Foodies,
This past Friday night, the Toronto Wine Elitist Cabal and assembled guests partook of a very special whisky tasting and upscale Mexican tasting menu arranged by charter member and Berserker Mike Grammer.
A delicious and unique 7 course tasting menu was designed to pair with 4 flights of 14 whiskies and bourbons in totals. Mike will post notes on the whiskies in a separate thread which I’ll follow up on. Here, I’ll focus on the amazing dinner that was put together for us:
First up was the Tamarind Ceviche, a mixture of fresh cod and mango marinated in tamarind juice and jicama pepper. It’s sitting on a thin slice of heirloom beet which serves as a “tortilla” for the dish if you choose to eat it with your hands. Which of course I did. This was fantastic with the bourbons, the high acidity of the dish intensifying the sweetness of the bourbons.
Next up was the Esalada de Jicama y Betabel, a radicchio, red beet and baby romaine salad in an orange lime dressing and topped with jicama (Mexican turnip). This was deliciously crisp and refreshing and was more on the sweet side than acidic. This made the bourbons much sharper and made the rye spice in the bourbons really stand out in particular. Interesting effect, but the ceviche was a much better food pairing.
Next up was the Tostada de Salpicon, a pulled beef brisket tostada topped with queso, crema and pickled onions. This was paired with a flight of Johnny Walker Gold, Glenkinchie 12 YO, Dun Bheagan 1996 Linkwood 11 YO Tokaji cask finish, and Mortlach 15 YO Wemyss casking whiskies.
These whiskies were carried over to our next course, the Sopa Tarasca. This was an incredibly smooth black bean soup topped with crema, panela cheese cubes and shredded fried tortilla strips. This was absolutely delicious and the favorite dish of many of the attendees.
Our next flight consisted of the Clynelish 1993 14 YO, The Cardhu 12 YO, the Rloc 11 YO (99% Royal Lochnagar, 1% Glen Breton from Canada), and the Talisker 10 YO while maintaining the Johnny Walker Gold to the side. With this, our next course was the Quesadilla de Cochinita Pibil, a crispy corn tortilla filled with pulled pork, queso, and pickled onions with baby mesclun and a habanero chili coulis on the side.
Our final flight was a specialty trio of well aged whiskies courtesy of fine Scotch whisky aficionado Mr. Grammer – the Benrinnes 1978 34 YO Doulgas Laing Old and Rare Platinum, the Convalmore 1975 32 YO cask strength Doulgas Laing Old Malt Cask and the Highland Park 1975 30 YO.
With this spectacular trio of whiskies, we enjoyed Albondigas en Adobo, a dish of turkey meatballs in guajillo adobo sauce with rice and freshly steamed vegetables.
Our final dessert course saw a change of pace in our whiskies as we finished with the Buffalo Trace Bourbon Cream, Woodford Reserve bourbon and SLYRS Bavarian single malt. With this, we enjoyed a Gelatina de Rompope, a panna cotta inspired by traditional Mexican rompope featuring the flavors of vanilla, almonds, cinnamon and rum. It was decorated with chocolate ganache, chocolate cookie crumbles and topped with diced fresh mango.
At the end of our tasting menu, superstar head chef Elia Herrera and sommelier and floor manager Marissa Kelly made an entrance during which they received two ovations. At this time, I presented them with a token of appreciation on the group’s behalf. As they pampered us with the upscale cuisine of Elia’s native Veracruz, Mexico, I decided to return the favor with the most well-known of Canadian food luxuries: icewine. A bottle of Jackson-Triggs 2011 Vidal icewine to be exact. You can see Elia hold the bottle in her hands in the photo.
We also left them the remants of the Caol Ila, the Highland Park and the Linkwood to enjoy as an additional parting gift.
It should be noted that the TWEC entertained four guests who had never been to the restaurant before. One of them told the group that the food was so fine she had actually lost interest in the whiskies themselves and was 100% entirely focused on the food. High praise indeed given the generous surplus of fine quality whiskies available. The staff who served us all commented on the heavenly smell of whisky as they entered the room. Funny how more and more staff helped as the night went on. 
The Toronto Wine Elitist Cabal would like to thank chef Elia Herrera, sommelier Marissa Kelly and the Los Colibris waitstaff who attended on us throughout the evening: Lia, Duncan, and Candace.