A matter of taste
It seemed like a good idea, and in the end the event turned into a great evening's tasting with some interesting company, cracking spirits and one belter of a cigar. Rob Allanson Reports
There are some moments in a journalistâs life when you realise that you are doing the hard work so your readers donât have to.
Fortunately in this mammoth tasting I had a little help because tasting 11 spirits to find the best pairing with a lovely Montecristo Edmundo was, in one of my fellow tasterâs words âmission impossible.â The idea for the tasting came after a discussion with London restaurant owner and cigar fan Ranald Macdonald of Boisdale.
The idea started life as a tasting of classic French digestifs, and following some excited discussions it snowballed into something bigger, much bigger as it turned out.
The final plan was to taste three whiskies, three rums, two Cognacs, a bourbon, a grappa and an Armagnac. Not an easy task but a fun one.
The tasting panel was a good mix of journalists and drinks experts, all aficionados in their fields and after a decent lunch they were eager to get down to work and see which of the spirits would come out on top.
The spirits were served in random order, blind and judges were asked to mark out of 10 and make comments on how they thought the pairing performed together.
The spirit to come out on top at the end of the three hour session was the Hine Cigar Cognac closely followed by Glenmorangieâs Lasanta.
THE PANEL
Rob Allanson (RA)
Whisky Magazine
Lizzie Aubrey-Fletcher (LAF)
The Spectator
Lucy Buglass (LB)
Monkey Shoulder
Sean Croley (SC)
Hunters and Frankau
Rob Curteis (RC)
William Grant and Sons
Simon Goodley (.....
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By Rob Allanson
Section : Whisky Matters
Page number : 42
