St. andrew’s day tutored whisky tasting

On Sunday November 30, Scots the world over celebrate St. Andrew’s Day. The SSO did the same by holding our very popular, and sold out, St. Andrew’s Day Tutored Whisky Tasting at the Lexington Smokehouse & Bar located in Ottawa’s Westboro neighborhood.

For our whisky tasting tutor we had Mike Brisebois, Canada’s Whisky Ambassador, and founder of The Whisky Explorer website. But before Mike guided us through tasting of six different whiskys we were entertained by SSO Chair, and piper Donald Macdonald to some great pipe music. Following that SSO Vice Chair Jen Hill recited the classic Robert Burn’s poem John Barleycorn, which is Burns’ take on whisky in which he obliquely refers to the process of reaping the barley, malting and distilling to create the Uisge Beatha (water of life).

Then Mike guided us through each whisky including a “mystery” whisky as to the smell, the legs and finally the taste, first neat (undiluted), then with a drop of water to allow the whisky to ‘bloom’, or open the flavour. The whisky samples were also accompanied by tasty appetizers prepared by the Lexington chef and designed to compliment the drinks.

The whiskys included:

  • Inchdairenie release No, 1 46.2% Alcohol By Volume (abv),

  • Benromach 15 Years Old 43% abv,

  • Scallywag, The Chocolate Edition, 48% abv,

  • The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) 3 Rare Release 18 Years Old, 56.9% abv

  • Classic of Islay 56.2% abv', and

  • The mystery whisky was finally revealed as Côte des Saints single malt 57.8% abv, Distilled in Mirabel Quebec.

It was a great event and with so much interest we may be holding a second one later this winter.

Lots of thanks to Emmett Hossack and his volunteers, the staff at the Lexington, and Mike Brisebois for an informative and fun afternoon.