When Atomic Ski Boots Product Manager, Matt Manser, isn’t nerding out about ski boots … he’s nerding out about Scotch. And in this conversation, Matt and I discuss butt casks and blood tubs; why cask size matters; barrel-aged ski boots; tea spoons; single malts vs. blends; and more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Scotch or Scotches? (5:16)
- Scotch, Bourbon, & Campfires (10:17)
- 5 Regions of Scotland Whisky (12:20)
- Arran 10 Yr Single Malt (17:16)
- Single Malt vs Blends (18:52)
- Proof & Rules for Distilling Scotch (24:04)
- Flash Reviews & Barrel-Aged Ski Boots (32:07)
- Ratio of Spirit to Wood to Age (41:51)
- Cask Wood Types & Bunnahabhain 12 Yr (48:51)
- Adding Water (53:03)
- Non-Chill Filter (56:05)
- Why Not McCallan + Matt’s Favorites (1:02:33)
- Bottlings (1:16:50)
- JE’s final Notes on Arran & Bunnahabhain (1:24:44)
- Future Amateur Hour: Watches (1:27:19)
RELATED LINKS
Nerds.
Looking forward to this. Remember the first time we had Bunnahabhain in a bar in Lochinver, asked for a recommendation, asked the pronunciation 3 times but still didn’t get it!
Not a lot of smokey Scotches there, but some great ones nonetheless. Sipping a glass of Bunnahabhain while I fire this up, cheers!
Matt has to do the watches interview, clearly! He asked what your favorite hour was — comedy gold!!
PS: very good “amateur hour”, thank you for that!
Appreciated the discussion except for the digressions on barefoot distillery and the like, which just took up extra time. Could add some points: “smoky” is different from “peaty.” A peaty flavor is that mushrooom, umami flavor of the vegetation while smoky is the effect of burning and can be mild or scorched like over-roasted coffee beans. Some of the peated whiskeys finished in sherry or sauternes casks are well-balanced and do not have the “campfire” taste that offends the two tasters. Also, for the new taster, start a cask-strength drink by first swirling a small amount around the tongue for 10 seconds. That will desensitize the tongue to the high alcohol and allow the next taste to actually taste the flavors more. Then, adding drops of water is still worth doing to appreciate the differences. Matt shared a lot of good information and opinion; very worthwhile.
Great point, msimburg! I had a note to discuss the differences between a peated Ardbeg and a peated Springbank or Glen Scotia, but we got off on a few other tangents and forgot to circle back to it (like we often do). Glad you enjoyed it though!
Enjoyed this a lot, the nerdy kid knows a lot about whisky for sure. Most shocking revelation was that Matt has not been to Scotland!! School boy error, need to fix that.
Still waiting for part 2 of matt manser on scotch whiskey. Part 1 was just what i needed for day drinking motivation. Part 2 will hopefully seal the deal.
Stay tuned, it’s in the works…