Robin Robinson - The Complete Whiskey Course: A Comprehensive Tasting School in Ten Classes

A Comprehensive
Tasting School in Ten Classes

Glenfarclas distillery, Scotland.

In truth, no one saw it coming. Over the past twenty or so years, whiskey production and consumption exploded across the globe, with new varieties hailing from obscure locales and upstart producers as well as traditional heritage distilleries. Its like the wine boom of the 1980sonly at a much higher proof.

In a way, the rebirth of whiskey is miraculous. From the start of the 1970s until the 1990s, whiskey got caught in a Main Street shootout with vodka, gin, and other lighter spiritsand lost. The trusted brand names drunk by your grandparents at home and in dark bars were largely abandoned. The only things left from those dark years are the myths and confusion. For example, the first question from a whiskey novice tends to be: Is Scotch a whiskey? followed by Is bourbon a whiskey? then rye, and so forth. Those answers (all Yes) form the bedrock of this books missionto inform, challenge, illuminate, and inspire your appreciation of all things whiskey.

The credit for this resurgence goes to a perfect storm of influences: a new generation in search of real, rich flavors; access to quick information through our smartphones and devices; and the rediscovery of expertly crafted cocktails that use classic ingredients. Feeding the whiskey boom, first in the U.S. then around the world, is a wave of micro-distilleries from a new generation of entrepreneurs, disillusioned professionals, and do-it-yourselfers. It is truly a golden age for whiskey, and now youre part of it, so rejoice.

Jared Himsted at Balcones Distilling, Texas.

To the uninitiated, whiskey can be as confounding as stock markets or weather patterns. Adding to the general confusion over types of whiskey, there is no consensus even on how to spell the word. Ireland and the United States spell it with an e (the exception being Makers Mark, done in homage to the founders Scots-Irish ancestry). Scotland, Canada, and the rest of the world prefer the whisky spelling. (See in Class Six for a theory as to why.) For integritys sake, whiskey will be spelled by national preference in chapters dedicated to individual countries and when there is a direct reference to Scotch whisky, for example, but for simplicity and sanity it will be spelled with an e when discussing whiskey in general.

A whisky still at Lochgilphead, Scotland, 1819.

Human culture takes its time when it comes to innovating and improving on existing technology, centuries in some cases, and its no different when it comes to making whiskey. There was no a-ha moment in its creation. Whiskey was born of inspiration, trial, and a lot of error. However, aside from the evolution of distillation, which well discuss later, four basic groups of people are responsible for getting whiskey from brain to glass in the West. While there is scant evidence from the Eastern part of the world as to when their influence on distillation began, we can identify the following four groups throughout the West.

In the Western world, there were times when the farmer wasnt able to get his grain to market, when it was left either in the field to wither or in containers to rot. The rotting led to a key transformation of grain: it naturally fermented as it decomposed. Fermented wines from fruit had kept humanity alive since the dawn of time. The slight bit of ethanol naturally created from decomposing organic matter killed much of the harmful bacteria found in water sources as humans transitioned from hunter-gatherers to farmers. As a result, wines, ales, and beers became integrated into the social fabric of societies. That set the course for brandy, then whiskey, to arrive.

Distillations long journey around the world is inexorably linked to religion. Science and religion are generally considered incompatible today, but in the ancient world they were one and the same. In pursuit of dyes, ointments, perfumes, and tinctures, shamans of ancient Persia, mystics of the Alexandrian period, and philosophers of ancient Greece developed distillation as a way of purifying base materials to honor their gods. In the evangelism of their beliefs, they spread the word of distillation as well.

Monks making and sampling wines, spirits, or medicines.

DRINK THIS

GREAT KING STREET GLASGOW BLEND Blended Scotch whiskies are built for casual sociability, but no one said they had to be boring. Blind-taste your snobby single malt friends and upload their shocked faces on Instagram, hashtag not included. 43% ABV

DRINK THIS

PRGEIST BAVARIAN HOP WHISKY Brand owner, industry vet, and full-time mom Kiki Braverman orchestrated her biergeist with a hopped bock beer from her native Bavaria, distilled into an award-winning whisky. It is then matured in ex-bourbon barrels and finished in ex-grappa chestnut barrels. 42% ABV