Sunday, June 5, 2011

The Knot Standard Whiskey Tasting

We just held a very special tasting at the Ritz Carlton in Dubai.  Co-branded between Knot Standard and Chivas Regal 18, we invited a number of suit, cigar, and scotch aficionados for a night of whiskey education. 
Fortunately, we left that last bit to the experts: Antoin from Pernot Ricard walked us through the single malts from Scotland that make up the special Chivas Regal 18 blend (in case you're wondering, each must be at least 18 years old).  While the whiskey actually contains about 40 different whiskeys in varying amounts, there are several main ones that dominate. 

Though not on sale by themselves in the market, we were taken through each whiskey ingredient in conjunction with different food pairings - chocolate, peated barley, almonds, and other flavors.

It was an eye-opening experience, highlighting all of the work that actually goes into these blends to keep them constant year after year - not the easiest of feats!  In addition to wonderful Scotch whiskey, our guests got an education in men's fashion and cigars.
Once the evening's education was complete, we were joined by Katie, who promptly put together a repeat tasting for ladies who had arrived towards the end of the evening.  Not your typical whiskey fan but always up for learning something from the experts she spent the final hour of evening debating the finer points of peat.  Her verdict?  In a blind test she selected the most expensive whiskey as her favorite.  Typical.  She has always, literally and figuratively, had great taste.

1 comment:

jimdad said...

But the true test of Katie's taste is whether she would spend her money on a great scotch, or a great pair of shoes.