Things to remember before pairing..

As connoisseur of food & drink, I met a friend, who gave me an introduction to Scotch with a tasting. Being the foodie that I am I am charged with coming up with menu of what to eat. I have been invited to various tasting sessions!!! I have given you a few ideas in my previous posts but would want some further help in making a perfect paring for "Black Dog Triple Gold Reserve!".

Any suggestions of what to pair with them would be greatly appreciated.  Just a condition while suggesting, keep in mind that I am vegetarian who eats egg. Often we say we take time to learn your own palate and which whiskies you like and dislike.  Concentrate on their flavors, then try a single ingredient to understand how food develops the flavor notes of whisky and vice versa and sometimes the most successful pairings are the ones that contrast flavor and texture. 

The spread on the flavor wheel is the one to play with a range of foods on the opposite side to add excitement to your pairings.  Try sweet malt with a spicy Indian dish. Read recipes from the most creative chefs of today and try your own interpretations.

Always try to have fun, break the rules, indulge in each new sensation.  With a little willingness to experiment you may discover a most divine and unusual result.  "Peppery scotch with oysters anyone?"

To begin your pairing journey you need to know a little bit about Scotch.  It is not a homogeneous taste category. There are wildly different flavor signatures across regions and distilleries.  Barley is the only constant, but when malted, fermented and matured in oak casks, it takes on many personalities from sweet and fruity to medicinal and smokey.  

Profiles vary from house to house and cask to cask. Just to make things a bit interesting, there are many distinct notes in each dram beginning with the nose, then progressing to the palate and finally the finish.  A complex whisky may have double digit aroma and flavor characteristics.

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