The Still Life Stories is starting a new series called At The Bar. We’re asking leaders in the spirits industry worldwide questions about their roles in the business. This is our first published interview with many more to come.
Cody Reynolds is the Global Brand Ambassador for Angus Dundee Distillers near Edinburgh, Scotland.
1. Do you remember the whisky that turned drinking whisky into wanting to understand whisky?
Tomintoul 16 Year Old. It was one of my Grandad’s favorites and the main reason I eventually ended up working for Angus Dundee Distillers.
It’s smooth and approachable, and for me it’s an incredibly relaxing style of single malt. It’s the kind of dram I remember my Grandad slowly sipping when my sister and I were children visiting him, and it’s the kind of whisky I now pour into a nice, heavy glass tumbler before sinking into a comfortable chair after a long day at work.
It reminds me of him, and that’s what made me fall in love with whisky in the first place: How it brings people together.
2. When someone tells you, “I don’t know anything about whisky,” where do you start?
The first thing I would always stress is the diversity of flavour available in whisky.
If someone told me they don’t like fruit juice but had only ever tried apple juice, the first thing I’d explain is how much variety there is within that category. Try orange juice. Try blackcurrant. You might discover that you don’t dislike fruit juice at all — you just don’t like apple juice.
I’d also explain that whisky isn’t a drink you need to throw back, particularly if you’re trying it neat. Some new consumers might absolutely love whisky when they take the time to experience the flavour, but if they’re used to drinking strong spirits quickly like a shot, it may actually be the alcohol intensity they dislike rather than the whisky itself.
Slow down, explore, and don’t assume that one whisky represents the whole category.
3. What’s something people are taught about whisky that you think we should probably stop teaching them?
How they SHOULD enjoy it, rather than how they DO enjoy it.
If you like whisky neat, with ice, in a cocktail, with soda water, or with a drop of still water, all of those are correct — because they’re correct for the individual drinking it.
There is a sustained elitism among some whisky drinkers that, in my opinion, simply pushes new drinkers away. Drink it however you like. Some incredible cocktails in bars use aged single malts as their base.
The best way to drink whisky is the way you enjoy drinking it.
4. What’s the biggest load of BS in the whisky world?
It’s what I mentioned in the previous answer: the elitism of some drinkers who see their knowledge of the category as a superiority over those around them.
To me, whisky should be fun. Too many people get hung up on the specifics age, ABV, chill filtration and so on when the most important question should really be: do you actually like it?
I’ve sat at whisky bars more than once, ordered a cheap, mass-produced blend to sip alongside a pint of beer, and been lectured by the old boy sitting next to me about the drams I should be drinking. The irony is that I almost certainly have greater knowledge of what he’s talking about than he does.
Knowledge should make whisky more enjoyable, not make you insufferable.
5. Can someone actually be taught to have a better palate, or are some people simply born with one?
Yes to both.
Your palate and nose are senses you can hone with experience. I can’t try to hear better and suddenly become much better at hearing, but if I consciously think about the smell of the honey I have on my toast every morning as I open the jar, my brain starts to retain that information.
People who work with their nose — chefs, perfumers and so on — will often have a good nose for whisky simply because they regularly train themselves to recognize and retain different aromas.
That said, some people do simply have a higher natural ceiling for how good their palate and nose can become. Think of it in sporting terms: if I trained with the world’s best sprinting coach for a year, I could almost guarantee that I’d run a faster 100m than if I hadn’t. Will I win Olympic gold in the 100m? No.
But don’t let that put you off working on your palate. Developing your senses can open up a whole new world of flavour, as those little differences between bottles and styles start to appear.
6. What’s a whisky you’ve poured for someone that completely changed what they thought they liked?
This may surprise some people, but anything strongly peated, like our Old Ballantruan range or Cigar Malt.
Beginner drinkers are often given lighter whiskies to ease them into the category, but for some people, smoke can actually be the catalyst that opens their eyes to what Scotch whisky can be. For others, they can’t stand it. Again, that’s the beauty of whisky and it goes back to my original point about the enormous diversity of flavour available.
In fact, a big peated whisky converted my wife. She’s Swedish, and the smoke reminded her of the kitchen where her grandmother and father used to make smoked fish when she was a child.
So sometimes the flavour you think will put someone off whisky is actually the one that makes them fall in love with it.
7. Do tasting notes help people discover what’s in the glass or sometimes tell them what they’re supposed to taste?
They do both, and I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing.
Tasting notes can lead you towards certain flavours and aromas, but you don’t have to agree with them. They’re not an ingredients list; they’re simply an indication of what someone who has spent a lot of time with that whisky thinks makes it special.
If you taste pear and I taste peach, neither of us is necessarily wrong. The tasting note is a suggestion, not a test.
8. What’s something you’ve changed your mind about after years of studying and tasting whisky?
Age doesn’t always indicate quality.
I’ve tried some very average old whiskies and some incredible young ones. Our cask-finished NAS range from Glencadam and Tomintoul is a great example of young whisky done well.
Having said that, I’ve also tried some mind-blowing older whiskies and some very harsh young drams. That’s the point: find what you like and enjoy it.
Don’t bankrupt yourself chasing a unicorn that you may not even enjoy that much when you finally get your hands on it.
9. 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?
Assuming you’re drinking it neat: take your time.
Take small sips. Think about the aroma and the palate. Do you like it? Do you not? Then work out why.
If you do that consistently, you can start to hone in on the styles you actually enjoy. Then, when you go into a good whisky bar, you can give that information to a knowledgeable bartender, who may just be able to find you your new favorite bottle.
You don’t need to know everything about whisky. You just need to know what you like and why you like it.
10. Last call. No teaching, no tasting notes, no scoring, no analyzing. What are you drinking?
Glencadam 15 Year Old.
If I’m switching off for the evening, that’s what I’d reach for. I’m a sucker for a juicy, fruit-forward bourbon-cask whisky, and Glencadam 15 just hits the spot for me. It’s the sort of dram I can pour, sit back with, and not feel the need to overthink.
Sometimes you don’t need to analyze the whisky in your glass. You just need to enjoy it.
Find more from Cody on Instagram at @mysterydrams
