Whisky Forum - Another Twist to Palate Cleansing

Quaich1

I came across this article in the New York Times, published some time ago and it describes how olives can be a palate cleanser. If it works for wine, it should work for whisky because they both have the same traditional palate cleansers. I tried the olives today before having an Ardbeg 10 and it really seemed to intensify the experience in a good way. I just used small olives that happened to have orange fruit in the middle. I expect the olive cleansing approach would work best with Islay drams though I will try it sometime with milder drams. Here's the relevant part of the article:

"When James Trezise, president of the New York Wine and Grape Foundation, judged wines this year at the Los Angeles County Fair, he found something new. With the cheese cubes and crackers, he said, were ''the most delightful olives I've ever had,' which, further, were regardless of the wine -- red or white -- the best palate cleanser I've ever had.' The foundation, in the Finger Lakes, holds a yearly statewide contest open to all 140 wineries. Mr. Trezise ordered the olives for this year's 16 judges. They were, he said, a hit. Intrigued, I fetched cans from the source, the C. C. Graber Company, California olive merchants since 1894. Bull's-eye! Graber's cured olives, tree ripened in the San Joaquin Valley, outrank the choicest Spanish olives I've ever tried with fresh fino and manzanilla sherries, a made-in-heaven marriage. Greenish, reddish-green and blackish-green, Graber olives are nutty, smooth, mellow, succulently meaty, but not filling. Paradoxically, eaten warm they not only neutralized the palate but also heightened the pleasures of the next reds and whites sipped. Go figure".
_________________
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Andy M · Master Of Malts Joined: 09 Jul 2007 Posts: 1212

I will keep this in mind and give it a go next time i have olivesin the house, cheers Quaich1

Big Mac · Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 1:33 am Post subject:

I have come across this at wine tastings (not that i have been to many), i havent tried it with whisky but i can say olives can neutralize the palate but they do have a flavor of there own also.

I find a mild cheese sandwich can clense the palate

Quaich1 · Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 1:38 am Post subject:

Big Mac · Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 1:47 am Post subject:

Quaich1 · Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 1:49 am Post subject:

Big Mac · Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 1:52 am Post subject:

I would use a mild cheddar.

albo · Master Of Malts Joined: 22 Mar 2011 Posts: 1888

To be honest I'm not a great fan of olives, so I'll give this one a miss. Im surprised that this works as I would have though olives leave a distinctive taste in the mouth. But without trying it I suppose I can't pass any valued critique.

And all the talk of cheese sandwiches is making me hungry Shocked