India’s affinity for Scotch whiskey goes back a long way. And while gin and beer have seen a revolution of sorts in the past few years, whiskey has held on to its position strongly - a niche spirit accessible mainly to the ones who truly understand. In an attempt to introduce the spirit to newer audiences, Mansionz, the liquor store, held a special whiskey appreciation session helmed by Smriti Narendran, brand ambassador of Chivas Brothers.
The evening began with Smriti giving a step-by-step introduction of the single malts we were about to taste - expressions of The Glenlivet and Aberlour. She gave us a brief history of The Glenlivet distillery. Talking about the meaning of the name she said, “Glenlivet is made of two words, glen and Livet. Glen means valley and Livet is the river flowing through the valley. That is how the distillery was named The Glenlivet.”
As we were served The Glenlivet 12, Smriti guided us through the tasting process. We first swirled the glass, and then were asked to notice the drops flowing down the side of the cup - the ‘Angel Tears.’ She then asked us to smell our drink and identify the notes and flavours, following which we tasted the whiskey. We followed each of these steps for the following single malts too - The Glenlivet 15, Aberlour 12, and Aberlour 16. The drinks were paired with a range of hors d'oeuvres.
For new fans of the spirit, this event was the perfect space to learn more and get started on their whiskey journey.
alwin@newindianexpress.com
@al_ben_so