17/12/2022
Chapter 1
A kid my age
When did my whisky journey begin? Sadly, I can’t really date a specific event or moment. This just began in a very spontaneous way, back when I was in my high school years more than 15 years ago…
Was I a 16/18yo enfant prodige and a whisky conoissueur then?
Of course not (and I’m still not), but like for many others, this was just the stage when I started going out and had my first encounters with spirits and drinks in general.
In this chaos and huge variety of available products to try (from which I still regret having tried too many…and sometimes too many on the same night) usually accompanied by very nice experiences, social moments and memories that I’ll always keep, nobody gives you directions and all it’s a learning curve… A lot to learn in a short period of time (let alone that this happened when a couple of beers and 3€ were more than enough to get inebriated…)
Anyway, in this maze, distillates stood out from the midst and totally captured my attention. Especially when someone (not sure if it was a pub owner, but as far as I recall was a man in his 50s) explained to me in very broad terms that these were the fruits of a process of collecting vapourised alcohol (distillation), which is created by adding yeast to sugars extracted from almost any raw agricultural product like a potato (yes a potato!), fruit, sugar cane, agave, or grains like barley (fermentation).
This is then bottled (gin, vodka…) or aged in a ‘timber vessel’ to pick up extra flavours prior to bottling (rum, whisky…).
I have never been, and still am not, a big fan of mixers and fizzy sweet drinks like Fanta or Coca Cola, (I order still water with my meals at fast foods) so my curiosity and “respect”, if you like, for distillates quickly moved me away from cocktails and triggered my debut with neat whisky.
I started trying as many as possible of the available (in Rome, Italy at that time) blends and single malts such as Glenmorangie 10, Glenfiddich 12 or 15, Talisker 10, Johnnie Walkers (red, black, double black, green, gold and blue. Yes, the whole rainbow!), Glenlivet 12, Caol Ila 12, Ardbeg 10, Laphroaig 10 and Lagavulin 16 (yes, all Diageo, Chivas, Beam Suntory and LVMH products, but this topic perhaps has to wait for another chapter…).
Initially my love was all for peated whiskies. All my friends complaining about the “ashtray or empty fireplace smell” generated around the table when I was served my drink for the night.
My favourites taste-wise were indeed Laphroaig 10 (antiseptic, medicinal, iodine, bla bla bla…) and Caola Ila 12 (smoked bacon, caramel, apple, lemon, bla bla bla…).
But I’ve always paid a special attention to Lagavulin 16 as well. This was also available everywhere (perhaps more than now actually…). Special attention especially since when I realised that, at that stage, it was essentially like a kid my age. And while I had basically been through all my life experiences and struggles until then, the liquid inside those bottles looking at me from some dusty, shaded and usually at high level shelves, had been sitting in a cask somewhere in Scotland…!
Or even worse! When I though that while my mum and dad were busy procreating me, someone else (wearing a kilt, in my cliché imaginary for Scotland at that time) was fermenting and distilling the liquid in these bottles…!
It’s unlikely that a Lagavulin 16 was my 1st whisky ever. It was usually among the most expensive ones at the bottom of the list of a skinny whisky menu. And I was just a student and occasionally a waiter on the weekends.
Unfortunately I can’t remember what my first whisky ever was (I suspect it was a Talisker 10 though…). After many years, when there’s an age statement on a label I always do this ‘game’. In my mind I date it back and think at what I was up to ‘x’ years ago when the spirit in question was being distilled.
I also had occasions when the whisky age exceeded my own age and even if there was no ‘game’ applicable, these whiskies were pretty much all awesome. However since I am now getting older this instance is happening less and my ‘game’ more interesting on the other hand.
After all, today I still love to sip a Lagavulin 16 (or most of their other expressions I tried afterwards). I’m still thinking at when we both were 16yo.
Drams
and more...
Today's drams
- Laphroaig 10 – 40%
- Caol Ila 12 – 43%
- Lagavulin 16 – 43%
Whisky in Rome
If you’re reading this and you happen to be in Rome, these are must-go places if you’re a whisky enthusiasts lost in the eternal city.
Le Bon Bock Cafè
The first whisky bar I ever visited. A little corner of Scotland in the heart of the eternal city.
Scotch Roma
Literally just behind the corner, a more than decent whisky shop. I always have a peek at whisky shops around the world: you never know what you’re going to find.
Oro Whisky Bar
A 20 min bike ride away or 15 min taxi, another more recent whisky bar. I haven’t been there personally, but been hearing good things. Try it and let us know.