This Sunday is Burn’s night, the annual celebration in honour of Scot’s poet Robert Burns. Or rather, an excuse to put on a kilt (so lucky they were in last season, no?), eat haggis, neeps and tatties — and crack open that bottle of scotch that’s been gathering dust since the Christmas.
Whisky, in fact, is having a bit of moment. David Beckham recently launched his Haig Club brand, complete with brooding ad campaign. Alexa Chung gave it a fashionable seal of approval by revealing her favourite tipple as bourbon and coke made ‘as strong as you can make it, then make it stronger’, and malt whisky sales grew 5% to £170million in the UK last year.
The image of it as a man’s drink is long gone, too. It might be Don Draper cradling the tumbler of bourbon in Mad Men, but in real life it’s his co-star Christina Hendricks who’s the whisky aficionado. Rihanna is a fan, and Lady Gaga says she drinks tonnes of the stuff when she’s writing songs (which might explain that slightly bonkers last record).
Me, I love the idea of kicking back in a velvet armchair, glass-cut tumbler in hand, slowly sipping a single malt (and actually knowing what that even means). But whisky and I have a tricky relationship. My experience of it — mostly a bar crawl in university where I did six shots of the stuff in a row — put me off it for years. And every time I tried it again I hated it.
I’ve always really wanted to like it. I have huge admiration for women who rock up at a bar and ask for a scotch on the rocks. Whisky is sexy in a way that a vodka and diet coke just never will be. So in the spirit of facing my fears, I headed to a distillery in Scotland.
Luxury scotchMortlach is known as whisky’s “best-kept secret” by those in the know. Established back in 1823, the Mortlach distillery was the first legal distillery in Dufftown, Speyside — an area famous for it’s scotch production. Learning the painstaking process that goes into making whisky, not to mention the years (Mortlach has three varieties - Rare Old, 18 Year Old and 25 Year Old), does fuel a newfound appreciation for the stuff. But, there’s still the taste to conquer.
Georgie Bell, Mortlach’s Global Brand Ambassador, let’s me into a secret…she used to hate whisky too. What happened? “I used cocktails as a way to get into scotch whisky,” she explains. “Something sweet will help you get used to the flavour.”
So, determined to conquer it (I’ve done it with olives, I can do it with whisky) we head to the nearby Craigellachie hotel. It’s recently been bought and refurbished by Piers Adam, owner of Mahiki and Whisky Mist — and is rumoured to be playing host to an A-list party this month, with Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell reportedly attending the birthday bash of model Rose Fergueson. The hotel’s Quaich bar holds over 1000 different types of whiskey. That will be some party.
Bar manager Lyndsey Grey makes me a special Old-Fashioned, mixed with chocolate bitters and maple syrup, convinced this will be the one to win me over. And it does. In fact, it’s delicious.
Later that evening, in the castle (yes really) we’re staying in, I try a straight whisky. And I don’t hate it. This is massive progress.
“It’s about making new memories and associations with it,” explains Georgie. So basically, I no longer connect the taste with passing out in a damp-ridden student house — instead it’s snow capped Scottish mountains, castles and roaring fires. I settle back and pour myself another. Don Draper, eat your heart out.
Georgie Bell’s tips for whisky beginners…