In essence, whisky is an alcohol distilled from fermented grain mash; therefore, Bourbon, made from corn, and Scotch, made from malted barley, are both whiskies. However, Scotch is made in Scotland, and Bourbon is made in America.
But as McCarron explains, Scotch and Bourbon share an interesting relationship: “Historically, the Bourbon industry uses each cask once, so there was a market to buy used casks from America. Using new casks for bourbon suits the nature of bourbon and also takes the edge off and seasons the cask, making it perfect for aging whisky afterwards.”
When a Bourbon cask is brought to Scotland and filled with whisky for the first time, it is called a first fill cask, and these first fill casks are considered most interesting because it extracts the strongest flavours from the wood.
In 2008, Glenmorangie released the Astar, a limited-edition single malt whisky entirely matured in bespoke first fill oak casks from the Ozark mountains of Missouri. McCarron was a fan of the original and longed to revisit the single malt’s unique character. But casks designed to such precise specifications require many years and much dedication to create.
It has taken almost a decade for Glenmorangie to orchestrate the whisky’s return and McCarron takes us through a tasting of the newly-released Astar 2017. “The Astar uses designer first fill casks. Even the Glenmorangie Original only uses the casks twice, other whiskies might use them up to six times. So, the Astar is like the Original on steroids, a pumped-up version of the Original.”
McCarron pours a finger of the Astar 2017 into a tulip-shaped tasting glass and lifts it up to the light. “You can first look at the colour. If its lighter, you’re probably expecting a lighter, sweeter whisky. If its darker, it’s probably an older whisky or it’s got a lot of sherry [characteristics from the cask] in it.”
2. Nose the whisky
Next, he urges us to put our noses as far into the glass as we can: “Get it right in until your nose gets wet and breathe in gently.” We take a whiff and our eyes start to water from the alcohol fumes. At 52.5% proof, Astar is a high-strength whisky in comparison to most other whiskies which stand between 40-46%.
3. Take a sip, repeat
With wine, this step would involve some swirling and sucking in air through pursed lips, but McCarron says it isn’t necessary with whisky because of its high strength. Instead, he recommends taking sip and holding it in your mouth for a second, just enough time for it to cover the taste buds on your tongue and swallow. “At times, it can get overly complicated. I once heard someone say that if a whisky is 12 years old you hold it in your mouth for 12 seconds, but that’s just completely rubbish,” he laughs. We try a few sips, neat, and start to taste notes reminiscent of vanilla and coconut, which McCarron explains, comes straight off the American oak casks.
Here is the crucial step in tasting whisky. Paradoxically, diluting the whisky doesn’t water down its flavour, instead, it opens up the spirit and releases even more nuances.
"Now you’ll get more of the stone fruit, like peaches dipped in ice cream or vanilla fudge,” says McCarron.
We take a sip and to our surprise, even the texture of the drink seems to have changed—now with a smoother and creamier mouthfeel.