CELLARMASTER’S NOTE
Whisky Reprise A
funny thing happened to me on the way to the airport this week: I actually went to the airport! Granted, it was only a trip from Sydney to Melbourne (there and back on the same day!), but – like most of the world – I hadn’t set foot in an airport since 2019. It all felt strangely familiar, and yet still somewhat surreal. Checking in at the terminal, boarding the plane….it was a curious juxtaposition of simultaneously going through well-known motions on autopilot, yet feeling like it was being experienced for the first time. Like a lot of things in life, there’s a parallel with whisky: Have you ever re-visited a distillery or a particular bottled expression after a long absence? Maybe there was a whisky you enjoyed repeatedly in the early days of your
whisky journey, but then left it behind as you ventured out into wider territory. If you re-visit it after a prolonged gap – a gap that has been shaped by other external experiences and influences – the experience can trigger a range of contrasting responses. No matter whether the response is positive or negative, it’s entirely shaped by the familiarity you have (or once had) with the dram. Returning to a once-familiar whisky after a long absence can be a two-edged sword. Depending on what your palate has experienced in the interim, it’s possible your tastes have changed, and the whisky simply won’t impress you. You’ll wonder what you saw 3
