Old Whisky, New Tricks

What is mature in age yet youthfully playful in mouthfeel? The Singleton releases The Gourmand Collection in partnership with Master Pâtissier Nicolas Rouzaud, featuring three single malts, each paired with a fine dessert to complement its decadent profile.

- by LingJie Tuang

Ask anyone about their first impression of whisky, and chances are they would tell you it felt like an “old person” thing — always serious, often enjoyed neat, sometimes on the rocks, with a bowl of smoked nuts and a brooding attitude. The scene was set for us to find out when an invitation to board a 13-hour flight to London and on to the homeland of whisky, Scotland, to discover The Singleton’s new Gourmand Collection came. Could this be another demonstration of the poshness of whisky?

The buildup was intense: the snazzy location for this launch event — at The Connaught in Mayfair, London — only set the bar higher as we were led through the grand façade of the hotel. The dress code said cocktail, but the men all donned nothing less than impeccably tailored suits. Once we arrived at our tasting suites at the Red Room however, the hoity-toity impression vapourised immediately, replaced by a spirit of exuberance as we were presented with a trio of 50cl bottles adorned in playful bronze, gold and pink. On each bottle beside The Singleton logo, the 42 digits in gold were the most noticeable bit on the label, signalling the extremities we were about to experience — just how long these whiskies have matured, how each expression was designed to evoke the essence of fine desserts and how £8,800-worth of whisky would taste like.