Nate Barlow has produced multiple documentaries about whisky, including the PBS series, “The Water of Life.” He knows whisky and has traveled extensively to discover the subtleties.
Lagavulin 16. A friend of mine and I were meeting up for pizza at Casa Bianca in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles. It’s an extremely popular restaurant, with the waitlist frequently topping an hour, which happened to be the case that night. While we waited, we decided to go to a bar called The Chalet one block up, and Ron ordered me the Lagavulin. I was blown away by the peat, a flavor I had never experienced before. I had always enjoyed whisky previously, but my prior Scotch experience had been limited to Glenlivet, Glenfiddich, and Glenmorangie, before which I drank Irish whiskies such as Jameson and Paddy. The Lagavulin introduced me to a whole new world.
2. When someone tells you, “I don’t know anything about whisky,” where do you start?
I ask them what other things they like to drink or eat. Preferably alcoholic beverages, it’s an easier comparison point, but any details that might elucidate my knowledge of their palates so that I can direct them to the whiskies that might best match their tastes. I also describe the major styles and region of whiskies and which of those might be up their alley, but still including other regions/styles in case they want to be adventurous. My job is to open their eyes to possibilities, a whisky travel-guide so to speak. Of course, if they are with me and open to it, I’ll order for them… or if at my house, pull something from my collection.
3. What’s something people are taught about whisky that you think we should probably stop teaching them?
So many. The worst is that smooth is good. The “smoothest” whiskies tend to be low ABV, lacking depth, and usually chill-filtered, killing the esters. Consistency is a desirable trait—that’s corporate, big-brand marketing garbage. And of course that bane of every industry, higher price equates to quality. But every product under the sun suffers from that misconception.
- What’s the biggest load of BS in the whisky world?
Age denotes quality. The explosion of non-age-statement and super young whiskies in recent history has helped dispel that notion to some extent, at least amongst more serious circles, but to non-whisky drinkers and even a large percentage of casual drinkers, the myth remains. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun to try an older whisky just because of it’s sheer rarity and for the unique experience of drinking something that was literally made decades ago… but that should never be confused as an automatic guarantee of quality. I’ve had amazing whiskies, young, old, and non-age statement. True quality depends on the individual characteristics of the liquid in that specific bottle, no matter what its age.
- Can someone actually be taught to have a better palate, or are some people simply born with one?
Absolutely, someone can be taught, indeed I think most people have to develop their palates. The question being to what degree. Like most things, we all start at different levels of sophistication and probably have varying levels of potential as well. If any Beethoven palates exist, they are certainly the exceptions to the rule. But it takes time and experimentation, which many people may not be willing or able to do. They find a couple things they fancy and settle on their go-tos. I know that my personal palate developed over years, but I’ve always wanted to try the new and unique.
- What’s a whisky you’ve poured for someone that completely changed what they thought they liked?
My wife does not like peat. Not an uncommon dislike; peat can be an acquired taste, although some people, myself included, gravitate to it immediately. But she is always willing to experiment, and she was very much surprised the first time I poured her Port Charlotte. In fact, she loved it. Of course, Port Charlotte, despite being an Islay whisky, utilizes Highland peat, and not surprisingly, the other peated whiskies she has since liked have all been made with Highland peat. Whenever I hear people say that they don’t like peated whiskies I am quick to point out that, although the two are frequently conflated, not all peat is Islay peat and that they should keep an open mind to peated whiskies from other regions.
- Do tasting notes help people discover what’s in the glass—or sometimes tell them what they’re supposed to taste?
I think the effects of tasting notes on one’s perceptions of whiskies can be a mixed bag, depending on the notes and depending on the person. I might buy a bottle based on intriguing tasting notes, but that is usually long before I taste the liquid and I won’t revisit those notes when I actually try the whisky. Unless it’s a rather flowery description such as those on some Scotch Malt Whisky Society bottles that can be so descriptive as to be beyond edifying—and often not even then—I prefer to taste “note-blind” first and then compare my impressions with those of others afterwards
- What’s something you’ve changed your mind about after years of studying and tasting whisky?
I don’t know. I can’t think what i’ve changed my mind about since I’m generally very open to trying new things. I can say for certain I stopped trying to track every whisky I try, which I still do for every wine and every beer (my other two alcoholic beverages of choice). But after have done so many tastings with five or six or more different samples, often single barrel or otherwise unique, some no longer available even as I was trying them, keeping track became untenable.
- If you could teach someone only one thing about enjoying whisky—and then they never read another whisky book or attended another tasting—what would you teach them?
Experiment. Whisky is not just whisky, it is an incredibly diverse collection of unique factors that make every bottling unique, and what might apply for you in regards to one bottle or five bottles or any number of bottles won’t necessarily apply to the next. Saying “I don’t like whisky” is the same as saying “I don’t like cheese.” Sure, there are some percentage of people for whom that is absolutely the case. But with the diversity of options available, there truly are drams for everyone. You just have to continue to sample until you find your niche.
- Last call. No teaching, no tasting notes, no scoring, no analyzing. What are you drinking?
A single-barrel independent bottling. I am a huge IB fan. They can be so unique, and if it’s a single barrel, when it is gone, it’s gone. But at a bar where, more than likely, such is not an option to order, my go-to is Port Charlotte 10.
