Though he admits to never having tasted gasoline, I have a friend who imagines the closest thing to it he’s had in his mouth is scotch.
I’ve tried to turn him around by explaining that to understand it, you need to know that there are three key Scottish varieties.
Blended scotch is a mix of malt and other grain whiskies, vatted versions are a union of just malt whiskies and single malts are the malty output of one distillery.
While most Scots say the real art is in the blending, it’s been single malts (with unique characteristics influenced by their surroundings, water source and distiller’s philosophy) that have made Scottish booze famous in North America.
With Robert Burns Day on the horizon, there’s no better time for my buddy to hold on to his haggis and dive into a palate pounder like Laphroaig 10 Year Old ($70.12 – $84.99) from the island of Islay. It oozes iodine, peat, an attractively abrasive flavour that shouts ‘Scotland’ and the individuality that makes its malts so pleasantly polarizing.
Prices reflect the range across Canada. Some products may not be available in all provinces.
