No Ice in My Scotch

I’ve been a Scotch drinker for a long time. I started with Cutty Sark because that was my Father’s drink of choice. Eventually I found out about single malt Scotches and haven’t looked back at blends. I prefer my Scotch straight up. But to be clear about it with the bartender I usually say ‘chilled and up’ so as not to get confused with ‘neat.’ But recently a friend of mine suggested warming rather than chilling my Scotch…

 

His explanation was that his friend offered him a taste of a rare single malt but rather than slip in an ice cube he put it in the microwave for a few seconds. He said that when he brought the glass to his nose, he instantly understood the difference. Well, not one to pass up an experience, I had to try this out.

 

I decided to try the experiment on one of my favorites, Aberlour A’bunadh; a cask strength single malt. This is a 60 proof bottle with distinctive bite. While its taste is interesting, its nose is not particularly heavy so I thought it would make for a good first try. 

 

I poured a glass and popped it into the microwave for about 10 seconds. It turns out that 10 seconds is just a bit too long, as the liquor was a bit too hot for me. But on putting the glass to my nose I immediately understood the difference between cold and hot Scotch. The aroma came straight up and attacked my nostrils. Clearly the amount of alcohol in the Scotch has much to do with the experience… as it always does.

 

I let the glass rest for a few minutes to cool a bit, then tried another sniff and sip. I have to say that the experience was glorious. In some ways it is similar to tasting a fine wine, but the nose is much more present. And the warmth of the liquid makes savoring each sip an adventure in taste as it washes the mouth.

 

My conclusions about warm Scotch – I enjoyed this and will definitely use the technique again, but not every time. I can see warming each different Scotch in order to bring out their distinctive characteristics and understand them more clearly. But for the most part I’ll probably just drop an ice cube in the glass. I’d be interested to hear what you think about this method.