Everyday Drinking_ The Distilled Kingsley Amis - Kingsley Amis [89]
3. Blended whisky was well into its stride in Scotland by 1865 or so. The distillers began to cast their eyes on England, where whisky was all but unknown except as the stuff you drank on grouse-moors. What historical accident greatly helped their sales drive?
4. About how many brands of blended Scotch whisky are made?
90 250 800 1,200 3,000
5. What is Atholl Brose?
6. What sort of casks are used for the maturing of malt whisky? (“Wooden” is not a sufficient answer.)
7. Which royal personage is said to have been partial to a half-glass of claret topped up with Scotch? Not impossible to guess.
8. In a blended Scotch, what are the proportions of malt whisky and grain whisky likely to be?
9. From what does Scotch receive its colour?
10. Where is the largest distillery of malt whisky in the world? A precise location is not required. But something of an imaginative leap is.
WHISKIES AND WHISKEYS
Only Ireland, the US and Canada dare put themselves forward as producers of whisky fit to be compared to Scotland. (The first two customarily spell their wares “whiskey.”) There is a fifth land, however, thousands of miles away from the nearest of the other four, that almost any moment will be pronounced worthy to be put in their league. Irish resembles Scotch in its intractability, not going well as part of any orthodox mixed drink.
1. One of the Irish whiskey distilleries is said to be the oldest in the world. Which and where is it, and what is its most famous product?
2. Irish coffee is a delicious exception to the rule about Irish whiskey’s unsuitability for mixtures. Its preparation is not very troublesome, but it becomes virtually impossible in the absence of one commonplace implement. What is it?
3. There are many varieties of whiskey made in the US, of which bourbon is the most popular and best-known and the one usually seen in the UK. Where does it get its name from?
4. What is bourbon:
(a) made from
(b) matured in?
5. A few American whiskeys are known as “sour mash” whiskeys. What does this signify?
6. The Old-Fashioned Cocktail is the most famous of all those made with whiskey. List its ingredients.
7. Which of the following were whiskey-distillers as well as pursuing other activities?
George Washington Thomas Jefferson
Walt Whitman Glenn Miller John Wayne.
8. Name the odd man out:
Old Grandad John Jameson Jim Beam
Old Forester Wild Turkey.
9. Canadian whisky has been very successful in recent years outside as well as inside its own country. Which of its characteristics is usually thought to be responsible for this?
Strength Weakness Purity
Lack of after-effects Aroma
10. Whisky, so called, is made in dozens of countries, including Argentina, Iran, Tanzania and India. What do these drinks usually consist of, and can any of them properly be called whisky?
PORT
The trade in port grew up to meet English demand, and its general character was designed to meet the centuries-old English taste for sweet wines. To this day, many of its great names are English or Scottish—Sandeman, Cockburn, Dow, Croft, Taylor, Graham. The UK no longer holds the position of the world’s biggest customer for port, having yielded it to France, where they make no bones about drinking sweet wines before meals. Nevertheless port has held up best in the national drift away from drinks in this category.
1. Port not only comes from Portugal, it comes only from there, in the sense that under our law no wine from any other country may use the name. More precisely it comes from Oporto in north Portugal, whence it gets its name. But where are the vineyards where the wine is grown?
2. Nearly all port is sweet and all of it is appreciably stronger than ordinary table wine. These are the results of a single process in the manufacture. What is that process?
3. Some months after being made, the immature port is moved to a convenient point for ageing, blending and bottling at the shippers’ lodges