People who know me, whether or not they know me well, know this about me: I love to drink. I’m usually that girl at any event or party who’s never without a glass of wine or a cocktail in hand. Haha. Occasionally, I drink beer. Lately, I’ve begun to appreciate Scotch and the many ways you can drink it.

I won’t be pretentious and say I enjoy it neat or on the rocks—I don’t. But, I do enjoy mixing it with Coke. I like a whisky-based Mojito, too, like the one I tried at Desiderata Lounge on the top photo. And recently, I discovered my new favorite mixer: ginger ale!

It’s apparently also Diageo Philippines General Manager Jon Good’s preferred way of drinking Johnnie Walker Black. I had a chat with him at one of the #LoveScotch events this week, a global movement hosted by alcoholic beverage leader Diageo, which were all about celebrating the love of scotch leading up to World Whisky Day, celebrated on the third Saturday of May, which happens to be today, May 21, 2016.

The first day of the #LoveScotch celebration in the Philippines featured a Master Class with Diageo’s Master of Whisky, Ewan Gunn. Based in Inverness, Scotland, Gunn has been in the industry for 17 years, teaching people all over the world the best way to appreciate whisky.

I attended the second leg at Desiderata Lounge, which was a nosing and tasting session of four Scotch whiskies: Johnnie Walker Black Label, Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve, The Singleton of Glen Ord 12 Year Old, and The Singleton of Glen Ord Signature. Gunn noted the nose, palate, and finish for each of the four Scotch whiskies, as well as their perfect serves.

Gunn then proceeded to walk us through food pairings. The Master of Whisky noted which types of food best pair with the flavors of the four Scotch whiskies, with dishes prepared by Desiderata Lounge’s head chef Borja Duran. “When you understand the palate of your drink, then you can find the food to best go along with it,” Gunn noted. “This makes your drinking experience richer and, consequently, gives you all the more reason to appreciate Scotch wherever, whenever.”

Here are four Scotch whiskies to try, their perfect serve, and what food to pair them with:

Johnnie Walker Black Label

Also known as the “Iconic Blend,” Black Label is recognized as the benchmark for all other deluxe Scotch blends. Created using only whiskies aged for a minimum of 12 years from the four corners of Scotland, Black Label is rich, complex, and incredibly well-balanced, full of dark fruits, sweet vanilla, and signature smokiness that it’s known for.

Smell: Fruity, rich, smoky.
Taste: Smooth, rich, definitely familiar.
Perfect Serve: Johnnie Walker Black Label with Ginger Ale
Food Pairing: Tuna Tataki made of line-caught tuna, smoked sake, dashi quinoa tapenade, organic salted egg. The Black Label highlighted the flavor of the tuna. The smokiness of the Scotch and the tuna complemented each other.

Tuna Tataki

Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve

Also known as the “Celebration Blend,” it’s great for indulgent celebrations. Known for its rich, creamy smoothness, it opens with a luxurious burst of delicate nectar and gentle smokiness that develops into sweet fruits and deeper, honeyed tones, before giving way to lingering smoke and oakiness in the finish.

Smell: Smoke with honey sweetness
Taste: Smokiness is bold and lingers long, even if it’s made with only three basic ingredients.
Perfect Serve: Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve with apple juice and soda
Food Pairing: Rossini Qua, made with Beijing-grilled buns, wagyu entrana, and seared foie gras. Gold Label highlighted the sweetness of the buns and enhanced the smokiness of the wagyu.

Rossini Qua

The Singleton 12 Year Old

Coming from The Singleton’s Glen Ord family, this 12 YO single malt is fruity, well-composed, and manages to be both light and smooth without compromising any depth of flavor. Everyone can enjoy this single malt—it’s actually my new favorite whisky.

Taste: It’s gentler, more mellow, accessible, smooth, balanced. What lingers is the toffee caramel sweetness, very subtle. It has a slight smokiness, only a hint of dryness.
Perfect Serve: Best enjoyed neat or with a drop of water

Kurobuta

Food pairing: Kurobuta black pork with Spanish adobo. I like the dish’s strong garlicky flavor that went well with the smoothness and sweetness of the Singleton 12 YO.

Singleton Charred Grapefruit

The Singleton Signature

The Signature single malt, which has the maker’s signature on the front of the bottle, is smooth, rich, and perfectly balanced with notes of apples, banana, cloves, and nutmeg. It is medium-long fruity and slightly spicy.

Smell: More complex—vanilla dimensions, with aroma of fruitiness, like Christmas fruitcake, coming through.
Taste: It has a subtle nuttiness and freshness to it. First taste is that of the dryness, then a toffee sweetness is what lingers.
Perfect Serve: Best enjoyed neat or with a drop of water

Pears Brochette

Food Pairing: Pears Brochette made of poached pears, tempranillo red wine, caramelized walnut crumble, gorgonzola cheese, and chantilly. The sweetness of this dessert complemented the dry, slightly spicy taste of the Singleton Signature.

Scotch Trivia:

1. Not all whisky is Scotch, but all Scotch is whisky. Scotch is reportedly the world’s favorite whisky, which was created in the terrains of Scotland. No other spirit can offer the same range of tastes, textures, and flavours, and it’s made the same way for over five hundred years in distilleries small and large.

2, No Scotch is the same; there is a dram to suit everyone’s taste and preference. Whether neat, on the rocks, or in a cocktail, there is no right or wrong way to drink Scotch. As long as you enjoy it, that’s all that matters. “Basically, if the way you drink Scotch makes you happy and you’re enjoying it, then you know that you’re consuming it the right way for yourself,” said Gunn.

Singleton Green Tea and Thai Basil

3. The age you see on the whisky bottle is that of the youngest ingredient that’s part of the mix—not the age of the whisky itself!

4. Another way to enjoy whisky that I learned from Jon Good? Have a sip of Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve, and then bite into a piece of rich dark chocolate for that burst of rich, bold flavor in your mouth. I can’t wait to try it!

5. The Kilted Clan is a group of aspirational ambassadors who embody the qualities of #LoveScotch: vibrant, creative, energetic, and bold in their approach to life. International supermodel Coco Rocha will act as the leader of the Kilted Clan as they make their market appearances in Asia for World Whisky Day.