I was lucky enough to get into a Glenfiddich dinner hosted by the owner of Mi Piace, an Italian restaurant in Cheongdam-dong, who has long been into single malts. I’ve been hooked on single malts lately myself, so it was a great chance.
They poured the 12, 15, 18 and 21 year olds that night.
The Glenfiddich importer sponsored the evening with four whole bottles, which I’m really grateful for. They even gave a detailed presentation on Glenfiddich with a projector.
Glasses set out in advance
And so it turned into a blind tasting..
Which one’s which age..
I think I got every one of them wrong. ^_^ The 18 was nice. They say Glenfiddich is the best-selling single malt in the world, and I suspect that’s because it’s smooth and sweet overall, much like a blended whisky. If a drink is sweet and strong, serious drinkers can’t help but love it. People who chase depth of flavour are gourmets, but not every gourmet is a heavy drinker and not every heavy drinker is a gourmet, so the whiskies they’re after end up a bit different.
Bread
My stomach was burning a bit after doing a blind tasting on an empty stomach. At my age I really need to get something in there fast.
Cheese and olives
Good with wine, but just so-so with single malt. Something a bit firmer would suit better.. but is it fair to ask for that at an Italian restaurant..
Melon and prosciutto
Salad
White asparagus
A gratin.. maybe..
Glenfiddich 30 year, which the owner brought out for us to compare!
Even Glenfiddich gets really good once it’s around 30 years old. It’s just pricey..
Pasta
It had uni and seaweed in it, and it was delicious.
Garnish
Standing by, since the steak is about to come out.
A massive steak, as always
Though with single malt as the drink, it fell a little short against such a hefty steak.
Dessert..
Now that I look, I didn’t even take a picture of the Sadaharu Aoki chocolates I brought. They were good, too.
I went way too hard again that night and was about ready to keel over. I’d like to pace myself, but when a group of like-minded people get together it never quite works out that way. Next time I’m vowing to really take it easy.