Now, I'm sure we all agree good Scotch Whisky is best enjoyed neat or (my preference) with a few drops of water 'to wake it up'. But, suppose you are in a situation that some type of solid food is needed*, what would you choose to serve, or more accurately have available? * Think: Compare to bourbon which, IMHO is complemented with good chocolate or bleu cheese.
To taste the nuance of a truly great scotch it has to be served at room temp with equal parts distilled water (prestigious scotch societies taste and compare this way.) At that reduced level of alcohol you could perhaps talk about pairing scotch off with food. Otherwise, a cigar or a well-made, intense chocolate is about all I'd ever contemplate.
High quality dried fruit can work with great scotch. (For whatever reasons, Turkish produce is of exceptional quality so they make great dried fruit. Warning, though: they are starting to substitute excessive amounts of sugar for time on the tree, which throws flavor way off.)
A sommelier I met told me that a single malt (not peaty) mixed 50/50 with water is a pefect companion to very spicy asian flavours. I tried it with sesame glazed tuna carpaccio (soy sauce, chili sauce, sesame seed oil, rice wine vinegar, brown sugar etc). Worked very well...
Not to go over the top with it but we're talking distilled water, ie, the stuff, I imagine, many owners wash their Ferraris with . . . Any other water, be it from a tap or a spiring, will throw off the balance of a fine scotch with mineral, chemical and who knows what other compounds.
Water is nowhere near neutral on the palette. And when you drop the alcohol ratio of a fine scotch to something approaching that of wine or beer , its hard-earned, distinctive nuance finally shines through. So why would you mess things up by introducing the hard to account for flavors found in 99% of water? Unless you have a killer filter system, distilled water is the way to go. (Ask a successful bread if he's willing to move his shop outside the water zone in which he made his name.)
No. I mean nuts are good to eat while drinking scotch. Pick your favorite. Different nuts with different scotches are fun to try. Enjoy.
