Guest Blog and Photo by Tess McCann (@TessTattles)
Scotch, scotch, warming, soothing scotch, that’s what was on the menu at the Raise the Macallan scotch tasting at the Electric Owl in Vancouver.
The evening started with cocktails and appies. My choice was a Macallan’s and ginger soda, which was actually delicious. Now here’s why I say “actually.” I have had scotch before, obviously, but until the tasting I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt about it, it turns out that Macallan’s is delicious!
Now onto the exciting part, the tasting. We were sat at long rows of candle lit tables with four glasses in front of us. Each glass had a lovely caramel coloured liquid in it. The MC and Vancouver brand ambassador, Dan Volway, guided us through the tasting step-by-step and educated us along the way. With scotch tasting you don’t want to swirl the scotch around too much in your glass, as it will release volatile acidity and then negatively impact the flavour. I was a good little girl and followed the instructions.
The scotches definitely had a little kick to them, but they were surprisingly smooth. My preference was the 12-year-old sherry oaked scotch. It was a bit fruity and very smooth.
So what did I learn on my adventures in scotch? Well, scotch needs to be aged at least 3 years and actually be from Scotland to be called scotch and single malt means that the only grain used is malted barley and that it is distilled at only one distillery, no blends. Macallan’s has very high standards and uses no artificial colour to get that gorgeous caramel look.
Macallans has partnered with an incredible charity, Charity: Water. In 2010 theyeven auctioned off a hand crafted Lalique crystal decanter filled with their oldest scotch for $640,000 with all the proceeds going to Charity: Water.
You can find all the details of Macallan scotches on their website
http://www.themacallan.com/home
and learn more about Charity: Water at
http://www.charitywater.org/
