Travel for the new year with the incredible aquavit LINIE

New year comes. And new year means meals. Meals means friends.

We all want to amaze, travel and have good time with friends. And Water of life found for you an original way to surprise them during your new year meal!

Do you know LINIE? It's an aquavit very appreciated in Scandinavia. 

What is Aquavit? Coming from the latin Aqua vitae which means water of life, it is not so different from Vodka, by its elaboration and its elements. But it makes from more potatoes because of the lack in cereals in the north, and the particularity is the addition of herbs and spices to give more taste! Interesting isn't it??

But by the biggest coincidence, the Norway elaborates a very particular aquavit.... the LINIE! All begin in 1805, when a little Norwegian boat leaves to India and Australia, with aquavit in little sherry barrels. But it doesn't have any success and return to Norway five months after. It is at this moment that Jorgen Lysholm discover an aquavit totally changed. The color became amber and the tastes were developed.

Thanks to the distance of the travel, the variations of temperature and the pitching of the boat, the aquavit    became so appreciable. The most crazy in this history is that this unique method in the world is yet utilized today: the LINIE has to travel 5 months in boat and cross two times the Equator line to benefit of the brand!! 

 After the travel, the LINIE aquavit is amber. We have taste it for you: the nose is very fruity and aromatic (cumin) and the mouth is creamy, with a touch of pepper and ginger. You can perfectly associate it with smoked salmon, generally present at all new year meals!

Surprise, travel and good taste. This is what LINIE can give you for the new year, so TRY IT and come tell us your feelings. You can find it at BADIE in Bordeaux and in some specialized cellars.

Skäl !

All the Water of life team wish you a happy new year for 2013, a good health, and many other amazing spirits to taste!

Monkey shoulder, a "triple malt scotch whisky"

Respect!! This is what we can say about this modern blended malt: Monkey Shoulder. Surprising blend of various single malts without any grain whisky. Having chance to own several distilleries, Grant blended Glenfiddich, Balvenie and Kininvie whiskies to create a easy to drink whisky. We could call it "Triple Malt Scotch Whisky". It has a competitive price and with a funny bottle with 3 monkeys which climb its shoulder.  Why Monkey shoulder?? It makes a reference to a sickness which was common in the past for the workers who mixed in the barley malting area. Find someone who doesn't like whisky and serve him a dram of it. There is few chances that he will do a grimace...
Tasting notes:
Color: bright gold
Nose: Vanilla, lemon zest, fruity
Palate: Banana, spices and citrus fruits
Finish: Short but agredable
ABV: 40%
We suggest you to match it with chocolate, chocolate truffles, Christmas log or sweet dessert in general. The perfect digestive for the end of Christmas holiday dinners.
Enjoy!

Slainte!!

Drinking whisky can increase your lifespan

What a great new for our whisky connoisseur community!! Scotch offers health benefits! 

In fact, whisky has fewer calories than wine or beer, making it a good alcoholic drink to choose if you're watching your weight. The key to enjoying the health benefits of scotch is to drink the right amount.

The ingredients of a scotch whisky include barley, cereal, yeast and water. They are then malted, milled, fermented and distilled to produce a high-strength alcohol. One standard shot-glass of scotch has about 55 calories, compared to 90 for a glass of wine and about 100 for a light beer. Made from cereal and barley, it can be included in a gluten-free diet if you have celiac disease because the gluten isn't present after distillation.

Drinking scotch or any type of alcohol with moderation may reduce your risk of heart disease, diabetes and gallstones. Alcohol is one of the component of long life. Some doctors note that red wine is probably the healthiest alcohol to drink because it contains a compound called resveratrol that's linked to long life, but drinking scotch may also extend your life. The risk of an early death can be reduced as much as 18% for women and 17% for men.

Drinking the right amount of scotch can help your health but you shouldn't drink more than four scotches per day if you're a man and maximum two if you're a woman. Taking into account, one drink of scotch is 1.5 oz or 4cL. As long as you drink scotch moderately, there's no reason to give up drinking scotch.

Slàinte!

Gift idea: Whisky advent calendar

It's already December! Do you have your own advent calendar?? Bored by chocolate? Always the same…

This year, you won't gain weight before the Christmas feasts, you will enjoy the December month in counting down the days to Christmas.

Drink by the dram until Christmas is the genius idea of this Whisky advent calendar.

