Chivas Drinkers : Revised

I like Scotch, I have liked it for close to 15 years, not an odd statement if I were mustachioed man in the latter part of his 50’s, but I am a vaguely mustachioed woman in the mid part of her 30’s. I was introduced to the boozy nectar by an ex- boyfriend who had spent time in Scotland, part of which involved hanging out with an old, sweater and tie  to breakfast type man who liked to imbibe.

At the time I didn’t know the difference between a blend or single malt, a 12 and 25 year or even that I liked some smoke in there. I did however find it palatable and I even welcomed the awakening burn in my throat after a long day at my loathsome internship. My drink of choice was a Chivas- 2 cubes.

I recently participated in some Chivas Regal events; a tutored tasting and a cocktail party. I learned some things about Chivas that I had never considered in the early days. Chivas Regal has Strathisla single malt as its fingerprint at the heart of every blend. I like the smooth smokiness in the 18 year better than the 12 year or even the 25, that with age comes attrition to the liquid in the cask, and that it has sat in oak for the better part of my lifetime, a fact that was, due to the narcissistic nature of being 20, lost on me.

Something that seemed to be lost on the marketing people at Chivas Regal was the amount of young women at the event that seemed just as disinclined  as the men to drink their whiskey yet inclined to taste it. It didn’t seem to be a crowd who lips whiskey had quite reached. Chivas is a highly accessible both on the palette and the pocketbook. Liking Chivas is easy yet, the evening was geared heavily toward the men. The pretty hostesses at ‘Gotstyle’ handed out free pocket squares and the resident barber was offering barberings to men and denying them to short-haired ladies as if it were

There was an air of manufactured luxury courting a new scotch drinker. The tacit message was scotch is for men- have a free cigar. It was also, it’s for men like you- here’s some hairspray bro.  Something any dad with a brown globe on a wooden stand would call disingenuous right after calling those men ‘ladies’. 

The days of the Cosmo are long gone and trend setting girls are ordering the classic Old Fashioned with artisan ice cubes by the barrel just like their male counterparts during this current Bourbon craze. A youthful love of whiskey will eventually trickle into the masses if it hasn’t already. Lady incisors are being primed to be the new sweet tooth, except now it’s a whiskey tooth. Chivas is good scotch and if they asked some women to drink it… they might agree much like my 20 year old self did.

Tamara Junkin is a Toronto writer, comedian, traveller and wine enthusiast. She is obsessed with food and animals and is currently trying to figure out life without the two being diabolically opposed. Tamara is equally passionate in her hatred for eggs and feta cheese as is she about her love for fresh Passionfruit and hot sauce. She fears no scovall unit and has twice turned purple as a result. Over the years her love of playing sports has rewarded her with a storage room drawer full of ‘participant’ medals. You can check out her sardonic blog about nothing in particular atjunkinsays.tumblr.com.