Whisky! What is it good for??? Absolutely everything.

Living in American West ski towns as a young man, one becomes accustomed to drinking many of America’s best-known and least expensive whiskies. The sweet, spicy, and vanilla-laden examples aged in fresh oak casks with short maturations are easily relatable to our naïve palates. The request “Beam and coke” is easily understood by all bartenders, even in the bedlam of a crowded venue. The caffeine supplies energy and the whiskey becomes a flavor of the cola… like something that could be dispensed from a movie-theater beverage machine next to cherry or vanilla options.

But as we grow older our palates evolve, and just as we seek adventure in “dem’ big hills,” we also seek to understand the complex distilling offerings that crafters and tinkers have worked to perfect since the 1st century AD. I became enamored with Scotch Whisky in my early 30’s when I had just enough expendable income to treat myself to the occasional bottle of fine single malt goodness, as a reward for a particular special flying accomplishment and/or to share with close friends on a unique mountain adventure. Some are wary of making a “mistake” when entering this market, as the offerings for fine whisky are understandably varied. I’m here to tell you, “That’s ridiculous.” You can’t make a mistake. Just start tasting and be honest about what you like. I am enamored with the smooth, complex, tasty Speyside offerings from northern Scotland, but if you are into the smoky, peaty Islay whisky…great!

However, I digress. Let’s backtrack. Whisky is created from distilling barley grains in massive, specific copper kettles, most often using a specific spring for the water source. I won’t go into the minutiae of the art, as it is easily available on Google, but the most important ingredients are a fine spring and a good grain, as well as a fuel source, copper vessels for distilling, and barrels for aging. Having a fantastic malt master goes a long way as well. Traditionally, peat is used as the fuel during the kilning of the malt, which creates a byproduct of the smoky-flavored profile prevalent in many libations that Americans associate with whisky. These tend to be from the areas around Islay, one of the southernmost islands off the coast of Scotland.

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