Scotch Whisky Tasting

Simon Brooking, Master Ambassador, Beam Global and Alistair Longwell, Distillery Manager

My new friends Alistair and Simon flew in from Scotland and kidnapped me for lunch to experience their latest, treasured whiskys recently. Only The Boston Foodie gets a chance like this as they chose TBF as the exclusive local blogger to visit with. Simon even lit up a bit of peat while we discussed our trip to Edinborough. I broke into a cold sweat, afraid we'd set off all of the smoke alarms at the Top Of The Hub.

The two represent Ardmore and Laphroaig Whisky of Scotland. Ardmore is a Highland whisky produced in the north and the nose and flavor are distinctively smokey with heather undertones due to the peat from the area. Yes, they still use peat fires to dry the barley for these brands. Laphroaig, on the other hand, is a Lowland whisky, with its distillery in the south and on the coast. The peat used here produces a saltier, almost briny undertone to the, again, smoky taste. Their Single Malt is whisky that's been aged a minimum of three years in oak barrels. It has a smoother, cleaner and more refined touch to the palate. We tasted eight different whiskys through the course of our lunch and my favorites were the Ardmore 30 and Laphroaig 25 with the latter getting the edge as top choice.

Check out their website, complete with video tours from Alistair here.

Horrible pic but a great afternoon.