We were invited to a tasting session of The Balvenie Single Malt Scotch Whisky at Carcosa Seri Negara yesterday, a highly appropriate venue for the well-heeled of KL to drive in with their fancy cars where they can carelessly chuck their Porsches by the side of the road for all and sundry to see. I’m not one to be in awe of wealth (we try to be thankful for whatever little we are blessed with *saintly look*), but in this case, I understand exactly how KY felt, being sandwiched between a Ferrari and a Porsche. Then again, I’m being too presumptuous here; KY probably enjoyed the ménage à trois.
*picture courtesy of Balvenie
Whisky. Did you know that The Balvenie is the only distillery that still grows its own barley, malts its own traditional floor maltings, and employs coopers to tend all the casks and a coppersmith to maintain the stills? At least some crafts aren’t dead, hallelujah.
To satiate our hunger before the tasting, we were treated to an amazing spread of smoked salmon, satay, shepherd’s pie, lamb shank, roast duck breast, pastas, potatoes, rice, noodles…endless! Eating outside under candlelight was pleasant but far from romantic. “The shepherd’s pie is quite good,” someone quipped. “That’s not the shepherd’s pie lah….that’s the lamb shank,” said someone else. “Hey, which one is the duck breast?” went another person. In Shakespeare-esque, this would be a comedy of errors. Not necessarily the funny sort. Of outstanding mention is the duck breast wrapped in some sort of cabbage (I couldn’t tell in the dark), and the smoked salmon (especially when one is used to the supermarket variety all one’s life).
Once seated inside, we were treated to a presentation by The Balvenie Brand Ambassador, David Mair, an affable man in a kilt, no less. Incidentally, I think men in kilts are yummy, Mr Mair. BUT, to show that I was concentrating, Mr Mair, these are some of the things that I learnt:
- The Scots hold very strongly to their spelling of whisky (without the “e”) for their Speyside single malts, and God forbid that you should cross their paths with an “e”. The distinction between the two may seem pedantic, but there are clear differences between the two, starting with their origination.
- The Balvenie was created by David Stewart, the Malt Master.
- If you keep a bottle of 12-year whisky for a further 18 years, it will NOT taste like a 30-year old whisky.
- Uhmm….
I blame Fatboybakes for distracting me. I strongly doubt that he was teacher’s pet in school (many MANY years ago).
Four glasses were placed before us:
- The Balvenie Double Wood Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Aged 12 Years. This whisky is basically matured in a traditional oak cask before being transferred to a European oak sherry cask. Incidentally, the transferring from one cask to another brings about multi-dimensional flavours to the whisky. In the usual tasting jargon, this would fall under fruity, with a long and warm finish. Very drinkable.
- The Balvenie Single Barrel Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Aged 15 Years. My favourite by far (although everyone else at my table disagreed with me saying that my Indian genes were talking), this whisky is drawn from a single traditional oak cask of a single distillation. The aroma of vanilla is very strong in this one (and I had a blocked nose, mind you), and although we were told that there was a taste of liquorice, I only detected this on my third gulpful. Blame my untrained tongue. I don’t pretend to be a connoisseur.
- The Balvenie PortWood Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Aged 21 Years. The Malt Master is crucial here in ensuring that the right amount of character is imparted by the port casks. At this point, my cold is cured, thanks to the warm and lingering finish of this whisky.
- The Balvenie Thirty Single Malt Scotch Whisky. What were you doing 30 years ago? This whisky comprises Balvenie aged in traditional oak casks and that aged in European oak sherry casks. This is one smooooooth whisky, but at about RM3,000 a bottle, I don’t think I shall be purchasing this in the near future.
- Back to The Balvenie Double Wood Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Aged 12 Years, for a second round of intoxication on the house. Aaah. Sheer pleasure. I could live with this (below RM300 a bottle). We must have a party soon.
Our pleasure is evident. Clockwise, from top left: KY, Tangechi aka Fatboybakes, Cumi and yours truly. Thank you, Marian Eu, for your kind invitation – it was such a pleasure to have finally met you, and thank you Single and Available (NOT a matchmaking agency) for having us.
The Balvenie Single Malt Scotch Whisky can be purchased at:
Single and Available
G21, Ground Floor
Bangsar Village Shopping Centre
1, Jalan Telawi 1
Bangsar Baru, KL.
