain some Scotch whisky through an independent bottler. The Bowmore in the bottle before me was undoubtedly in the opinion of the malt master too weak to make it into the offical bottles of the distillery, and so that bulk malt got sold to independent bottlers. The Bowmore was close in taste to say White Horse or Black Bottle.

So, Alexandre, yes, I think it can be a bit of a mistake to drink very expensive whisky at a Shabbat dinner comprised of several courses.  Too many flavors abound upon the palate that will prevent you from appreciating the full complexity and wonder of a good malt.  Save the expensive whiskies for another time.  Instead, switch to a gentler tasting blend or entry level single malt.  Selection will depend on what you are eating.

Whisky Dog member Bob studies label of my favored cheap malt.

One advantage to drinking an affordable single malt or blend is that you will not stress yourself out with questions in your head as to whether or not you are appreciating all the nuances of flavor, not to mention the feeling that you are being wasteful.  

Wastefulness is not next to G-dliness
Speaking of being wasteful, maybe expensive single malt at a Shabbat dinner is not a good idea.  I think there is some rabbinical thought suggesting wastefulness is to be avoided at a Shabbat dinner.  While it is acceptable to splurge on fine food, drink, china, crystal and linen, one should avoid doing so to the point of wastefulness.  My Gentile cursory surf of the internet found some authority for this notion.  Check out Gemarra (Berachot 39b) for the law of Eiruv Chazteros (readers, if I am wrong feel free to point it out).

Single Malt Scotch Suggestion
Alexandre, you conclude your email with a request for suggested future purchases.  In my original email to you, I suggested Bowmore 12 years, a nice gentle Islay.  I suggested an Islay based on your affection for Laphroaig.  I think the Bowmore will work well at Shabbat too, as it is gentle.

I have one more recommendation from Islay.  My favorite of Islay is Lagavulin 16.  Extremely exquisite, truly special and to be enjoyed all by itself (with water if you wish - by the way, adding water to whisky is not a mistake if you like what it does to your spirit).

But, whatever you do, don't drink Lagavulin with a cigar, as the latter will rob all the magical flavor angels dancing on your palate.  Please, do as I say, not as I do . . .

Whisky Dog Bob (left) looking immensely pleased with himself.

 Cheers!


Jason Debly

Copyright © Jason Debly, 2009-2013. All rights reserved. Any and all use is prohibited without permission.  Certain photographs appearing in this post are used with the permission of the photographers.  Their photos are not to be reproduced without their permission unelss they have granted it pursuant to a Creative Commons license.  Photo credits: (1) Shabbat photo taken by Flickr member Tim Sackton and used on this blog pursuant to a Creative Commons licence; (2) Shabbat appetizers taken by Flickr member Julie and reproduced here pursuant to a Creative Commons licence; (3) Baba Ghanoush by Flickr member Daniel Rigos who holds all worldwide copyright and moral rights to this photograph.  No reproduction is permitted without his written consent; (4) Sephardi Fried Fish by Tamorlan and published with consent pursuant to a Creative Commons licence.  (5), (6) and (7) taken by Whisky Dog Ken, and no reproduction without his consent.  I act as a liason to any such requests and my favors may be bought . . . cheaply.

Review: Ledaig 10 years Single Malt Scotch Whisky

"Ledaig"

I said "L-E-D-A-I-G."

I know you are drawing a blank.  Me too.  Sounds like some tropical disease  of the lower bowel that afflicted the machete swinging, 16 century Spanish soldiers, who hacked their way through suffocatingly humid Peruvian jungle, on the orders of the murderous, Inca gold-loving conquistador, Francisco Pizarro.  

It's not another word for Lord Byron era "consumption" either.

Depending on who you ask, "Ledaig" is pronounced as "led-ching" or "let-chick."  I suspect Gaelic pronunciation will vary depending on the particular region the person you ask resides in.  In any event, "Ledaig" is the former name of the Tobermory Distillery on the Isle of Mull, in the Scottish Inner Hebrides.    I guess the owners also found the original distillery name had some unwanted connotations that impeded the marketability of the whisky.

