three simple food pairings with anCnoc 22 year old

Posted on November 27, 2015

We've prepared three simple food pairings to go with this much-loved expression. Ready?

1. Chilli chocolate

This is a beautifully simple and obvious choice. The creaminess and slightly bitter cocoa richness matches the richness of the sherry casks used for maturing anCnoc 22 Year Old while the hint of chilli punches through the pairing and accentuates it. It takes a very pronounced flavour to counterbalance the massive chocolate and whisky combo and a little chilli provides just that.

You can also try a bitter chocolate and chilli cheesecake for a more rounded dessert option.

2. Mature cheddar

Cheddar is a wonderful pairing with great many things but the contrast between the sweetness of the 22 Year Old and the salty crunchiness of the cheese delivers real magic here. If you want you could experiment with other hard cheeses, like aged Gouda, Gruyère or Parmigiano Serde.

3. Rare beef

We've covered matching and contrasting flavours. But this one is different, it's about complementing and introducing an element of surprise. We associate beef with red wine and that combination is not going anywhere but a heavily peppered rare sirloin steak goes surprisingly well with this big and bold whisky. The dried fruit flavours of the 22 Year Old help to bring out the natural taste of fine meat, an explosion of flavour guaranteed.

We hope this helps to inspire you to go out of your comfort zone and try new things. Remember that you can win a bottle of anCnoc 22 Year Old or simply treat yourself to one from our online shop or your local specialist retailer.