Growing up, a toffee was always a welcome treat. Twists of waxy or shiny colored paper were pinched between forefingers and thumbs and pulled apart until the glossy, golden cube was revealed. Deftly popped into the mouth with sticky fingers, they were sucked until they dissolved. Then came trays of English toffee, coated in chocolate and sprinkled with chopped nuts, a slab cracked by a hammer into long, angular shards. Later still, those familiar flavors returned to me, this time in whisky. Sweet aromas leapt from the glass, a rich creaminess bathed the palate, and the finish lingered with burnt sugar notes. Toffee flavors registered sweetness beyond honey, maple syrup, and caramel, pushing deeper into butterscotch, but falling short of those farthest reaches of sweetness, molasses and treacle.
Whenever you see whisky notes mentioning caramel, fudge, or toffee, think about those subtle differences in confectionary flavors the taster is trying to convey. Simply put, a caramel is made when sugar reaches high temperature, with the end result ranging from a runny liquid to a highly viscous and elastic substance that can cling to spoons.
The temperature is lower for making fudge, and typically it is made by combining sugar, butter, and milk. Toffee involves caramelizing sugar with butter. While fudge is buttery, creamy, and soft, toffee is hard and brittle, though it can be softened if made with more butter. All of these sweet delights can be augmented by adding vanilla, dried fruits, chopped nuts, chocolate, and more. Then there is cinder toffee, a foamy version made by adding baking soda, and bonfire toffee, a dark toffee made using black treacle.
Vanillin is a lignin derivative often credited with producing toffee flavors in whisky. It’s a cask extractive released from the charred inner surface of American oak barrels during spirit maturation. Oak lactones and compounds responsible for burnt and roasted notes such as 2-methylpyrazine and 4-methyl-5-vinylthiazole can enhance the experience of toffee flavors in some whiskies. The degree of toasting and charring of the oak barrel determines the caramelization of the wood sugars and their availability to interact with the spirit. Maltol, for example, can also be reminiscent of toffee flavors, as well as cotton candy, toasty notes, and sweet caramels. High-roasted malted barley, though less commonly used, can also create toffee flavors. The interactions are complex, yet toffee notes in whisky are abundant. It’s just all about finding the sweet spot.
Seek Out Toffee In These Whiskies
ENGLISH TOFFEE: anCnoc 12 year old
Honey, lemon, apple, English toffee, vanilla, cinnamon
CREAMY TOFFEE Blue Spot 7 year old
Baked apple, spiced nuts, melted toffee condensed milk, tangy citrus, peppery spice
DARK TOFFEE Shinobu Pure Malt 15 year old Mizunara Oak Finish
Exotic woods, butterscotch, manuka honey, apricot, dark toffee, leather
