How to Drink Whiskey Like a Sir

Richard Paterson is a master blender for Whyte & Mackay and the Dalmore line of whiskies. His unofficial title is The Nose. A third-generation whisky man, his father, a whisky distributor, gave him his first sip at age 8. Now in his 60s, his skill at tasting, assessing and blending whiskies has become so acute, his nose has been insured by Lloyd’s of London for $2.6 million. Paterson spends the rest of his time spreading the whisky gospel. “Out there in the big bad world, people basically haven’t a bloody clue about whisky,“ he says. Scotch whisky carries with it a whiff of cultural elitism. It’s often dismissed as something that’s only fully understood and appreciated by rich, older white men in aristocratic parlors and expensive, stuffy restaurants. But the spirit has a long history as a populist potable, a drink the masses have turned to for centuries – the ancient distillers referred to it as the “water of life.“