I like the way marketing spirits and wines is changing. Instead of summoning the press to a morning seminar or mid-afternoon comparison tasting, some companies are demonstrating the way their wines or spirits fit into our lifestyle. They’re doing this especially for younger bloggers, I think, but it works for me.
Last week I went along to a dinner at Mooo
in Boston, where the menu said we were “Guests of The Macallan Scotch.†And we were – guests.
Upon arrival, we were offered glasses containing small pours of The Macallan 17-year-old. We stood and chatted, nibbling appetizers, meeting the other guests.
After a time we sat down to dinner, and several entrée choices. We drank red or white wine with our meal, depending on our own preferences.
We ate, we conversed, we sipped our wines: it was a dinner party.
After the meal, there was another offering of several Macallan single malts — each in a different glass to avoid confusion. Along with more of the 17, a few mouthfuls each of the 12-year-old, 18-year-old, and finally the 25-year-old.
Instead of spending the evening analyzing and scribbling tasting notes, I relaxed and got to know some of the other people at the table. Then I sipped and considered the scotches.
The sum total of my notes for the evening was a short observation from early in the meal: “When I think of Scotch I think of earthtones, of mushrooms and brown things.â€
My favorite? The smooth 25-year-old. I can remember that without copious jottings in a notebook.
A good lifestyle lesson, I’d say.
