events: MACALLAN Scotch Tasting at One with Mimi!
When Coco first invited me to be a guest blogger on cocoandlowe.com and said it would involve attending a Scotch tasting, my initial reaction was to say “No thanks, I don’t drink scotch”. BUT when she added “It will be at ONE restaurant in Yorkville, free food and taxi chits…?” Well, how could I resist? Come on…free booze, food and cab fare? Have you ever had the ‘lobster spoons’ appetizer at ONE? I would attend any event to have even a small chance that they would be giving out lobster spoons. They are succulent bite size morsels of lobster meat swimming in melted butter, cleverly served in spoons. Mmmmmmmm. Anyway, I’m not here to talk about lobster spoons even though I love them. I’m here to tell you about my experience at the MACALLAN scotch tasting event.
I was asked to invite 2 friends to join me. I wanted to choose friends who didn’t necessarily drink scotch regularly so that we’d all be on the same level. I chose my 2 girls Sonia and Tamara.
Sonia and Tamara
We were greeted with a smile and a glass of 10 year old Macallan Scotch. Honestly, the smell of scotch reminds me of my dad. I always thought of scotch as an older man’s drink. But whatever…I drank it anyway. (on the rocks…)
We took our seats at one of the tables and there were place settings for each person with 4 glasses of scotch lined up. Yikes! Thank god there was bread and chocolate (?) on the table. I found out later that each glass had a different year scotch in it. 12, 15, 18, 21. We were told that dark chocolate and scotch are a delicious combo. So I tried it and LOVED it. You let the chocolate melt in your mouth a little, then take a swig of the scotch. It was so yummy.
A really funny man got up to the front of the room and did a power point presentation on the each of the different aged scotches and educated us on how and where each is made and the techniques that Macallan uses to make its Scotch superior to other brands. It’s pretty cool to learn about how Barley and Water turn into liquid that makes people drunk. If you want to learn more, go to www.celebratethemacallan.ca Trust me! I learned some cool things at this tasting that I can use to make conversation with men drinking scotch next time I go to a bar. Like “hey did you know that Macallan uses oak casks, handcrafted and sherry seasoned in Jerez, Spain. This delivers a scotch wonderfully rich in colour with dried fruits, spice and chocolate orange.” Hahaha… so impressive!
My friends and I had a blast! Tamara ended up winning the draw for the big bottle of 12 year Macallan. Lucky! We were sent home with a beautiful gift box. (My dad’s gonna love it)
All in all, we left with a new found appreciation for scotch. It’s no longer an “older man’s drink” to me. We actually made plans to get together and drink the bottle Tamara won. I’ll bring the chocolate.
Woohooo! Thanks for asking me to do this Coco!
Xoxo
Mimi
November 2nd, 2009 at 9:48 am
Great post Mimi! I love those liquor tasting as they always present them in such an elegant way. I’ve wanted to try MACALLAN since the film “Brown Sugar” with Taye Diggs and Sanaa Lathan. There’s a line in the film where she says he drinks MACALLAN when he’s trying to show off. It seems like one of those “I’ve got some dollas” kind of drinks.
November 2nd, 2009 at 2:20 pm
LOL…oh yes! I found out that these bottles aren’t cheap.
But learning about how it’s made. I can understand why. If it took you over 10 years to make something, you’d want to make sure you were getting PAID too. hahaha
I don’t ever really drink any hard liquor without pop mix but you almost don’t want to ruin this scotch by diluting it. Like it only makes sense to drink it with a bit of ice and swirl it and smell it and take sips. (and sit in a big chair in your robe by the fire place smoking a cigar. haha)
I guess in my older age, it’s nice to drink alcohol for taste and appreciate quality rather than just drink shots with my nose plugged with the sole intent of trying to get HAMMERED. LOL
I actually preferred the taste of the 12 year. When you try it, lemme know what you think….
Mimi
November 4th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
O.K. how funny is it that I received an invite to a tasting in Chicago! I’m going in two weeks and will definitely let you know what I thought.
December 7th, 2009 at 8:00 am
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