MAVERICK TASTING
Silent sanctuary
Whisky has always held a close relationship with our senses. From nosing an alluring dram after carefully analysing its golden hue, to embracing the first burst of flavour to reach our palates as we compare notes with the flamboyant descriptions from the Tasting Panel. But what happens when we are completely stripped of all of our senses? Society writer Duncan Gorman decided to take the plunge…
PHOTOS: TINA NORRIS
ABOVE: Duncan pours a dram before taking the plunge in a sensory deprivation tank
Plotting another experimental tasting, I set out to uncover how a sensory deprivation tank would influence my appreciation of single cask Scotch malt whisky. Joined by maverick members Judit and Andy at Reset Float Centre in Falkirk, Stirlingshire, I set up a taste test to see how we’d fair before and after using a floatation tank.
To get our extensive research underway, we each nosed and tasted a mystery dram before jotting down a few tasting notes. Unknown to us, this was Cask No. 94.27: Leave the bottle, a 13-year-old Highlander matured in a second fill ex-bourbon barrel within the Sweet, Fruity & Mellow flavour profile. With far less experience dissecting flavours than Judit, a member of the Society Tasting Panel, and Andy, a whisky aficionado with more than 10 years’ experience under his belt, I certainly wasn’t all too confident.
After carefully analysing, Andy and Judit both found notes of yeast, wheat and cereal on the nose and were met with sweet flowers and spice on the palate. I felt a bit rogue, having found grassy fields, sweet fruits, with a hint of apricot in there somewhere too.
With our first taste test completed, into the tanks we went. Floatation tanks are large pods filled with water heated to body temperature and saturated with 525kg of pharmaceutical grade Epsom salts.
The salt allows for your body to effortlessly float on the surface of the water, allowing you to experience complete weightlessness. Alongside a sound and lightproof exterior, the pod shelters you from all the senses you experience day to day.
Susan from the Reset Float Centre says: “The basic idea of floating/sensory deprivation is simple. First you minimise or completely remove the sensory input to your brain – you just shut everything off – every signal to your brain from the outside world!
ABOVE: Andy and Judit nose and taste Cask No. 94.27: Leave the bottle before seeing how depriving their senses affected the experience
“Float therapy is freeing yourself from all sensation of gravity, temperature, touch, sight and sound, which together accounts for 90 per cent of normal neuromuscular activity. You then conserve and can redirect vast amounts of natural physical and mental energy. Our rooms and pods are designed specifically to provide you with a silent sanctuary where you can be transported to an all-encompassing world of absolute calm and tranquillity.”
Climbing into the tank is an almost alien experience, and getting used to the water holding your weight was completely bizarre. Once I’d adjusted to the water it was lights off and into the abyss. Judit says: “My first thought as I entered the tank was ‘oh, I can’t control any of my movements!’ But after spending a bit of time trying to slow down and relax, I was able to get myself away from the spinning thoughts of tasks in my head and it made me feel safe and light.”
Andy was also taken aback by the experience: “I was very chilled and relaxed. It felt like I was a puppet that’d had its strings removed, just suspended in space. I was a little apprehensive at first, but that quickly vanished. You almost lose your sense of time too. I liked that my mind emptied and everything else vanished for a short while at least. I would definitely try the tank again and since I've now had this experience, I am more excited by that prospect.”
Andy continues: “Personally I didn’t feel claustrophobic, it was like more a hug that was welcoming, safe, dark, and calming. I could feel myself almost falling asleep! If the darkness is not your thing you can use the lights and soft music too which was nice.”
Once our float had finished, we were each met at the side of the tank with another measure of Cask No. 94.27: Leave the bottle. Interestingly, despite both tasting the second dram separately, Judit and Andy both found the second tasting to be much grassier and less spicy on the palate than they had previously.
Judit adds: “Straight away after the float, the vapours from the tank and the salt had surely affected my palate, which is why I think I picked pick up raw, grassy notes in the same dram. I wonder if this would have happened with any whisky because of the tank or only this one because of its character. It was interesting to see how our perception changed the same way and that we both picked up more grass after the tank.”
Feeling quite vindicated having already picked up on some grassy notes before my float, the second time around I picked up on sweet cereal and fields of wheat. Having carried the second tasting out while still perched in the tank, there was certainly still a lot of aromas floating around which no doubt could have influenced us.
ABOVE: Judit found that the experience made her more aware of her surroundings and that the whisky notes were sharper than usual
Andy says: “After almost an hour in a salt-laden environment it had definitely opened my sinuses, so with each mouthful there was a larger assault on the olfactory notes. So yes, this affected the taste too, it was like your senses had just been reset.”
Susan reveals: “Our clients often comment on the glass of water we offer after floats, complimenting how good it tastes and how refreshing it is. We can only reply that it’s just good old Grangemouth water, council juice straight from the tap! People appreciate this water more because after an hour of complete isolation your senses are more heightened, making tastes and smells more vibrant.”
Having had time to cleanse myself of the extreme salt I began to appreciate how heightened my senses were after emerging from my cocoon. It’s hard to describe, but all the regular stresses of life had been stripped back and I felt amazingly refreshed and relaxed. Our second blind dram was Cask No. 4.372: Honeyed leather and heather, an 11-year-old Lightly Peated spirit originally matured in ex-bourbon hogsheads before being married in a first fill ex-bourbon barrel. After nosing and tasting this cracker, it was clear our palates had transformed quite noticeably.
Judit continues: “I was definitely more aware of my surroundings. I felt calm but also more awake, more aware of my body, breathing and heartbeat. I thought this would help me break down the aromas to the finest details, but instead my brain was only willing to process it as one collective set of flavours and aromas. I think this created a very long-lasting memory and a good reference point. After some fresh air, I think the notes were still sharper than usual, but I think this was still the effect of the salty vapours.”
Reflecting on possibly the most unique whisky tasting of her lifetime, Judit adds:
“It was a very interesting and fun experiment, I would do it again. The sensory deprivation tank in itself is a quite unique experience, and this combined with a whisky tasting is something I have never seen before. It’s always worth remembering there are other ways of enjoying a whisky than sitting in a tasting room.”
