Whisky Magazine
Celebrating whiskies of the world

Issue 72 of Whisky Magazine out now!

Issue 72 Out Now

Read - Buy - Subscribe

Quick Links

Buy back issues
Cocktails
Distilleries
Find a whisky
Forums and chat
Independent bottlers
Magazine archive
News
Nosing & Tasting Course
Subscribe
Tasting notes
Whisky and food
Whisky Glossary



Search

Join Whiskymag.com Now
MAGAZINE
SUBSCRIBE
STORE
FEATURES
WHISKIES
DIRECTORY
FORUMS
This Issue (72)  |  Subscribe  |  Back Issues  |  Authors Index  |  Category Index
Issue 31   |  Buy this issue   |  Other issues
Whisky Magazine Issue 31

Published in Whisky Magazine Issue 31 on 9/6/2003.

This article is 66 months old and some information provided may be time sensitive. Please check all details of events, tours, opening times and other information before travelling or making arrangements.

Copyright Whisky Magazine © 1999-2008. All rights reserved. To use or reproduce part or all of this article please contact us for details of how you can do so legally.

A salt on the senses

Can you taste salt in whisky? Many say of course you can, but the suggestion incenses
others. Peter Woodsputs the case against

Scotch malt whisky has come a long way in the past 25 years, and not just in the all-important aspect of availability. Educated drinkers now have access to a wealth of words about the history, manufacture and appreciation of whisky. No other spirit can match it for sheer quantity and quality. Sadly though, in the sea of information there are seductive but treacherous tides of misinformation. The most invidious of these is the bizarre concept that whisky can taste salty.

The first use of âsaltyâ as a descriptor was in the Harrodâs Book of Whisky, a supplement to Decanter Magazine in 1978. The tasting team coined the phrase âManzanilla of the Northâ for Old Pulteney, because it reminded them of allegedly salty manzanilla sherry, and was attributed to the use of sherry casks for maturation. Prior to 1978 no writer seems to have detected salt in any whisky.

That is hardly surprising, as distillation is one of the best desalination techniques there is.

However, in the mid-1980s, Michael Jackson cottoned on to the âManzanilla of the Northâ concept, but he attributed saltiness to the influence of the sea, and rapidly applied the descriptor to whiskies from every distillery within spitting distance of a high tide.

No one dared gainsay the master, and now it is de rigueur to accredit saltiness to a distilleryâs product if one can get even a fleeting glimpse of a Caledonian MacBrayne from the top of the pagoda.

Flavour is the combination of aroma, mouth-feel and ta.....

To read the rest of this article you can buy this issue or subscribe to Whisky Magazine to have every issue delivered direct to your door.

You can unlock and read this entire article with 1 of your community tokens by clicking here.

By Peter Woods

Section : Whisky Debate

Page number : 82