Drinking Our Way Through a Proper Whisky Pairing Dinner With The Macallan
Whisky, like wine, can be quite the friend to a chef and the people he feeds. Liquid sunshine, after all, can offer the warmest of welcomes. It can also elevate dishes in many ways. This is especially true if we have some sherry-seasoned and European-and-American-oak-cast-matured single malt whisky. It is even truer when the said chef happens to be a Maitres Cuisiniers de France (Master Chef of France). Then you've got all the ingredients for one hell of an evening, right?
It's a Thursday night and we're on the rooftop of The Admiral Hotel Manila. What should make things nicer are four "expressions" (a fancy way for saying glasses) poured from The Macallan's Double Cask and Rare Cask range. How delightful. Chef Cyrille Soenen seems to think so, too. So much so that he prepares a four-course pairing menu to complement the so-called "Bentleys of whisky."
Admiral Hotel Manila – MGallery’s Executive Chef Cyrille Soenen and The Macallan Ambassador Hans Eckstein.
They say a great whisky pairing strategy is more about understanding style than knowing its category. This is what we come to find out from the chef's recommendations and from Hans Eckstein, a whisky sommelier. First we learn of some general rules to this glorious undertaking.
Here's some starters: sweeter whiskies are best paired with spicy dishes or desserts. Such is the case with The Macallan Rare Cask. Meanwhile, lighter ones work best with seafood and maybe even purees. That, we'll get to later on. Those full-bodied whiskies, like the 18-year-old Macallan, are best served with heavier dishes, such as pork or beef. More on these pairings we carefully dissect as the night goes on. How each elevates the other, we'd come to understand.
In the kitchen preparing the first course.
1| With The Macallan Double Cask 12 Years Old
For the first course, the chef chooses marble of Périgord duck liver terrine with Japanese-roasted unagi and aspic of Peking duck consommé, "torched" butter brioche, and hoisin sauce. They tell us that The Macallan Double Cask 12 is balanced and rich, too. It's the most versatile out of the collection, which gives us quite the tastes to toy with. Leave it to the chef to know what's best.
We sense some creamy butterscotch from this whisky (pretty standard), with hints of toffee apple and candied orange. Our palate then tastes some raisins, ginger, and caramel, among other things present. It's custardy, citrusy, and honeyed, which blends nicely with the fattiness and thickness of the marble and the aspic. Its finish has the oak lingering a litle, a bit sweet and caught in the act of drying. They call it a "varied" experience because of its complexity and how quickly the nose changes as it aerates.
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2| With The Macallan Double Cask 15 Years Old
For the second course, The Macallan Double Cask 15, with its golden butterscotch color, is much drier to the nose. Its baked apple and oak are evened out by the honey and chocolate. We get hints of caramel, vanilla, and wood spice, which end up clinging to the mouthfeel much longer than we'd expect.
Because of the sweeter and creamier palate and finish of the drink, the chef turns to thicker, smoother dishes for the pairing. Hence, we get the savory contrast of the almond crust Greenland halibut and crispy chicken tenders to the servings of smoked herring caviar, red onion marmalade, and roasted squash purée. Not too shaby.
The Macallan Double Cask 15 and 18, everyone.Â
3| With The Macallan Double Cask 18 Years Old
The Macallan Double Cask 18 is as full-bodied as it gets. No wonder it's the heavy hitter of the evening. Now this is a more mature whisky. It has already peaked in character and profile, we may observe. That's why it has a quieter, syrupy mouthfeel to it. This expession makes the most sense with meaty, high-protein platters.
In this portion of the menu, Chef Cyrille whips up a prime striploin, grilled in Josper grill with duck fat confit. We understand that the tenderness and flavor of the steak bodes well for the hints of clove and nutmeg of the drink. It helps that we get also get zesty citrus and wood spice, as to elevate the smokiness of the steak.
Some aged cheddar, on the side, of course, is a Macallan staple. Overall, we get an expression comprised of raisin, sultana, vanilla, and ginger. Its finish is an interesting one, too: it transitions from warm oak spice to a sweet orange toward the end.
Someone had a good time.
4| With The Macallan Rare Cask
Next comes dessert. This is when we get to drink the venerable The Macallan Rare Cask. It has a mahogany ruby color to it, if you will, revealing its natural sherry-seasoned coloring (beautiful stuff). This rare cask has a chocolatey sweetness to it, further exposed by the cinnamon and nutmeg.
That's why the chef chooses to pair it with Auro dark chocolate and whisky ganache Pecan sponge cake. It can be a little fruity on the palate, possessing hints of lemon and apple to it. To get the most out of the experience, Heckstein suggests taking a sip of the whisky first. We are told to swirl it in our mouths as we take a bite of dessert. Take another sip for good measure.Â
The Macallan Double Cask collection is all about character.
For more information on this collection from The Macallan, visit www.themacallan.com. To book a stay at The Admiral Hotel Manila - MGallery, visit its official website here.
