Category: Lifestyle

Last Friday, some friends came over for our regular girls’ lunch. I wanted to spice things up and served an Indian curry lunch combined with a whisky pairing. Some research on the internet indicated that Indian food and whisky fit well together. Especially the more peaty whiskies, pair well with the spicy South Indian food.

I also found various combinations where the more floral and fruity Speyside whiskies were paired with Indian finger food and seafood. The matching of Indian food and whisky is a delicate balance between the spicy food and the whisky’s subtle flavours.

Pairing Whisky and Indian Food

The one should not overwhelm the other but bring out the best of each element. For starters. I choose a simple Indian aloo masala (potato curry). The potatoes are flavoured with chilli, mustard seeds and curry leaves, and it is a dry curry.

This dish is one of the main fillings for an Indian masala dosa, a fermented pancake made from rice and black lentils. At our lunch, this was served with some roti. I paired the aloo masala with The Black Grouse whisky.

I tried the Black Grouse earlier in the year and was amazed by the complexity. It is the peaty expression from the Famous Grouse and I rated this blended whisky excellent.

The Black Grouse has notes of peat, smoke and oak. What a great whisky and food pairing! The mildly peated Black Grouse paired wonderfully with the spicy potatoes and created an enticing combination.

Even the girls who didn’t like peated whiskies enjoyed this combination.

Also Read: Signature Rare Aged whisky

The main course was an Indian chana masala (Chickpea Curry). I cooked the chickpeas in a sauce of onions, tomatoes, garlic and masala spices. This dish is a popular Punjabi dish and is also found in Pakistani cuisine. Basmati rice and a cucumber salad accompanied the dish.

I paired this chana masala with a Bain’s Whisky. I was hoping the spicy and nutty notes from the chickpeas will pair with the toffee, oak and floral notes in the Bain’s whisky. The pairing was not as successful as the first one, and we grabbed the Black Grouse again to see if that combination worked better.

And lo and behold, the Black Grouse whisky paired wonderfully with the different spices in the Chana Masala.

The Verdict: Black Grouse Whisky and Potato Curry

The peaty Black Grouse whisky paired amazingly well with the two different curries. The peat and smoky notes are mild enough to suit people who are not peat lovers but strong enough to enhance the spicy Indian Food.

The combination was smooth and satisfying, and the Black Grouse complemented the potatoes and chickpeas well. I give this pairing a RATING: EXCELLENT.

The Black Grouse will probably also pair well with samosas and most tomato-based curries.  It is the one whisky that every Indian restaurant should have in their bar. The Black Grouse whisky is in the affordable price range and will enhance most dishes on the Indian menu.

And the Bain’s whisky? I am on a mission to find an interesting dish that will pair with this amazing whisky. So keep watching this space. In 4 months, the girls are coming for lunch again; perhaps by then, I would have found my Bain’s whisky dish.

Also Read: Bain’s Whisky Chicken Marinade Recipe

For all my ‘Whisky of the Week‘ posts, I publish a review and a rating for every whisky. These whisky ratings are based on my personal whisky rating system. There are many whisky rating systems in use.

The two that my audience is  most familiar with are those used by Jim Murray and Serge Valentin. Jim Murray publishes the annual Whisky Bible and has reviews and ratings for more than 4,500 whiskies.

Serge runs the WhiskyFun site and lists more than 8,500 reviews and ratings. Both Serge and Jim use a 100 point scale that takes factors like nose, taste, balance, complexity and finish into account and determines a score using a formula.

Whisky  scores can differ by half a point in these schemes. These guys are legends, and John and I are just ordinary folks that like whisky, so we wanted a simple system that could convey our impressions.

How the Whisky Ratings work

The great thing about any whisky is that one person may love it, and another may think it ordinary. It often happens with John and me! We don’t always agree.  John prefers peaty full-bodied whiskies, and I prefer sweeter Speyside whiskies. A complicated whisky rating system makes no sense for us, so we came up with a simple whisky rating system.

The whisky rating is assigned based on our reaction.  It is broken down as follows:

– ORDINARY if we look at each other and go “oh dear”. We usually don’t finish the glass.

– GOOD when it’s enjoyable but forgettable.  One of us sometimes doesn’t finish the glass.

– VERY GOOD when it’s enjoyable and memorable, and we don’t mind having another glass later in the week,

– EXCELLENT when we want to pour a second and third round,

– DIVINE when we both go “OMG!!” and try not to finish the bottle.

When we disagree on the rating, we will take an average of both our scores.  It may make Jim and Serge cringe, but it’s good fun for us!  And at the end of each year, we look back at the EXCELLENT and DIVINE ratings and choose our favourite.

Some of my favourite drams during the last couple of years include:

• Port Askaig 8 yo Single Malt Whisky
• GlenDronach 18 yo Allardice Whisky
• Glen Grant 12 yo Non Chill Filtered Whisky
• Big Peat Christmas Edition 2018 Whisky

These “divine rated” drams are a combination of expensive and affordable. There are affordable whiskies that are delicious, and not all expensive older drams are good.