The Whisky Differential

From Glenfiddich website

Well, it pays to advertise!

          I swear, when I ended my last post with a plea for a supply of whisky, it was a joke, and not meant to influence Christmas presents - but I can't honestly say I'm sorry that it did.
          My lovely Scot usually buys me a bottle of whisky for Christmas, and he came through, as always, this year, with a bottle of Aberlour.
          My older brother (the one who does my indie covers) always complains that he never knows what to buy me - and that I'm no help when I say, 'Nothing. Or maybe a tobelerone.' Well, this year, he bought me a bottle of Glenfiddich.
          And my younger brother and his lovely wife bought me a bottle of - yes - Laphroig. Whether this means they read my blog or whether there was just a certain amount of fraternal discussion, I don't know.

          Anyroad up, Shucks, this puts me in the happy position of being able to make direct comparisons between three single malts. Believe me, this is a blog I am going to enjoy writing.
         I can't claim any expertise, or a refined palate. I just like

The red circle shows (very roughly) the Speyside area

single malt whisky

Monday
Glenfiddich. The distillery is in Speyside, up in the Highlands. and it's still independent. The nearest big town is Inverness. The name means 'Valley of the Deer.'
      I haven't drunk a glass of Glenfiddich for many a long year and remember it, and Glenlivit, as being pale and lemony. 
     So the first surprise is that it's much richer and more golden in colour than I remember. The scent was different from my memories too: richer and, while fruity, not citrus or lemony at all. I sniffed it for a while, trying to place the scent - until I read the label and it claimed 'pear' as the fruit it resembled. And yes, though I'm wary of being influenced by advertising, I can go with that. There's that round, sweet, juicy pear-drops smell.
     So I took a sip - and it's very sweet. And very warming. I don't find the lemon flavour I remember at all. Complete memory fail there. Instead, it's all honey - with just a little hint of fire as it goes over the tonsils. (I gave the older brother a nip. He claims not to like whisky at all - but he certainly took to the sweetness of Glenfiddich.)
     The distillery claims it has earned the highest awards of any single malt, and I can understand why it would be popular. I don't mean that as a put-down, either. I mean, simply, that it's honey-sweet and warming, slips down like a bedtime drink, and is delicious. Why wouldn't a lot of people like it?

Tuesday.
Aberlour. Another Speyside malt, made beside the river Lour. It's pronounced 'Abba-LOW-er, and the name means 'Mouth of the Chattering Burn.' Or so it says on the website. If you want to see beautiful photographs, combined with loads of old tosh about druids and ancient traditions invented last week in an advertising agency, I recommend the websites of single malt whisky distilleries. But that's by the by. I'm here to drink whisky.

From the Aberlour website

          When poured into the glass, Aberlour is a much deeper gold than Glenfiddich, an autumnal orange. My first sniff immediately made me think of fruit-cake. There is that spicy fruitiness.
          Despite smelling like cake, the taste is much less sweet than Glenfiddich, though just as warming. There is a rather citrus taste to this one, like candied peel in a fruit cake. And that smell... What is the most predominate smell of fruit-cake? Warm, slightly burnt sugar perhaps? Butteriness? Raisins? Nutmeg?
          Then, when you swallow, there's a slight bite, a little heat, but nothing harsh. The warmth stays with you. It's delicious.

Wednesday
Laphroaig. The famous Laphroaig  - which I realise I've been misspelling. Here's Brian Cox, showing how to pronounce it.

          It comes from the opposite side of Scotland to the other two - from Islay in the Hebrides. Their advertising company isn't as keen to find a romantic sounding translation of the name, but manage to suggest that it derives from the Norse for 'broad bay.' They boast about being 200 years old and put film of Charlie Windsor - in a kilt yet - on their website. Honestly, if I didn't like malt whisky so much...
          But the whisky. When poured from the bottle it's much

darker than the others, almost the deep orange-brown of tea. And the smell is very different. Seaweed and smoke - it's always referred to as 'peat-smoke' but reminds me of the scent of woodsmoke from bonfires on the beach. There's still a little bit of that nutmeg, spice and honey.
          The longer you hold the glass to your nose and sniff, the more the smell of smoke fades and the honey comes through. Something of chocolate and something of flowers.
     When you taste it - there's almost too much going on for an amateur like me. It's less sweet again, and that slightly bitter, smoky bite hangs around warmly at the back of your throat for quite a while, as with ginger or chili in a curry. I suppose that's what the tasters call 'the long finish.'
         I suddenly realised what an element of the taste and smell reminds me of - tar! The hot tar that used to be spread on the roads when I was a child, and which we would go and sniff.
          Laphroaig has a whole section of its website dedicated to fans' descriptions of its flavour. 'Deck shoes' and 'sailors' socks' seems to feature quite a lot - and tar. Tar and honey.
          And ashes, I would say. And earth.
          It's delicious.

