This evening I was lucky enough to attend an intimate (30 guests) gourmet four-course meal at a gourmet food and spirits retailer, Vine & Table, here in Carmel, Indiana. I do need to thank my father for this, as he insisted that "I need to go to this" and paid for my seat at the meal — thanks Dad!

Each course of the meal was expertly paired with some (very) rare single malt scotch offerings from scotch whisky specialists Gordon & MacPhail by Vine & Table's executive chef for their catering service, Kahns. This dinner also afforded the pleasure and opportunity to meet Derek Hancock, Export Manager of Gordon & MacPhail and resident of Elgin, Scotland. Mr. Hancock travels extensively around the world giving lectures and tastings on all aspects of Scotch Whisky. In 2001 Derek became a member of the exclusive society Keeper of the Quaich (quaich is a two-handled goblet used for centuries to drink whisky) in recognition of his service.

The evening started off with a reception where we were treated to an apartif of Benromach Traditional single malt. Benromach is a Speyside distillery owned and operated solely by Gordon & MacPhail. According to Mr. Hancock only two men actually perform all the work involved in distilling the single malt here. The Benromach Traditional bottling features a youth of 7 years and 10ppm of peat, rather smoky and interesting for a Speysider. It had a round full sweetness, but a smoky peppery kick like an islander. A wonderful dram to start with. And at $38 a bottle such a steal!

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The dinner proper started off with an "Amuse" course which featured the Lowland Malt Littlemill 1991 aged 16 years, this was paired with a slice of citrus dusted sashimi salmon over a brown butter cake with lavender maple syrup. The food was excellent, and the scotch was also excellent. This being the first Lowland scotch I have yet tried I wasn't sure what to expect. However it was a sweet and honeyed nose, slightly peaty and warming on the palate, with a soft "grassy" fresh finish. Here is the abstract given about Littlemill.

Converted in 1772 from a 1750s brewery, Littlemill is another lost Lowlands distillery, having been located in West Dunbartonshire. The license was acquired in the 1820's, but there are claims that distilling was taking place on the site as early as the 14th centrury, which would have made it one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland.

In 2004 what remained of this distillery burned down in a fire, meaning that there will never be new spirit from this distillery again.

The next part of the dinner was the first course, this featured the Speyside Malt Benromach Organic, again expertly paired with malted and bruleed banana slices, slices of smoke cured duck with coconut foam, nestled in a bed of arugula. A wonderful pairing, and perhaps the best of the meal, the new oaky and slightly smoky flavor and nose of the Benromach played well with the banana and smoked duck while mingling with the light flavor of coconut and the herbal tinge of the arugula. Beyond the gastronomic delight of the whisky and food, the fully certified organic nature of this Benromach bottling was a very interesting story.

The whole process — raw ingredients, distillation, maturation, bottling — is certified organic to the rigorous standards set by the [UK] Soil Association. Benromach Organic is hand made by just two men, using traditional processes and working methods.

Mr. Hancock went on to explain one aspect of the lengths to which they had to go to satisfy the Soil Association's standards for the Organic certification. That was the creation of special approved casks to mature the whisky spirit in. Specially selected oak trees growing in the US were located and felled in Missouri. These were then cut into staves, and sent to Scotland for assembly into casks. This amounts to the very rare distinction of Benromach Organic being aged in NEW oak casks, much like Bourbon and other American Whiskey. Though don't be fooled, this spirt had the undeniable character of scotch whisky.

Next up was the main course entrée. This featured a 20 year old aged bottling of Glenesk which was distilled in 1984. This rare and wonderful malt was delightfully accompanied by a pan seared saddle of lamb, topped with a celeriac hay and crumbles of Wensleydale cheese, finally garnshed by a dark chocolate and cherry glace. I can't really describe just how wonderful this entrée was. The lamb was just seared on the outside making it very rare and wonderfully delicious with the glace (which I was apprehensive about but the flavors just went so well together). The celeriac and Wensleydale complemented the flavors of the lamb and glace wonderfully too. The Glenesk was superb, one of the best single malt scotches I have ever had the pleasure to taste. We all agreed with Mr. Hancock that the nose had a subtle hint of white chocolate and a waft of honey, it went down smooth as silk.

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Glenesk 1984 20yr Single Malt was distilled a year before the Glen Esk distillery closed forever. This 1984 bottling is from Gordon & MacPhail's Connoisseur's Choice range. Bottled in 2004 and matured in refill sherry hogsheads.

The meal concluded with a dessert which consisted of a dram of Ardmore 1991 16yr Cask Strength (non-Chill Filtered) single malt and a burnt toast pudding topped with pineapple ginger brunoise and butter pecan ice cream sprinkled with smoked sea salt. Besides being the most interesting desert I've ever had, pairing it with this unique bold and spicy single malt was the perfect way to conclude this dinner. The nose on the Ardmore had a the aroma of fresh cooled embers in a fireplace on an autumn morning after a long cool night, like a an autumn breeze in a bottle...wow! The palate was strong but subtle, like a flash in a pan and then melted away. It reminded me of an Island malt more than a mainland. This is the first time I've had a straight uncut unfilitered single malt, and I think one of these might be in my future one day. In any case here is the lengthy description we were given of Ardmore.

Ardmore Distillery lies on the main Aberdeen to Inverness railway line at Kennethmont. Allied Distillers own the distillery through their acquisitions of Wm Teachers who built the distillery in 1898. The distillery expanded in 1955 from two stills to four, doubling again in 1974 to eight. The distillery's main function is to provide whisky for the Teacher's blend but some does get bottled as a single malt by independent bottlers. Ardmore now buys in its malt, which is considerably peaty by Speyside standards, after their own Saladin box maltings were closed in 1976. A hidden mainland gem for Islay fans.

After all this the experience was not yet over! We all left our tables and assembled at Vine & Table's bar on the spirits side of the house where we were treated to one of Gordon & MacPhail's "Secret Stills" collection this one being a 16yr old "No.4" limited edition. It was a smooth and smokey Islay from the oldest distillery in that region. That's all that we were officially told. Mr. Hancock explained that since Gordon & MacPhail own a large number of rare and vintage casks from distilleries all over Scotland, sometimes a condition arises where a cask from a distillery was purchased in the past but now said distillery will not allow Gordon & MacPhail to sell the whisky bearing the proper name. Therefore Gordon & MacPhail created a "Secret Stills" line to proffer these spirits without coming into legal conflict with the actual distillery from which the casks were bought. While Mr. Hancock remained mum about which distillery this particular bottling was from, some savvy members of the group were pretty solid that it was a Bowmore. One last spirit was made available to us to try as well, Gordon & MacPhail's scotch whisky liquer "Atholl Brose". While I like Drambuie, I have to say this is much, much better as a sipper. It is far less thick and syrupy, and is made from a much higher calibur whisky spirit from Benromach.

After all this I made an executive (hedonistic) decision to take a keepsake home from this evening. This of course manifested itself in a bottle of one of the whiskies we were treated to at the dinner. I chose the rare Glenesk 1984 20yr. It is to date one of the most wonderful single malts I have ever had, and the Glenesk distillery is no longer in operation and there will never be more new distillations of this spirit. I will likely not open this bottle for a very long time, more so since I had it signed by Mr. Derek Hancock! In any case, when the end of the world comes, you'll find me on my front porch with this bottle in hand, watching the mushroom clouds rise.

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Thus truly one of the finest dinners I have ever enjoyed!