Thanks to that, every day is a new gift of delicious, richly distilled whisky in little flasks. Behind each of the 24 doors, there is a different 3cl sample of sublime whisky. One of them (who know the 24^th maybe??) is a rare 50 years old whisky. The full-sized bottle of this whisky costs 430€! What a Christmas present. Step by step enter in the Christmas fairy world.

One more time, surprise your friends or your family members, invite them to discover the spirits world. A good way to finish the year in beauty!

Pick up a box over at Master of Malt

Whisky/food tasting session

Nothing better to approach the spirits world by fabulous alcoholic beverage such as Scotch whiskies, more specifically Single Malt Scotch…
Last Friday, the 30^th of November at night, we joined a tasting session, which had Classic malts and food theme at Art & vins, a wine shop situated at Bordeaux, France. One of the biggest spirits selection in town.

What surprising and pleasant moment! It was directed by the famous Julian Hutchings. Who is he? Probably one of the most expert whisky tasters in the world! Travelling all around France, he shares the virtues of his native country, Scotland. He initiates with passion the curious minds in quest of unsuspected gustative feelings. He also told us that he’s the only person who has the status of “whisky taster” in France. This ancient tall rugbyman shared us his knowledge, his passion about Whiskies with eloquence. He invited us to the discovery of new gustative alliances around the wealth and the diversity of the Single Malts Scotch Whiskies with food…Illustrated on the picture above, Parma ham, foie gras, Scottish salmon, Parmesan cheese/olive tapenade and chocolate were combined with the whiskies. What a surprise in our mouth! Waow!

This way of tasting whisky seems to be audacious but it’s a delicious and original alternative. Each whisky had various specificities, personalities to satisfy all tastes. Six different whiskies waited to be savored on the bar, in the middle of the spirits room.

The tasting session began with a 12 years old Cardhu from Speyside associated with Parma ham. First combination amazing! The sweet taste of the Parma ham, melting, was perfectly linked with the oaky and fruity flavor of this single malt. Then, we tasted an 18 years old Knockando from Speyside too, with foie gras toasts. Two fine products, too exceptional partners, revealing the voluptuous texture of fois gras and the smooth of the malt. What’s more, we found subtle almonds aromas at the end. Later, we tasted drams of 18 years old Glenmorangie, Talisker (Skye) and Caol Ila (Islay island). The harmonies were sublime. Parmesan cheese/black olive tapenade associated with Caol Ila (Peated, smoked, marine flavours) and Scottish salmon combined with Talisker (seaweed, smocked, spiced, salty flavours), were good partners for the smoked and peated flavors of these two last island whiskies. We finished by an 18 years old Singleton (Speyside) with melted chocolate, a sweet, fruity and light nuts flavors for an elegant end of dinner... Let’s play your imagination to make your own surprising whisky and food combinations…

To conclude, it was a wonderful tasting and sensitive experience, creating surprise and emotions. Make your own experience at home making surprise to your nearest and dearest.

Waiting for the next tasting session, for more new sensations!! 

Welcome to the "Water of life" world

Welcome to the fabulous spirits world! Let’s start to travel around with us.

The "Water of life" blog’s goal is to give you the main keys to familiarize yourself with them and to know how to appreciate them, by sharing our passion giving you the tools. We want to participate to the demystification of the mysterious and sometimes daunting world of the spirits industry by explaining in the clearest possible way the different aspects of these products. What are they made of, the ancestral ways of making them which make them exceptional beverages. To discover some that you never heard about, how to taste them, to know how to talk about them. Help you to feel the emotion that spirits can bring you.

Alone or sharing good time with your nearest and dearest, in front of a chimney fire during winter time with a cognac, on a desert Caribbean beach watching the stars with a Martinican old rum, in a mexican desert having a tequila añejo, in a Siberian trapper’s cabin look at the freeze nature beauty with a vodka, in an Islay Island traditional pub with a Scotch Single malt …wherever you are, appreciate them to their incredible value. Let’s your imaginations run wild, follow your sensitive senses, and have your own interpretation.

Water of life is your space. It is an exchange, informative, discovery and tasting space.

We will suggest you to combine them to food and guide you to our favourites places where to find them in their respective countries.

By sharing our passion, we want that these beverages are accessible for everyone. Beginner, enthusiast or connoisseur, you’re all invited to take part of the "water of life" community.

There is a “water of life” for everyone, and we will help you to discover yours.

“Drink responsibly, drink well, drink life”

Cheers! Salud! Skål! Santé! Slàinte! Salute! かんぱい! Na zdravi! Prosit!