Whisky & Food

In a Dutch café, bitterballen appear on the table almost automatically as soon as someone orders a borrel, the relaxed late-afternoon drink. These deep-fried ragout croquettes are crispy outside, creamy inside. They pair well with a whisky that has some edge: the 100 Rye, with its pepper, cuts through the fat instead of disappearing beneath it.

Stamppot – mashed potatoes with kale or sauerkraut, served with a thick rookworst – is a dish many in the Netherlands know from their own childhood. The smoked sausage and the earthy sweetness of the potatoes suit the Oloroso Sherry Cask bottling well. Both bring roasted notes and fullness, and neither crowds out the other.

Aged Goudse Kaas, often matured one to two years, develops a crumbly texture and salt crystals that crunch as you chew. That exact contrast of salt and sweetness suits the peated Millstone with Pedro Ximénez cask well. The smoke stands up to the salt, and the cask sweetness balances the sharpness of the cheese.

None of these pairings are set in stone. Whisky with food remains the exception in the Netherlands anyway, where people are more likely to drink genever alongside herring from a market stall. Still, if you try it, you'll quickly notice: a bold whisky calls for food with just as much character, not something restrained. Millstone quickly overwhelms overly delicate dishes.

If you don't have Dutch cheese on hand, mature mountain cheese or aged cheddar will get you surprisingly far. The main thing is that it's bold enough to hold its own next to the cask.