The creation of a good whisky, like any other good alcohol, involves an alchemy of place, weather, ingredients, containers and skill. All the tangibles that go into making an intangible experience, taste. Bompas & Parr have created an art installation that refines a whisky experience (in this case, of Talisker single malt) into the very vapor of intangibility: A whisky tornado in a bell jar, imbibed via straw.
“Many things go into creating the flavours of a whisky,” said Sam Bompas. “Some whisky writers argue that whiskies in the casks take flavour from the atmosphere around them, and it is easy to believe this when watching the windswept seas battering the coastlines of the islands on which many single malts are distilled and matured.”
The installation is meant to show the impact of Scottish weather on whisky flavors, but for me, it’s almost a metaphor of the whisky experience itself. An alchemy that crosses the lines between neuroscience, food and art.
More:
The Spirit Business article
Bompas & Parr homepage – a website that is well worth a visit.
I was looking for a tune that would convey the smoky ephemerality of a whisky tornado. This is what I found.