The Tasting Panel magazine

August 2017

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104  /  the tasting panel  /  august 2017 104  /  the tasting panel  /  august 2017 JAPANESE WHISKY J ohnnie Mundell, the Brand Ambassador for House of Suntory Whisky, was admittedly out of his element. "How many of you have done a whisky tasting before?" he asked a ballroom-sized group of people at the Pebble Beach Food & Wine Festival. Only a few scattered hands went up around the room, so this was going to be a new experience for most of the people there. "That's what I thought," Mundell said. Mundell had had an inkling of what he was facing even before the seminar began. As people began to form a long line to get into the sold-out gathering at the Inn at Spanish Bay, Mundell did something he'd never done before: He went down the line and invited a handful of people to come inside for a preview. The group huddled in a corner with Mundell, who had them put a little whisky in their hands, and then clap. The clapping helps evaporate some of the alcohol from the whisky. Mundell then asked people to sniff their hands. It's a good way to intro- duce the uninitiated to the subtle aromas of any strong spirit. "I brought them into the room because it allows me to make connections with the guests and it helps me understand who my audience is," Mundell said later. "My first constituency is the craft bartender community, then the whisky commu- nity. But here we had a serious wine and food community." Whisky 101 Johnnie Mundell is the Brand Ambassador for the House of Suntory Japanese Whiskies. TEACHING AND TASTING JAPANESE WHISKY AT PEBBLE BEACH FOOD AND WINE FESTIVAL story and photos by John Curley

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