Releasing Serpents and Embracing Monsters

A visit to Dullstroom in Mpumalanga province opened up the world of whisky and whiskey to us.

Fly-fishing is the reason why one goes to Dullstroom but neither of us are really keen fishermen and after exploring the antique shops and the largest clock shop in the Southern Hemisphere we decided to visit an emporium, ‘Wild about Whisky’ for a whisky tasting.

A Sample of the wide variety of Whisky at Wild About Whisky

It seemed the right thing to do because the landscape and character of the area could remind one of Scotland.

Wild about Whisky is a local whisky trader in Dullstroom that prides itself on having the biggest whisky collection in the Southern Hemisphere. I decided on the six nations tasting menu. With six whiskies from six countries, of varying styles, from bourbon, through Irish blend, South African grain, to Asian single malts. The Asian single malts were a surprise with their floral notes. Keith selected the Celtic journey tasting menu. He decided on a selection of whiskys and whiskeys from  Scotland and Ireland and fell in love with the peated whisky. The smokey peat flavour is released into the whisky originally through a process of drying the damp malt over a peat-heated fire, thereby introducing the peat smoke into the barley grain.

The tasting mat for the Six Nations

The tasting samples on the mat

We learned to swirl the whisky around the glass, nose the whisky, from around 10cm at first, then from the glass. Then you taste the neat spirit before adding a drop of water (around 20 – 30% by volume). Adding the water is referred to as ‘releasing the serpent’.

 Whisky before the serpents are released

Releasing the serpents by adding a drop of water

The whisky notes before and after adding the water was completely different. We also learned to identify the taste flavours and if it was buttery, waxy or oily.

We bought a selection of the Asian and peated whiskies, a small sample of the over 1000 different whiskies available in the emporium. Glowing warm with our newly acquired knowledge of whisky we stepped into the cold evening air and walked to our accommodation.

Some of the Asian Whisky that we bought

We stayed at the Dullstroom Inn and went for a trout supper in the public dining room where the log fire has been burning constantly for more than 30 years. With Dullstroom claiming to be one of the coldest towns in South Africa, it just makes sense to have a constant fire. There we sat in front of the fire warm on the inside and on the outside.

If you like a peaty and smokey whisky you can embrace the Peat Monster