Inside the Bottle

Inside the bottle seemed like the most suitable title… I think?

So what exactly do I mean?

Well I guess it comes from being a newish blogger, and someone who does have a lot more to learn when it comes to describing the hopefully wonderfully alluring and delicious whisky in my glass. When I say orange and lemon, I probably meant tropical fruit… but then is it mango and papaya? Or an old school plimsole, rubber and iodine and peat.

How to describe these wonderful discoveries will often fox me, and in some cases the words will fall easily from key to screen, or tumble gently from my lips as I describe a dram that just excited my senses oh so perfectly… But sometimes I will be plain old stumped. And I cannot say that this is a bad thing, I can only see it as part of the journey. We all started somewhere. Didn’t we?

The colour of the whisky from the delicate feint golden hues through to the darker shades of the wonderful sherry casks. Then the texture and the legs of the whisky… something I enjoy, yet don’t tend to mention. And some of them have given me wonderful photo opportunities as I have left the dram to open…

I have let some whiskies sit a while in one glass and then poured it in to another, then nosing the empty glass. It is all about learning and challenging yourself.

The nose.

Some whiskies take a long time to explore and enjoy, I love the ones that when poured give you a delicious tease into what lies within… but just wait, let me open up. And these are the ones that make me smile. Why? Because I know that there is something special awaiting me, something that has been sleeping for on some occasions many, many years and then it is there in front of me.

The vanilla, sherry, treacle, fudge, plums, jams, aniseed, sea air, dying fires, leather, tobacco, furniture polish. Hairspray, and whatever comes to mind and the way to put it into words.

Others don’t need as long. Also age isn’t necessarily always the key thing.

(Now the tad off track)

I know I was left without ID tags on me when I was born (two baby girls were left in our respective cots in a corridor without our Mum’s names on (and Mum chose me) but I am sure I am not Sarah Rockefeller) so I buy what is within my budget, and then sometimes treat myself to a sample which might be out of my grasp. These have appeared on my “radar” through the wonderful power of twitter and reading blogs, and I have had “I really need to try that” moments, which have paid off splendidly as I excitedly break the seal and gently open them…

(And back in the room)

Palate.

Then the “wow” moment comes, the “yes I get that”, the “ooh bugger I wish I had a bottle of this” moment as my mouth accepts that first sip. How it feels and what it gives, that fullness and exploring what I smelled on the nose, the almost chewy fruits and utterly fantastic acceptance that I have tried it. Ones to add to the memory bank.

Others leave me scratching my head asking myself what I’ve missed.

Finish.

Sitting there. Enjoying what I have in my hand or sitting on my coffee table still being teased but the wonderful aroma, having sipped it and then the pleasure of the finish. Was it long?

Other questions arise. Is it dry, oaky? Spicy, short, spicy, peppery, bitter, sweet? Time will tell on these comments too.

Others have had me rinsing my palate with a glass of water.

All I know to be true is there are some whiskies that I have tried that have been less than memorable, thin and have smacked of sulphur and have not been on my rush back to list. Then there are those that have just been so damn good that I eke out that last remaining amount that I have. To have it just a little while longer.

Anyway, I hope my words and descriptions develop into something more as my experience develops and forms as I continue to be part of live twitter tastings and converse with friends and acquaintances.

Feel free to comment and maybe even challenge me with a ‘did you mean…?”, or a “spot on!” these give me the confidence to keep on blogging.

I’m always happy to learn.

Slàinte

Sarah