So yesterday I wrote the first part of a five day series that will be about being on the road and tasting French whiskies. The first one was quite interesting as it was enjoyed during a hot/sticky thunder storm. The second one well this one was something that was enjoyed in a completely different way. So context: I'm on the road in Northern New Brunswick which is mostly a French region of my province (yes we have provinces in Canada, not states...) and I'm here for five days. A) There isn't much to do in this area and B) by the end of each day I'm too exhausted to really do anything but veg in my hotel room. I figured bringing a few samples with me and blogging about them would be fun.
So sample #2 was poured at about 8:00pm as I sat in my shorts and a t-shirt staring out into the parking lot (yup that's my view). Graham was busy, my friends were all out or on vacation and I was sitting in a boring hotel room staring out into parking lot. It was going to be a LOOOOOOONG night. I grabbed my whisky book, put my feet up and brought the sample to my nose. Closing my eyes, I let myself drift with the aromas filling my nose. My first thought: Summer!? I could smell apple blossoms, a slight tinge of roses or something really floral at least and in the background some red rich fruit like dark plums. I suddenly found myself sinking into my chair and sighing. I bet I spent about 10 minutes just smelling this very interesting whisky. It was so delicate but at the same time inviting me fully into the glass. I opened my eyes and made a few notes.
The room was really quiet and there was a cool breeze coming into the room. In the distance I could hear a tractor haying a field. I looked as far as I coudl see, still simply nosing the glass. Again, the word "summer" popped into my head as a descriptor. Simply put, summer in a glass. I tilted the glass back and took my first sip. A bit of a shock... not at all what I had expected. The flavors quickly imparted were: Sandalwood, hot, spicy, vanilla & rich pound cake. I sat up and stared at the glass?
This sweet little innocent whisky just bitch slapped me?? Whoa... A few more sips and the flavors continued to evolve and the next thing I knew it was all gone?! I was a bit embarrassed as to how quickly I drank the sample and I hadn't even bothered to notice what the finish was like? It totally took me by surprise. I looked out the window again, the sun had gone down and the sky was bright red. Bright red, huge flavor, bang the word hit me: Temptress. Perfect. This whisky was certainly a French little temptress that left me wanting more.
What whisky was it: Warenghem Armorik Double Maturation French Whisky, 46% ABV and non-chill filtered.
I closed the drapes, started to write the blog & turned the television on. Flipped through a few channels and I stopped on an old black & white movie with French subtitles. I sort of watched for a few minutes and then it just became background noise until after it came back from a commercial and I heard the announcer say: Maintenant au retour de notre filme classique "La Tentatrice" avec Greta Garbo et Antonio Moreno. I shot my head up so fast I almost upset the laptop. This was what was on this particular channel:
I KID YOU NOT!!!! I sat with my mouth hanging open for a few minutes, then I simply started to giggle...
I always say things happen sometimes and I don't question the where or why's anymore and this another one of those moments where I simply smile and say, well there you go then...
To the French temptress who drew me in and to the Frenchman (Franck) who sent to me, cheers for another night well spent in a hotel room. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go watch the rest of the movie.
See you all tomorrow, sample 3 should prove quite interesting at this rate, don't you think??
Lassie
No comments:
Post a Comment