          Thank you to all the lovely people - take a bow, Patti and Adam, Davy and Andrew - who bought me a bottle of single malt. And all different! It has been a real pleasure, trying them in turn like this and comparing them.
          Conclusions? - I love them all! It's been great getting reacquainted with Glenfiddich, which I had unfairly come to think of as rather bland. It is a very approachable and friendly single malt, but so sweet and warm and delicious, how can you not love it?
          Aberlour has been a favourite for a while - it's like drinking fruit-cake, so how can you not love that?
          Laphroaig is the scary, peaty one, with the difficult name and the smell of kippers and rubber. The brother recoiled from the glass when I offered him a nip. "Too much for me," he said - but, y'know, once you get to know it, it drops the hard-man act and you find the honey.
          I really couldn't choose a favourite - and I'm going to have a difficult decision to make with every dram over the next few months. Which bottle?

          I raise to you the parting-glass...
          Goodbye! - And a happy 2016 to you all! 

DELICIOUS COMFORT FOOD

          It’s been a long time since I blogged a recipe, but this week, since I feel in need of comfort, here’s one for good, simple, comfort food.

          My friends say I’m hardy and never catch colds or ‘flu – but the truth is, I work mostly from home, so I’m simply not exposed to lurgies as much as others.  This term I’ve been going regularly not only into De Montfort University, but also a primary school – and as a result I have the swollen glands, sore throat, thick head, streaming nose and feverishness that I’ve dodged in the past.

          So, feeling miserable, I’ve turned to one of my mother’s comfort-foods.  She called them ‘Scotch Pancakes’, not knowing (and not caring) that ‘scotch’ is a drink.  They’re also called Drop Scones (and, okay, Scots’ Pancakes.)

Here’s what you need to make them:

5oz, 150g or 1 and a quarter cups plain flour

2oz, 60g or quarter cup caster sugar

5ml or 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda,

Pinch salt

1 large egg, beaten

6 fl. Oz, 170ml, or three-quarters of a cup milk (or plain yoghurt)

Dried fruit (optional)

Almond extract, cinnamon, or whiskey as flavouring (optional)

Oil for frying.

          My mother weighed everything, but I’ve started using cup measurements recently – and not only found it less fuss and easier, but I think the results were better.  I’ve also found that I like the pancakes better made with plain yoghurt; but Mom always made them with milk - and we enjoyed them!

          Anyroad up, chucks, put the flour, sugar, bicarb and salt in a bowl and mix.

          Put the yoghurt, or milk, in a jug; add the egg, and beat together.

          Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients, and mix.  The batter should be thick, but fluid.  If it’s too stiff, add more yoghurt, milk or water.  (I added whisky and water this morning).

          You can whisk it together by hand – Mom always did – but I’ve found that using an electric whisk helps to make the pancakes lighter.

          At this stage, add flavourings, if you wish.  Mom always added dried fruit (though most recipes I’ve seen in books don’t).  I’ve added drops of vanilla or almond essence, with very yummy results.  This morning I added cinnamon, sultanas and whisky.  I’ll tell you how that worked out when I’ve eaten them.

          As I write, the mixture is in the fridge.  You can fry and eat them immediately, as Mom did.  Well, she fried them and we ate them.  We stood in a row in the kitchen and ate them as fast as she put them on the plate.

          However, leaving the mix a few hours gives the bicarb time to work, and the fruit to plump up.

          To cook them, heat oil or butter, or a mix of thereof (which burns less easily) in a frying pan.  When hot, drop tablespoonfuls of the mix into the pan, so that you have a few small pancakes .  When the surface is covered in little bubbles, flip them and cook the other side. Place them on a warm plate.

          If you don’t want to use all the mix at once, cover and replace in the fridge for later.

           They can be eaten plain, with fresh fruit, or spread with butter and jam –depending on how much comfort you’re in need of! 

Blot lovesAwards

          THE LEIBSTER AWARD.  Blot, as you can see, is very proud of his Leibster Award.

          And I am about to award my second one.  It goes to – Lucy Coats. 

          Lucy knows a lot about writing – she’s worked as an editor in London and New York, besides having written more than 25 books of her own; and she’s been short-listed for the Blue Peter Book Award.

Lucy Coats

          I know Lucy best as the person who led a fascinating workshop at the last SAS conference, taking several of us on ‘a guided shamanic spirit journey’.  I’m pretty sceptical, but was deeply impressed by the vividness of the landscapes I ‘saw’ during this journey.  It may simply be a difference of terminology: where Lucy talks about spirit journeys, I talk about the subconscious – but I will readily admit that ‘the subconscious’ is as mysterious as any spirit-journey, and possibly less well explored, since shamans have been spirit-travelling for hundreds of years.

          In any case, I would certainly like to learn more from Lucy, and I think her blog deserves far more followers.

          If you know of a blog with fewer than 200 followers, which deserves a Leibster – let me know!

          LATE BREAKING NEWS.  I can report that Scots Pancakes flavoured with cinnamon and whisky are very good!