I’ve been drinking wine for years now. Red.

My liquor drinking days were during my youth when the joy was in getting drunk and just feeling carefree.

But in my trip to Mexico in 2017, I picked up acquaintance again with — what else? — tequila and mescal and was taught the proper way of drinking these two otherwise lethal drinks. (Sorry. As Filipinos, we were introduced to tequila the Western way. Chug down, lick and suck way. That’s barbaric, my new Mexican friends shuddered at the thought and taught us how to drink it their way).

That’s where  I was introduced to sipping tequila and mescal and appreciating all the notes and flavors that each distillery have painstakingly created. It was a happy day for me. Except that… I still prefer wine and my friends down here chug down tequila the way we were taught by the Western ways and expect me to chug down mine as well. No thanks.

So, it was back to wine. Red.

Until last night when Carlos invited me to try his collection of whiskeys. He got me at a photo of a bottle that read: Single Malt.

So we had dinner of steak and liquor. And because it was the Yamazaki that caught my eye first, I tasted the Yamazaki first!

It was very smooth. Surprisingly smooth, and I loved it. Throw in my penchant for history, the label that read “Since 1923” also caught my fancy. I had to read up about it and imagined myself at the foot of Mt. Tennozan partaking of Rikyu no Mizu, as written in their website…

From Yamazaki I moved to Nikka Coffey Malt Whisky. (And no, it’s not Coffee but Coffey and Coffey has nothing to do with Coffee, not even a far cousin. Coffey refers to the Coffey still, the distilling apparatus.)

Nikka has the aroma that Yamazaki doesn’t have. I could stay all night just sniffing at it. But no. Whisky is for drinking.

Nikka had that strong “guhit” as we call it. That searing sensation you feel as alcohol dribbles into your esophagus… But after the shock of the “guhit” comes something else.

There is something sweet and yummy and fruity there… And true enough… there’s dried fruit in there; a sweet, full-bodied, smoky whisky. Again, I could sniff at it until all the aroma is gone, but whiskys are for drinking, so, no.

I’m looking forward to more liquor-appreciating parties. Soon. I’m enjoying this!

And no, I’m not claiming to be an expert. I’m just a person who loves sniffing at what I drink and eat, and savoring each flavor that passes through my mouth.