“You can never find a good bottle of single malt Scotch in Jamaica,” music insider and party promoter Steve Wilson bemoaned to Thursday Food. It’s after seven on a Wednesday evening and our conversation is focused on the drink of choice for him and his four Scotch-loving pals: Joey Levy, general manager of Airtime Jamaica Limited; Nicholas Lynch, director of Lynchpin Digital Marketing; Jason Hall, deputy director of the Jamaica Tourist Board; and oral and maxillofacial surgeon Dr Pierre John Holmes. “We buy Scotch when we travel, mostly at duty-free shops in international airports,” Wilson points out. The five are gathered at the Jacks Hill townhouse of Dr Holmes (who is a late arrival due to pressing surgical commitments) for a gentlemanly discourse on Scotch. They are eager to open the bottle of Ardmore Traditional Cask, the drink they will be sipping for the evening, and as we soon learn, all are extremely passionate about the premium-aged drink, which they purchase from US$30 to US$130 a bottle.

The friends commune every couple of months for a ‘Scotch night’ of sorts, and wax almost philosophically about the drink’s consistency, its body, even its after-taste.

Invited to the men’s special drinking ritual, we are warmly welcomed into the fold: firm handshakes, back pats and all. Sharing the stories behind their affinity for Scotch, Joey Levy tells that he “grew up watching my dad drink Scotch on the veranda with his friends. It was mainly Johnnie Walker and Dewars but I didn’t like how it tasted. As an adult I would have the odd drink of the stuff but it’s only in the last five years that a good single malt has become my drink of choice, and now it’s my dad who joins me and my friends on the veranda to drink Scotch.”

Nicholas Lynch’s introduction to Scotch came by way of his grandfather Benny Lynch, a Dewars man who, the lanky grandson says: “was tolerant enough to allow Johnnie Walker to be served at his house.” For the younger Lynch, who was not exactly a devotee of Scotch, his aha moment came when he ordered a rather expensive one for a friend at a bar. “I took a sip just to see what the commotion was about and was an immediate convert. The difference between a single malt and a blend is remarkable,” Lynch divulges. Meanwhile, for Jason Hall, his bond with Scotch came at the wee age of seven. “I would sneak an occasional sip from my father’s glass of Johnnie Walker,” he admits. “My first taste of single malt came courtesy of the Nigerian ambassador, again a stolen sip from my father’s glass.” Now all grown-up, Hall enjoys mature sips without any shroud of secrecy. Hall’s pal Steve Wilson reveals that in his estimation, Scotch was viewed as a drink handed from a father to a son. “My grandpa Louis Hitchins always favoured Johnnie Walker Black, and in recent years my father Donald Wilson and I have grown closer over several matured sips.” However, he says his initiation to the gold standard of whiskies came in Scotland. “It came in Edinburgh herself while I was there attending the European MTV Awards with Sean Paul. I popped in for a drink at the swanky bar at the Balmoral Hotel and ordered a Dewars… needless to say, I was quickly smacked into shape by the gent behind the bar and introduced to what would soon be a lifelong friend — Oban 14.” Seasoned Scotch drinker that he is, Wilson is credited as the man who introduced his doctor pal Pierre to single malt Scotch. “I didn’t need much convincing, the superb taste won me over immediately,” Holmes shared with Thursday Food.

The friends have a spread of accompaniments to nibble on, as we imbibe, all with the expressed intent of enhancing the flavour of the Scotch. Joey Levy’s wife Natasha Francis-Levy (a Scotch lover herself) has played a hand in researching exactly what to pair the drink with. She’s sourced Manchego, Comté and Gruyère cheeses from Uncorked, and ordered a specially crafted white chocolate with pecan pieces from Chocolate Dreams. Francis-Levy’s friend and hostess Dr Anissa Broussard Holmes has also whipped up a chicken pesto salad and a garden salad that are meant to add a kick to the Scotch.

We settle in, and try as best we can to refrain from the guys’ constant offers to try the Scotch, using the pertinent excuse of being on work duty. However, their collective charming persuasion wins out. Our lips, however, are sealed on our impressions. Let’s just say another tasting could very well be in the offing…

Scotch Factoids

– Scotch whisky, often referred to simply as Scotch, is whisky made in Scotland.

– It is divided into five distinct categories: Single Malt, Scotch Whisky, Single Grain Scotch Whisky, Blended Malt Scotch Whisky, Blended Grain Scotch Whisky, and Blended Scotch Whisky.

– All Scotch whisky must be aged in oak barrels for at least three years.

– Any age statement written on a bottle of Scotch whisky, in the form of a number, must reflect the age of the youngest whisky used to produce that product. A whisky with an age statement is known as guaranteed age whisky.

– The first written mention of Scotch whisky is in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, 1495. A friar named John Cor was the distiller.