Distilling change

While drinking liquor is still largely viewed as a 'guy thing', one whisky expert sees more Asian women imbibing stiffer tipples. Gan Tian reports

The idea that drinking liquor is just for men leaves a bitter taste in the mouth of Annabel Meikle, a Scottish sensory expert and creator of Glenmorangie whisky.

This was a theme of a whisky-tasting party she hosted in Beijing last week.

"People believe whisky belongs to men, but the situation is getting better these days," Meikle says.

Women now account for 10 to 15 percent of some alcohol clubs' memberships, compared to about 8 percent in 2001, she says. "It was not the case with my mother's generation," Meikle says.

"Women are growing in this business, although slowly. It means courage, confidence and knowing your mind for a woman who drinks whisky."

She states her case while drawing sips from a small glass of Glenmorangie.

Meikle has experienced ups and downs in her decade of working in the whisky industry.

She was involved in developing Kaleidoscopic Sensory Experience and Sonic Tasting for Glenmorangie. These special whisky-tasting methods combine sight, sound and other sensory experiences when a customer is trying the alcohol.

Meikle attributes her success to her background as an art student.

"I believe tasting whisky and art have something in common. I was given the title of 'sensory expert', perhaps because I am talented in art," she says.

She explains that as a woman, she has been able to convince more women to try whisky. This may be why the company interviewed her for a spot as the global brand ambassador, Meikle says.

"Women can use more language to describe flavors for whisky beginners," she says.

"I can compare it with various things. I think men are afraid of using more words. If it's salty, they just say it is salty. Is it like seafood salty or like smoky meat salty?"

Her whisky-tasting party included Glenmorangie Original and Signet. The Original variety, favored by many whisky buffs around the world, has 145 aromas. Newbies tend to prefer Signet because of its strong chocolate and coffee flavors.

Meikle suggests women start out with something light. Sweetness is something they should look for, too. Good flavors for taste-testing the firewaters are white grapes, fruits, cake and ice cream.

After sampling the relatively sugary types, they can move on to something stiffer.

The sensory expert offers four recommendations for whisky varieties available in China.

Rosebank, she says, is soft and goes best with seafood, while Highland Park, contains heather and honey flavors. Talisker is spicy and smoky, and Ardburg is very smoky.

Part of Meikle's work as a whisky educator is traveling the globe to explore different cultures' imbibing habits.

She was surprised to find that in Asia, especially in places such as Taipei, Tokyo and Beijing, a growing number of young women have a penchant for strong whiskies - something not seen anywhere else in the world.

"China has a great alcohol culture," Meikle says.

"For Chinese, it is a social activity, even drinking whisky. They share bottles, drink together and look into each others' eyes when toasting."

She recalls a story she heard about a Chinese couple who bought a bottle of whiskey in Europe.

The clerk asked them, "Why did you two only buy one bottle?"

They replied, "Because we drink it when there's no one else around - sometimes, secretly."