Playing the Field: Scotch Whisky Terroir

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Scotch whisky terroir lends its character to whisky from different regions, and the Chieftain's lineup takes us all over Scotland to taste the differences.

The importance of geography

Okay, hands up...who knows what "terroir" means? I know all you wine aficionados do...put your hands down, smarty-pants. In wine making, terroir refers to the character imparted to the wine based on the environment in which the grapes are grown (like the type of soil in the vineyard, the amount of sunshine and temperature during the growing season, the weather, etc.). Why am I talking about wine making, you might ask? Because my blog, my rules I might answer (No that's rude -- try again). Because scotch whisky terroir can be used to describe some of the scotch variations based on the regions in which the whisky is produced.

Whoa, there are a lot of distilleries in Scotland... (photo credit: Vintage Direct)

Beginning to understand

When I was in culinary school several years ago, I took a wonderful class called "Food and Beverage Ops." It was one of the lecture classes designed for people who would eventually run a restaurant, but for me (with no such aspirations), it was an eye-opening experience into the world of wine and spirits. Oh, I had dabbled in wine and eventually various spirits, but I knew very little as to how they were made. Well, let me tell you, this class filled in a lot of that knowledge gap, and then some! That first day we jumped into the world of brewing beer. I had no idea what went into making beer, and I was amazed. Here again was magic and science in action! And after the lecture and note taking was over, we popped open a few bottles of beer and had a tasting right there in class! At 11am! Luckily I had a break, then my Baking Science lab afterwards so I didn't have to drive home.

We studied the distillation process of spirits next, then the rest of the term was devoted to wine production, with tastings and the end of each class. I was in awe of our Chef Instructor (David Pratt, currently the Executive Chef and owner of BRICK pizzeria in San Clemente, CA) for his ability to discern the nuances of the different wines we tried. And I tried...I really did. Learning about what went into wine making, the regions worldwide, the grape varieties, and the terroir of the bottling filtered its way into my senses so that slowly I started to be able to get a hint of what qualities I tasted, which in turn told me what I kinds of wine I liked and what to order with dinner.

So what does all that have to do with scotch tasting?

Scotch to me has so much going on in the glass. That's what captivated me in the first place. It's like the wine of the spirit world (OOooohh...ghosts! Oh wait, wrong spirit world. Sorry). Prior to that I had been drinking mostly vodka, and that I had to doctor up into some sort of cocktail. But whisky...now here was a drink that needed no further embellishment. Outlander might have brought me in the door, but the liquid in the glass knocked me off my feet. There were so many aromas and flavors to try and name, and my Food & Bev Ops class that started to train me in the art of wine tasting was now coming in handy again.

That class also gave me an insight into how whisky and other spirits are made. I'll probably talk about the distillation and production at some point (you know me by now...science! magic!), but for now I just want to focus on the regionality of Scotch whisky. There are 5 major regions in Scotland: the Highlands (with their honey and heather flavors), Speyside (can be light and grassy, or rich and sweet), the Lowlands (the lightest style with less flavor influences), Campbletown (smoky), and Islay & other islands (smoky and iodine from the ocean-influenced peat). Most people who have a lot more experience with whisky than me can tell where an offering has been produced at the first (or second) sip, maybe even just by the scent. Being new to this world, I'm still working out the aroma and flavor adjectives in the individual samples I'm tasting, but telling regional differences is in the works, too. However, I recently had a chance to taste scotch from 3 of the 5 different regions in Scotland, so the appearances of the scotch whisky terroir were more apparent.

And now...the tasting notes (at last!)

The Chieftains lineup hails from all over Scotland

Chieftain's Scotch Whisky Terroir Collection

At Gordon's DTX presented by Joshua Hatton, February 8, 2017

A bonus...Ardbeg Airigh Nam Beist

Recognizing terroir

The terroir of the different offerings was quite pronounced, and I could start putting "names to faces" (or maybe "regions to characteristics") as the tasting went on. Now I know that regionality is but one aspect that goes into the aroma and taste of the whisky, but I find it interesting that it does have an almost predictable affect...if you have an Islay whisky, you're most likely going to have a ocean-influenced peaty flavor mixed in with the rest of the profile, while a Highland scotch will be generally sweeter, like honey. I like the knowledge that imparts -- it's another way of deciding what to try and what to buy.

Ok, I think this is quite enough to be going along with. Please leave comments about your experiences with scotch whisky terroir, insights into specific scotches from regions you like (or don't like, for that matter), or what you think about holding tastings at 11am (only for educational purposes, mind you). No judging here!

Slainté! L'chaim! Cheers!

Tammy