Tobermory puts out some single malts that are used in affordable blends: Scottish Leader and Black Bottle (the latter, I am particularly fond of).

The distillery bottles most of its whisky under "Tobermory" and it is somewhat salty, fruity, but unpeated.  The distillery also bottles under the label of "Ledaig" and it is peaty and providing plenty of smoke.  So how is it?

Nose (undiluted)
Mildly antiseptic, loam, earthen, smokey and nicely peated.

Palate (undiluted)
Salty, fresh raw oysters, iodine, rich seawater, a ginger/sulphur sweetness lurks too, and is complimented by tart salt notes of sea foam.  The loam and earthen notes of the nose come through on the palate too.  Peat?  Yes, of course.  It is peated, but not over the top.  This is not Laphroaig or Ardbeg.  However, there is more intensity than say Bowmore 12.  This shares a lot in common with Isle of Jura offerings.  I can see where Black Bottle gets its magic.

Finish (undiluted)
Ginger and kippers transition into a cloud of black smoke rising up from a bunch of damp branches burning down on the beach on a cold winter's day.  The length of the finish is truly impressive.  It hangs forever!  

ABV 46.3%
I think the higher than usual ABV contributes to the very lengthy finish to this delightful whisky.  Normally at such an ABV, I would think adding a little water is a must, but that is not the case here.  Ledaig is smooth and never harsh.  So, there is no need to add water to make it more gentle.  He's a gentle giant already.  I have added water and have not found an improvement.  I prefer it neat and really have to salute the team that put this single malt together.  To have a wonderfully peated malt at 46.3 ABV with no bite or rough edges is an incredible feat.

Color
This non-chill filtered whisky is very light in color.  I am certain no caramel coloring was added to this malt.  I find it almost shocking how light in color it is.  Matter of fact, I cannot think of a malt that is lighter.  Reminds me of straw.

General Impressions
This reminds me of Black Bottle, but is much better.  Of course there is a huge difference in price too.  Ledaig also shares a lot in common with Isle of Jura Superstition and Smokehead.  Ledaig is far superior though.  With it's impressive length of flavor, complexity and balance.  It just beats the hell out of the other two.  Matter of fact, I definitely prefer this over Bowmore 12, and Bowmore 12 is a very nice entry level Islay malt.

If you enjoy peaty whisky this is one for you.  If you want to experiment with the peat and smoke elements in scotch, again this bottle may be ideal for you.  However if you avoid Islay malts and not a fan of Talisker and Isle of Jura then I doubt you will enjoy this one.

Price Point
Expensive!  At least where I live.  If you can find this for $60 or less, you are breaking the law my friend.  That's well worth it.  I paid around $80 but I am still satisfied with this purchase.

Suggested Food Pairing?

I first encountered Ledaig 10 years at an expensive whisky dinner.  The Ledaig was paired with blood pudding and fresh scallops.  They also had apple chutney.  Take a mouthful of scallops or the earthy blood pudding and then chase it with some Ledaig, and you may as well tell everyone that you have been to Heaven and lived to tell about it.

I attempted to recreate such a meal at home.  Couldn't find the apple chutney, but I had no problem locating the blood pudding and scallops.  To this I thought caramelized onions would be nice too.  Preparation is simple.  Pan fry the blood pudding, but not for very long.  You do not want to dry out the sausage.  Maybe 8 minutes on medium heat, all the while turning over frequently.  In another frying pan, with some butter, fry up two, finely chopped, large white onions, do it on medium heat.  Let them blacken and reduce, and add a little more butter.  When the onions are reduced to caramelized,  blackened bits, they will be ready to join the blood pudding on a plate.  Finally, those scallops can be pan fried with butter but for a very short time on medium heat, like maybe 10 minutes. Turn over the scallops frequently.

Put the sausage, onions and scallops on a plate, pour your self a dram of Ledaig, and boy are you in for a treat!

The sausage is very earthy, while the scallops are sweet with a taste of the sea, and the onions keep everything in check.  Taste slowly with your whisky.

Do this and you will never confuse Ledaig with a 16th century tropical disease again!

Cheers!


Jason Debly