A Taste of Times Past…

We have seen the rise and fall of Ben Ean Moselle, Pimms No. 1, Cold Duck and Babycham. Soon we will hopefully witness the demise of wine coolers. But there are some constants in the drinker’s life, Scotch whisky for one. Scotch is one of the oldest spirits, first stilled in the Scottish Highlands in the early fifteenth century, not long after the Arabs first used distillation for alcohol in the Middle Ages.

Today the term ‘Scotch’ covers almost as diverse a range of concoctions as wine. Although it originated as pure malt whisky, Scotch is now made in various ways, from the cheaper generic Scotches blended by the large proprietary brands like the Grants, the Black Douglas, Bells and Cutty Sark, to the elite pure single malts found under the vivid and evocative names of Glenlivet, Auchentoshan, Laphroaig and Talisker. In between are the premium blends such as Chivas Regal, Dimple Haig and Johnnie Walker Black Label, often bottled with a high content of malt whisky.

No two Scotches are the same and there’s more than a fair degree of rivalry between its distillers. Melbourne publicist Ian Loftus tells the story he heard of the distiller’s funeral many years ago. Motor cars weren’t common then, so when Lord Glenfiddich saw Mr Dewar walking towards the church he offered him a lift in his big black Rolls-Royce.

Seeing they made up some time, Mr Dewar asked Lord Glenfiddich if he wanted to stop off on the way for a dram. “Certainly!” came the reply, so they stopped at the local pub. Lord Glenfiddich insisted on buying first and purchased two Dewars from the barman.

Mr Dewar then wanted to return the favour with a couple of glasses of Glenfiddich, but Lord Glenfiddich replied “No thank you, Mr Dewar. I don’t wish to go to a funeral smelling of whisky”.

Equally popular with royalty, peerage and working classes, Scotch is a beverage celebrated for centuries. Drunk with water and without, it has frequently been mentioned by Dickins and other writers and has been imitated, but not bettered, the world over. Although there are over 2,000 different blends of Scotch on sale around the world today, they all originate from just 130 different whiskies, the product of the 130 licensed distilleries in Scotland.

To its many enthusiasts, the mystique and aura which envelop Scotland’s premium single malts is at least the equal to the romance of Burgundy or Bordeaux. It is also true that as much of the quality of the spirit is owed to tradition and lore as it is to science. So particular is the relationship between the shape of the still and its spirit that a distiller who decided to upgrade his plant was forced to reproduce even the exact patches of his old worn-out stills to recapture their special qualities of essence and flavour .

The story of Scotch is richly endowed with legend and lore. Some is less able to stand scrutiny than other, but I particularly like this allegedly true story told by Cedric Dickens. It concerns the founder of a little company producing Antiquary, a grand dark old liqueur whisky. His wife decided he was drinking too much and suggested that a change in lifestyle was in order. To avert a more moderate and less interesting fate, our venerable founder decided to change the recipe of Antiquary to a very light colour, without telling wife. While drinking at least as much as before, they lived happily together for many more years. She thought he was watering it down!

Scotch is certainly the most popular spirit in Australia today, although it could be fair to suggest that its owes its pre-eminent position to Coca-Cola. The vast bulk of Scotch sales see it blended with this ubiquitous mixer, whose main advantage over others is that its flavour is so strong and its taste so sweet that it is perfectly capable of making even the strongest, harshest and most aggressive spirit acceptable to even the most timid of palates. Spend an evening in a nightclub and watch what the crowd drinks. Then try matching them glass for glass with straight unmixed spirit, be it Bacardi, Southern Comfort, Scotch or Bundaberg. Goodnight Vienna.

Fortunately the demand for premium Scotch remains high. In a close parallel to the wine and beer markets, Scotch seems to be polarising between the premium malt brands and the cheaper blends. People are becoming more inquisitive, selective and choosy with their top Scotch and are also developing stronger brand loyalties with cheaper blends.

Michael Royston-Yorke of Stringfellows, Melbourne, observes that there’s a strong move towards the proprietary brands, which people are asking for ahead of just a “Scotch on the rocks, or with Coke”. “Some are even checking the contents of the overheads overhead dispensers to see if what’s inside matches the label”, he says. “Several remember funny experiences elsewhere”. At the very extreme of the cheaper market, nightclubs can now sell Scotch from huge bulk containers, pumped through to the glass in a system similar to the postmix softdrink dispensers.

Royston-Yorke finds that Scotch buyers are becoming more discerning and curious, beginning to ask about the relative merits of blended and single malt whisky. “Established career people over 30 have a better knowledge of Scotch and also have the opportunity to afford it. For $6 a shot for Chivas, young people can’t afford to find they don’t like the taste of Scotch”, he says.

Of course the more serious Scotch drinkers take their choice rather more seriously. “I like whisky with body so I drink Johnnie Walker Black Label and Chivas, or if I drink a single malt it’s usually Glenmorangie”, says the well-known globetrotting English cricket broadcaster, Henry Blofeld. “Sometimes Famous Grouse seems to work – a bit like a cheaper Australian chardonnay.

“I take Scotch with soda the last thing before bed. But in India and Pakistan you need it all the time, frequently without water. I clean my teeth with Scotch there. When I’m entertaining I use Black Label Johnnie Walker. Anything else I serve from a decanter”, he warns potential dinner guests.

“I always have Scotch in a flask while duck flighting and grouse smalling in the early hours of morning or evening”, he continues. “In fact I always have a flask of it in the briefcase… you never know when you’ll need it.”

Henry Blofeld’s choices of Scotch almost exactly parallels what Michael Royston-Yorke believes sells best in clubs and pubs today, where the leaders are Johnnie Walker Red and Black, Chivas Regal and an encouraging number of malt whiskies, especially Glenmorangie. There’s also a bit of resurging interest in Irish Whiskey, especially in Tullamore Dew and Jamiesons, he notices.

“Youngsters drink spirits with a mixer to soften the blow, but older people prefer good whiskies with ice or water, or else neat once they’ve acquired the taste”, Royston-Yorke comments. “A few have Chivas and soda, but most of the time it’s served with ice. Whisky cocktails are pretty quiet, but oddly enough, the Whisky Sour is back in. The Rob Roys, Manhattans and Bobbie Burns aren’t doing much. In fact, the Dry Martini is the only other traditional cocktail I find any call for. Most of the cheaper blends end up served as mixed drinks.”

I asked him to put the spirits in order of popularity and he arrived at 1 Scotch with Coke, 2 Bundaberg, 3 Jim Beam, 4 Jack Daniels, 5 Bacardi, 6 Southern Comfort not strictly a spirit, 7 gin mostly as gin squash, 8 vodka, 9 tequila and, 10 brandy.

The future for Scotch looks strong. It’s gaining popularity at the top end and is never likely to lose its share of the mixed drink market. The only area where Scotch is losing is with cocktails, where Royston-Yorke observes that only a few spirit companies are keen enough to really push it. He also questions whether it is really appropriate as a broad-spectrum cocktail ingredient. “Scotch has such a definitive flavour which doesn’t blend too well. The flavour of scotch cocktails must be at the front of the mouth. In too many cocktails it can give a muddy, stale taste.”

Having suggested you need to be careful with whisky cocktails, here is something old and something new to dabble with. Into a shaker put a teaspoon of liquid honey, a tablespoon of cream, 60ml of a fine whisky, shake with ice and strain into a martini glass. The results is a fabulous old after-dinner drink called Atholbrose. To make Michael Royston-Yorke’s Taste of Honey, put 30ml of each of Scotch, Kahlua and cream and 15ml of Drambuie into a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a martini glass and garnish with a strawberry.

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