Some Christmas Spirits: Whisky & Festive Cheer

For our final whisky tasting of the year, we used the word “spirits” in a deliberately playful way – on the one hand, “Christmas spirit” evokes images of festive cheer, generosity, warmth, and togetherness (and we hoped that our whisky tasting helped to ease everyone into an appropriately festive mood for the upcoming the Christmas period!). But the word “spirits” can also refer to something more tangible: namely whisky.

Whisky has the ability to summon up memories and stir emotions, and it does so particularly through the aromas you smell. When you nose a whisky — really take the time to smell it — you may just find yourself transported. Many of us have had experiences where a certain smell floods our brain with memories of a distinct event or location that we associate clearly with certain emotions. A particular aroma might remind you of a childhood moment, a specific place, or even a special holiday. Why this happens seems to be due to the architecture of the brain. Bill Bryson, after meeting with Gary Beauchamp, one of the world's most eminent sensory scientists, makes the following observation in his book, The Body: A Guide for Occupants:

“An interesting & important curiosity of our sense of smell is that it is the only one of the five senses that is not mediated by the hypothalamus. When we smell something, the information, for reasons unknown, goes straight to the olfactory cortex, which is nestled close to the hippocampus, where memories are shaped, and it is thought by some neuroscientists that this may explain why certain odours are so powerfully evocative of memories for us.”

There's also an interesting study that was conducted in 2004 which found that a group women showed more brain activity when smelling a perfume they associated with a positive memory than when they smelled a perfume they had never smelled before. What's more, brain activity from smelling the memorable perfume was also greater than that which was produced from visual cues, such as seeing the bottle of perfume.

So, for example, the aroma of baking spices in a whisky might take you back to a kitchen filled with the smells of freshly baked cookies or Christmas pudding. An aromatic wood note may remind you of a piece of furniture in your grandparent’s home. Or the faint scent of peat smoke could remind you of an evening spent braaiing with family and friends, and a hint of salinity bring back memories from a seaside holiday. This connection between smell and memory is part of what makes whisky such a wonderful drink, especially as the year draws to a close and one might wish to take the opportunity to pause and to reflect and to reminisce.

The whiskies we finally decided upon for this festive whisky tasting were:

• Tamnavulin Sherry Cask (a single malt from the Speyside region of Scotland, finished in suitably festive sherry casks)

• Glen Grant Arboralis (another single malt from the Speyside region of Scotland, and the newest release from Glen Grant Distillery)

• Glen Scotia Double Cask Rum Cask Finish (a single malt from the Campbeltown region of Scotland, finished in Guyanese rum casks)

• Three Ships 13 Ruby Cask (a 13-year-old South African single malt, finished in Cape Ruby casks)

• Kilchoman Sanaig (a smoky single malt from Islay, with a heavy sherry influence)

• Ardnahoe 5 Inaugural Release (a 5-year-old single malt and the first ever whisky to come out of one of Islay’s newest distilleries)

For the first time ever we were also able to sell bottles of the whisky we tasted via The Whisky Twins, who generously offered everyone who attended a 10% discount on their purchases. Perfect timing for some early Christmas shopping! And for anyone who is interested, The Whisky Twins have a great selection of whisky available from their online store. You can find their online store here: https://www.whiskytwins.co.za/