A Whiskey Challenge

Last night before dinner, we had a little educational session set up by the BoMill company, the company that set up the meetings here in Lund, Sweden for Bruce to attend.  There are a total of 12 people here attending the meetings with Bruce, all from various countries;  the Czech Republic, Italy, Canada, Sweden and U.S.   Also here, is Mr BoMill himself - Bo Lofqvist.  The company is from Lund, Sweden and distributes worldwide.

Since the main function of the BoMill is to sort wheat and barley, they saw it fitting to do a little exercise on how whiskey is made. (made with barley, wheat and various other grains)  And what better way to learn about whiskey, then to taste various whiskeys.  

We had a local expert leading our session

telling us everything we might possibly want to know about whiskey.  

The first whiskey we tasted was a blended grain whiskey called Snow Grouse.  The bottle is pretty

but I no like. I'm sorry, but I'm not a big whiskey drinker.  But I'm always willing to learn.  I learned that whiskey is made with wheat or barley - barley whiskey is malt whiskey.  Bourbon is made mostly of corn and there is also rye whiskey which is mostly Canadian whiskey.  Irish whiskey is distilled three times.  Whiskey originated in Scotland with barley in the late 1700s.  The biggest producers are England and India. There are over 100 different flavors in whiskey and we were suppose to be able to tell the difference between the four different ones in front of us.  Oh boy,  I wasn't too good at this.  The second tasting, however, was a surprise.  I liked it!

It was Black Label, the one that Bruce's dad drinks every night, his "Scotch on the rocks".  Black Label is made in Scotland (thus called Scotch)  It is a blend of 40 different whiskeys and is always aged 12 years.  The aging stops as soon as it is poured from the barrel into the bottle.   He explained some things about the barrels, too.

Black Label (also called Johnny Walker) is darker than the others because it also has caramel coloring in it but no flavor value.  Whenever we go visit Bruce's dad, we always have a "Scotch on the rocks" with him in the evening and I always have to force it down to be polite.  But during this tasting, I liked this one.  I guess comparatively speaking, this is a better one.  The third one - I no like...

It was called The Classic Laddie and I think it was local.  It was a single malt, un-peated whiskey.  Whatever, no thank you.   The third one, I liked again.

It was an Irish whiskey called Teeling.  I knew it!  I LOVE Irish coffees.  

It is a grain whiskey, only 20% wheat, mostly corn so it tastes like a bourbon. 

Everyone loved this whiskey so I guess he saved the best for last.  We got an abundance of information about whiskey and I learned a lot.  I'm not sure I can develop the habit of drinking a "Scotch on the rocks" every night but I do have a new appreciation for all things whiskey, Scotch and bourbon.