An evening with Chivas Regal 18

An 18 year old Scotch with 85 flavour notes that include diverse things like orange, spices (but of course), licorice, chocolate and even tarry rope!

Flavour notes!

Tarry rope

It's the annual Whisky Appreciation Month all month at 365 A.S., Hyatt Regency Chennai; as part of the promotion, I was invited to a Sit Down dinner at Focaccia that featured Chivas Regal 18, a fine blended whisky from Scotland. At the front of the restaurant was a table on which sat jars and bottles of ingredients which represented all the aromas contained within a bottle of the Scotch. 

Chocolate, marzipan, nutmeg, ginger and a whole lot of other flavours in Chivas Regal 18  

85 unique flavour notes and these are only some of them

Table setting at Focaccia 

Focaccia was beautifully decked up for the occasion. The dim lighting, formally dressed waitstaff and flowers on each table set the mood for an elegant evening of food and whisky.

Alan Clark; Chef Mauro Ferrari

A well-attended dinner, we were welcomed by Madhav Sehgal, GM of the hotel and then, Alan Clark, Brand Ambassador for Chivas in India and a true-blue Scot spoke to us about the attributes of this award winning brand of blended whisky; Chef Mauro Ferrari who's worked at Michelin-starred Pomeroeu Ristorante Soranno talked to us about the menu he had specially curated for the evening, a menu that took him all of 20 minutes to draw up!

Aromatic Old Fashioned and Chivas Regal neat

Cocktails were served first and the Old Fashioned was a conversation starter. Unadorned, the flavours of orange and cinnamon syrup smoothened out the stronger notes of the whisky.

Melted Brie on toast, grilled pineapple & fig, micro-green salad. Pretty as a picture!

Chef Mauro's first course was melted Brie cheese toast with grilled pineapple and fig, caramelised hazelnut and a micro-green and flower salad. Beautifully presented, the creamy cheese on the toasted slice of baguette was the perfect complement to the slices of lightly charred fruit while the Chivas jelly perked up the taste of the components.

Simon on the sax

Bread baskets

Pink grapefruit risotto with chocolate; salmon conchiglie with Chivas essence

The vegetarian entreé was a pink grapefruit risotto topped with dark chocolate drop. I tasted a spoonful; the combination of flavours was amazing. For the rest of us, it was fresh and smoked salmon conchiglie with Chivas essence and ginger sauce. The shells held within their curves bits of sauce and fish, toasted strips of seaweed repeated that whiff in the whisky. 

Mains for veggies - savoury autumn vegetable tart with barley, baby carrots, snow peas, basil mayo

Plating the main course

Australian lamb loin, mint chutney sauce, vanlla smoked potato & barley

Australian lamb loin, pink in the middle and melt in the mouth tender was the main course. It rested on a bed of barley risotto and surrounded by smoked vanilla baby potatoes and a yummy mint chutney sauce. Accompanied by Chivas 18 served neat, the combination was surprising in its ability to marry all the flavours.

Scotch on the rocks

Dessert line up

Chivas banana caramel frozen smoothie; lime cinnamon pear frangipane tart; fig prune compote & brandy snap curl

Chivas Regal on the rocks was easy on the nose, the ice broke up the flavours and I thought it was infinitely more palatable. Dessert was a play of textures with a generosity of flavour. Loved the buttery tart with its dense, nutty filling, the crisp brandy snap and the moreish compote which was the absolute stand out.

For me, to know that whisky can be paired with a meal was food for thought.

Whilst the Chivas Regal dinner is over, there are more whisky offerings throughout the month. Do call 91 44 6100 1234 to know more; do remember to drink responsibly.

Cheers!