We visit Clydeside Distillery who are collaborating with Taste the Place to celebrate the city’s hospitality as part of Glasgow’s 850th anniversary celebrations.
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00:00Hi Cara, we're here at Clydeside Distillery this morning and we're going to do some whisky tasting.
00:06Could you tell us a wee bit about what we're going to be trying?
00:09Good morning, you'll be stumbling out of here.
00:11A nice mental journey as you're sat down with the River Clydes in front of you,
00:15can't get any better than that.
00:17As it is your first whisky, we always cheers to that, don't we?
00:20So we'll raise a glass together and say Sláinte Mhath, which is Gaelic for good health.
00:23Sláinte Mhath.
00:24Sláinte Mhath.
00:25You want to start by nosing the whisky,
00:27so you can give it a smell with both nostrils.
00:30You will find that you do have a more dominant nostril.
00:33I know, the body's wild.
00:34It does change throughout the day so you can test that out,
00:37see what one's your stronger nostril.
00:39You might get some more smells coming through.
00:42You can open your mouth as you smell that as well.
00:44Give it a little swirl as well, it's been sat there a few minutes.
00:47You'll be able to see the oils that come through as well.
00:50And once you're ready, you can give it just a little sip.
00:52Now, whisky is meant to be savoured and enjoyed.
00:55You don't want to neck this right back.
00:56Take your time with it.
00:58These are pretty young whiskies,
00:59so you want to hold it in your mouth for about three, four seconds.
01:03Let your cheeks get used to it, let your taste buds get used to it.
01:06I know it's a shock when you have that first sip,
01:08but you should be getting some senses through.
01:10So all of your senses are linked with your memories.
01:14So that means that there's no wrong, nothing wrong with what you're tasting.
01:18It's all linked with your memories.
01:20Who am I to say that your memories are wrong?
01:22So, if you want to maybe shout out if there's any smells or flavours
01:26or memories that come cropping back.
01:28Again, no wrong answer.
01:30It's all personal to you.
01:32I think probably granny.
01:34Probably my granny when I was younger and drank quite a lot of whisky.
01:37Did you get a wee dram as well then?
01:40Probably not, no, because I don't know what my reaction would have been at that age.
01:44Well, I'm born and raised in Glasgow.
01:46My granny would always rub it on my gums when I was crying
01:49and I turned out just fine.
01:52But I get those kind of memories coming through as well,
01:54like sat in an old man's pub with a fire roaring.
01:58I'm usually still sat in old man's pubs.
02:01Especially on a day like today.
02:02Oh my goodness, you want to wrap up cosy.
02:04So a dram will do that to you as well.
02:07So usually I feel like this one's quite sweet.
02:10So this one here is from an ex-bourbon barrel.
02:12So you will get the sweetness coming through
02:15from our new make spirit that we make just next door.
02:18About 30% of the flavour of your whisky at the end
02:20will come from that new make spirit that we make just here.
02:23And all the rest is going to come from the cask itself.
02:26So we use an ex-bourbon barrel, as I said.
02:30Let me just find a stave from that.
02:33So this is a stave from the bourbon barrels that we use.
02:35This is the outside and this is the inside.
02:37You can see that it is gorgeously charred,
02:39well black from the charring.
02:41That's all done from the bourbon industry themselves.
02:43So they'll char the inside just to keep that liquid water tight.
02:46But as they do so, it's releasing a liquid...
02:49Sorry, not a liquid, a compound called vanillins.
02:52Which is very similar to, funnily enough, vanilla.
02:56So if you're tasting anything or smelling anything coming through
02:58that's like kind of caramelised,
03:00like vanilla, toffee, butterscotch, fudge, anything like that.
03:05Yeah, that's all going to come from the bourbon barrels itself.