Epicurean heaven: A whisky-pairing dinner

He was the first Glaswegian I ever met whose English I actually understood. Back in Scotland, at least in the 1990s when I first visited, the joke was that residents of Glasgow all sounded terribly drunk when they spoke, stretching all syllables and diphthongs to indecipherable sounds.

But Andrew Laing of the Hunter Laing & Company, Limited, Scotland’s top whisky blender and bottler, has traveled extensively while articulating the company’s mission-vision statements worldwide. He is as mellow and crystal-clear as some of the whiskies offered by the company his grandfather started.

Today, the family company enjoys unrivaled pedigree as blenders and bottlers of the finest Scotch whisky.

In Manila a fortnight ago, Andrew guided a table of food writers through a special menu of five courses, each paired with a distinctive whisky that the German company Vom Fass partners with Hunter Laing in offering at special shops.

I first became aware of Vom Fass when I received a gift two Christmases ago, of single malt whisky in a 40ml bespoke bottle that resembled a Christmas tree. I visited the shop soon after, at the West Wing of EDSA Shangri-La Mall, and asked for a similar-sized bottle to be filled with truffle oil for a gift.

An additional feature is that one can have names and greetings painted on the bottles. I found myself going for seconds and thirds on a subsequent visit, realizing that those distinctively shaped bottles made for nice Yuletide gifts when filled with spirits, oils or vinegar. Vom Fass also handles wine.

Dubbed as the candy store for adults, Vom Fass first opened in Regensburg, Germany, in 1994. Now it has about 300 stores worldwide, including branches at Power Plant Mall and SM Aura Premier.

The brand name means “from the cask,” which is how it offers measured samples of its products. Class-A companies all over Europe are judiciously selected for Vom Fass offerings of artisanal oils, vinegars, spirits and other non-alcoholic specialties. These selections are used in Michelin-star restaurants and by some of the world’s top chefs.

With regards to whisky, Scotland’s pride, Andrew Laing cites various distilleries from which Hunter Laing procures its own selections, some of which are specially casked for its orders. This explains why certain whisky samples for the paired dinner were of irregular ages; that is, not of the standard ones that are commercially distributed.

Hunter Laing remains one of the few traditional, family-owned Scotch whisky blenders and bottlers, with casks of malt and grain whiskies maturing in their cellars aged up to 50 years and older. The company’s master blender creates compositions such as MacSpey and Great Glen for Vom Fass.

The blended 10-year-old MacSpey was the first glass offered the guests at the special dinner held in the elegant Masetto Restaurant and Wine Bar in Salcedo Village, Makati. It was served with excellent pass-around aperitifs: Chicken Liver Whisky Mousse with Guava Jam and Beet Tartare with Chevre Emulsion.

When we sat around the table, each diner faced five fluted whisky glasses, the better to “nose” each distinctive whisky that would be paired with the dishes prepared by the chef.

From left to right, it started with FassZination Single Malt Single Cask Scotch Whisky from the Auchentoshan Distillery, 12 years old. This prepared our palates for the Citrus Salad with Blue Cheese Emulsion.

The second dish, Bottarga Tagliolini — pasta with delectable fish roe — was paired with nine-year-old Isle of Jura Single Malt. Then came Grilled Calamari, Charred Eggplant and Warm Chorizo, which had for its liquid partner the eight-year-old “Great Glen” blended malt.

The main course, Smoked Beef Baby Rib with Macerated Chick Peas and Whiskey Glaze, was downed with FassZination Single Malt Single Sherry Cask Scotch Whisky from Bowmore Distillery, at 14 years.

By this time, the remarkable pairings were increasingly met with hearty approval all around the table. The meaty ribs, in particular, merited adulation. And indeed, as Andrew had anticipated, the sweetish, sherry-tinged Bowmore single malt met its proper partner. Or was it the other way around? Let’s just say that it was a conjugal arrangement that highlighted culinary bliss.  

Dessert followed, Chocolate Hazelnut Tart, and the final 30ml shot of Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Auchroisk 21 years. Thus was the remarkable dinner completed, with each taste bud pampered to perfection.

Each whisky serving was poured at 30ml. At the Vom Fass stores, customers may have the clear craft bottles of various sizes filled with a minimum of 40ml. In terms of prices, the Bowmore we tasted was the most expensive, at P12,000 a bottle, with the Auchentoshan coming next at P7,500 a bottle. The rest had prices ranging from P480 to P840 per 100ml.

What helped satiate the senses was the conversation led by Andrew Laing, whose Scottish English filled us in on charming factoids on the differences in whiskies produced in the six classic regions of Scotland. He made special mention of blended malt from Speyside, the Macallan and Mortlach, as well as Auchentoshan 12 years with its distinct summery taste, tinged with vanilla and fruity with lychee and pineapple flavors. It’s distilled three times in refilled bourbon casks.

Personally, I’m an island malt man, preferring the peaty and smoky editions of the “water of life.” But I wouldn’t mind another pairing dinner that featured a single cask bottling from Hunter Laing of, say, the rare Port Ellen from a long-closed distillery. The family company formed in 1948 happens to still have 30 bottles of this rarity, at a magnum bottle of 1.5 liters selling at about P130K.

Maybe it’ll go well with a bagnet dish. As would Islay’s Port Ellen and Glasgow’s Port Dundas, two other uber-special single-cask bottlings done by Hunter Laing for Vom Fass.

The partnership is exactly how our memorable dinner paired with whiskies may be certified: a marriage made in epicurean heaven.