Pairing Your Food with Smoky Whisky: Tips and Food Suggestions

Forget red wine with steak, white wine with fish, and even beer with curry, the newest booze to pair your food with is smoky whisky.

Okay, in reality, pairing smoky whisky with food is not a new concept, but it does seem to be becoming a bit more mainstream. As a bit of a foodie myself, I’ll jump at any chance I get to combine two of my favourite things together – whisky and food!

Smoky, peated whiskies like those synonymous with Islay, can be fairly polarising. The smoky, earthy flavours you get from a peated whisky can sometimes be overpowering and they’re certainly not for everyone. Even if you don’t think you’re a fan of smoky whiskies, if you pair the right dram with the right food you’ll be blown away by the results.

To help show you what I mean, I’ve compiled the following guide on pairing smoky whisky with different foods. Try for yourself and you’ll be in foodie heaven in no time.

Understand The Differences in Peat

If you’re familiar with the blogs here at Great Drams, you’ll know I’ve covered the smoky, peaty expressions created on Islay quite a few times. When you think of peated whisky, you think of Islay. That’s what the region is known for. That doesn’t, however, mean that other regions can’t get in on the smoky action.

A lot of distilleries in the Highlands for example, provide their own peated drams, and may I say, just like those from Islay, they too are delicious.

Islay provides smoky drams such as Ardbeg and Lagavulin, yet the peat used to give these drams their unique smoky flavour is very different to the peat used in distilleries found in the Highlands. Islay peat provides very earthy, concentrated smoky flavours, and almost gives a medicinal flavour. The peat used in Highlands expressions is less concentrated and provides more of a floral note.

If you want a strong and concentrated punch of smoke with your food, an Islay expression would be best. For a more subtle hint of smoke, with floral undertones, go for a peated Highlands whisky such as the Benriach The Smoky Twelve.

Know the Differences Between Peat and Smoke

When we think of peated whisky, generally we think of smoky flavours. In truth, whiskies that taste of peat will not necessarily taste like smoke, and vice versa.

While peat can impart a smoky flavour, so too can aging a whisky in a charred oak barrel. The smoky flavours you get from each, will be very different to one another.

Heavily peated whiskies for example, will not only taste smoky, but also earthy, floral, and medicinal. With whiskies with a strong smoke profile however, smoke is the overriding flavour. That’s why it’s important to know which one pairs best with which type of food.

For a smoky whisky, pair this with salty dishes, grilled meats, barbequed and smoked meats, and strong, smoked cheeses. Smoky whiskies just seem to compliment smoky foods. As more and more people in the UK seem to be getting into smoked meats and cheeses, it’s definitely a good tip to know.

For peated whiskies, pair these with more foods which are delicate, yet also strong-tasting at the same time. Game meats, shellfish, white fish, and leaner cuts of red meat go great with peated whiskies. If you’re ever on Islay and happen to stop for a bite to eat, their seafood is out of this world. Seriously, it’s the freshest, tastiest you’ll ever have. Pair this with a drop of Ardbeg and you’re golden!

Pair Whiskies with Maritime Notes with Mild Seafood

Sticking with what I was just talking about before, if you can source a whisky that provides strong maritime notes, pair it with mild seafood such as raw oysters, cod, mussels, or clams and it’ll work incredibly well.

Whiskies distilled on the coast often pick up coastal influences which impacts their flavour. It’s why a lot of whiskies produced on coastal distilleries provide salty, briny, seaweed notes. All these flavours go incredibly well with mild seafood.

Avoid salty fish such as anchovies however, as the salty maritime notes provided by the whisky can become overpowering.

Pair a Strong, Peaty Whisky Like Lagavulin with Rich, Slow-Cooked Meats

Whether you’re smoking a pork shoulder low and slow on the barbeque, or are cooking a rich and hearty lamb stew and dumplings on a cold winter’s day, fatty, tender, slow-cooked meats go incredibly well with strong, peaty whiskies just like a Lagavulin.

The smoky notes cut through the richness of the meat and provide an almost sweet flavour. I’ve written about Bourbon whiskey and BBQ before, but it might be time for me to talk about Islay whiskies and BBQ foods instead.

Sweet Vegetables and Smoky Whisky Work Amazingly Well Together

While vegetables are often relegated to the sidelines when it comes to dinner, sweeter vegetables work amazingly well with smoky whiskies.

A Sunday roast dinner with honey-glazed carrots and parsnips for example, will be elevated to a whole other level if you pour yourself a dram of your favourite peat smoked whisky instead of a a standard glass of red.

Sweet potatoes or a creamy celeriac puree also go great with a peated whisky.

Pair Dark Chocolate and Toffee-Heavy Desserts with a Smoky Dram

As well as working well with smoked cheeses, smoky whisky also goes incredibly well with sweeter foods we consume after a main meal. Dark chocolate is a prime example of this.

Dark chocolate is much more bitter than milk chocolate, yet pairing a dram of smoked whisky with a dark chocolate dessert such as a chocolate tart, or melt-in-the-middle dark chocolate and salted caramel pudding, is guaranteed to deliver amazing flavours.

Sticky toffee pudding is also a great dessert choice to pair with a peaty whisky, though ideally you should look for an expression with plenty of salty notes again. Failing that, a salted caramel sauce, or even a light sprinkling of sea salt flakes will lift your dessert entirely and help the whisky’s smoky notes to really penetrate your palate.

If you’d like to learn more about your favourite whiskies, or simply treat yourself to a dram or two in the process, head on over to GreatDrams.com and take a look at what we have to offer.

With an impressive selection of limited-edition, rare, and award-winning whisky, as well as heaps of whisky info on our blog, it’s the perfect spot for any whisky lovers out there.

Photo Credit: gankogroup at Vecteezy

Tags: FoodFood SuggestionsSmoky Whiskytips

Greg

My name is Greg, and I’m a brand strategy consultant, writer, speaker, host and judge specialising in premium spirits. My mission is to experience, share and inspire with everything great about whisky, whiskey, gin, beer and fine dining through my writing, my brand building and my whisky tastings.