Tel: 03-22834257
Judging from KY’s excited tweet on his “menage a trois”, I gather he loves luxe sandwiches. Love the pix of Cumi – he’s like making love to the bottle of Balvenie Whisky. Ciki, you better watch out.
I love your story Meena! And you are so quick with it. I’m so tickled by your pictures.
Doncha just love mid-week delights like these? Helps you get tru the week so much faster…I bet you can smell the coming weekend already!
Ooooohh.. you mean you each get to take home a bottle? Nice.
And why is whisky usually aged 12 and 15 yrs? Why not 13 or 16?
Ahahahahaa….eff bee bee macam “tai kor”!! Why so shy wan…until must cover face? =P
hahah enjoy? I had to make sure I don’t open my door fast & wide like I usually do. But oh well it was well good that I didn’t need to park further. 😀
Nice to see you again Meena!
praying hard i spy this beauty at the duty free!!!
hehe..yes, whisky brings out the best in mah hubby:P
boo! ROFL.. not worried la.. it improves performance:P hoho
boo_licious: I’d love to be sandwiched between a Porsche and a Ferrari too. Meow.
Marian: Thanks for dropping by my blog! Glad you like the pics. It was good fun that night. 🙂
A Lil Fat Monkey: Yeah, mid week distractions are good fun. So when’s OUR next distraction, bff? As for smelling the weekend, unfortunately my nose’s still stuffed, so it’ll have to wait.
gfad: No la…that bottle that we were all passing around wasn’t cheap. We did get a milk jar, though. 🙂 Ageing the whisky….interesting question…and one that I will surely ask the next time I bump into a sexy Scot.
Bangsar-bAbE: FBB is a tai kor, mah. Who’s shy ar? Me ar? No la…it’s coz of the limitations of the collage….couldn’t squeeze all of me in. hehehe.
KY: Yah man…one look at your sports car and the valets must have told you to park with the other big boys. We all ar…had to park near the chicken coop further down the road. What to do….Kenari club not recognised…. Good to see ya too, KY!!
lotsofcravings: Don’t think it’s available at our poorly stocked dutyfree shops. Maybe overseas? Have a good holiday, dear.
cumidanciki: I hope the “effects” lasted long enough in Cumi for you to enjoy the benefits 2 days later, dahlink. Damn, we shuda brought along FBB’s flask. 😛
when are we having a drinking party ya? we have 1,2,3,4 bottles from you people! wink
Hi, it’s Anansa here. It was a pleasure meeting you guys that night. I like your blog, too. I’ll be looking forward to seeing where you guys eat next. Take care! 🙂
kampungboycitygal: Drinking party – anytime dear. hehe.
Anansa Jacob: Thanks for dropping by, Anansa! Hope to meet up with you again soon! Will look out for your writings in The Sun. 🙂
Sometimes it pays to be an alcoholic hor?!
Hip flask would have been useful, eh?
Do you know where Intan Square is? Supposedly near Asia Jaya.
Paps: Absolutely! Cheers!
gfad: Yup, it’d definitely have come in useful. No idea where Intan Square is. Try googlemaps?
Just came from FBB. Oic, that’s the diff with & without ‘e’. *scribble in today’s lesson notebook*
Hilarous last photo montage!
Seems like a really enjoyable night! Some nice food to go with the whisky too, we don’t know much about whisky, should do so soon.
Tummythoz: Glad to be of service. And yeah, those guys are adorable, so naturally, it wasn’t difficult to do the montage. 🙂
Sugar Bean: Yeah, it was a lovely night, coz the company was so good. Oh, so was the whisky! 🙂
Thanks for the educational and fun review.
they have it in lcct! 198 for the 12 yr old bottle..alas my credit card bills are over the roof top so i had to make do with half a bottle of mcallens that we couldnt finish in hk..n bought back..
Siggghhhhhhh wish I was there with you guys just giggling…;-)
ya know, i thought it was a bottle of vanilla extract when i first saw it. well, technically, there is alcohol in vanilla extract, of course..hehe
great outing lah. such an honour! we share-share a bottle for the next party lah. *ciki & toygirl must be nodding as this point*..hehehe…
cynthia Nelson: You’re welcome! hehe.
lotsofcravings: Aiyah, shuda given u my credit card! 😀
Nigel: We missed you too, Nige!
HairyBerry: Well, there were hints of vanilla in the flavour. 😛 Share share a bottle…sure thing…u buying?
Happy Whiskying for your next party.
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