Just taking a sip of the brew they can tell us what blend is on offer. But I was delighted to know there are aficionados that do that – just by “smelling” the preparation. Wow!
The other day we were invited for a small gathering at the Ramada Hotel. Normally, my wife and I skip parties because of the hangover after a late night out. But this one was hosted by a close doctor-friend who told us he wouldn’t take no for an answer. On the appointed day, I went with Dattabab and his wife (my wife pleaded indisposed!)… I must confess I thoroughly enjoyed the function. The highlight of the evening was that our host, ENT specialist Dr. Noorani, served us “Lagavulin 21 Scotch”, which I am told costs upwards of Rs 20,000 per bottle. The nectar was divine, fresh and smoky, one of the mainstays of world-famous Diageo, the global leader in beverage alcohol.
Nowadays, at any gathering, it is customary to enthusiastically discuss about the best whiskeys available. (My Illustrious friend Cleobab, remains aloof, because he is happy with the cheer of a “premium beer” after a dreary day fighting court battles, successfully though!) For long, Chivas Regal and Johnnie Walker in its various avatars ruled the roost. But their shine is fast being overtaken by “single malts”. It is generally thought that single malts unlike “blended” whiskeys are “unblended.” But that is not true. A single-malt scotch is nothing more or less than the product of a single distillery – not the product of a single batch or a single barrel, but a single distillery. A single-malt “Lagavulin”, for instance, may contain whiskies from many barrels produced at the Lagavulin distillery, but it will contain only whiskies produced at Lagavulin.
At Dr Noorani’s party, one “connoisseur” claimed that he could tell it was Lagavulin just by the “smell” of it. I was awestruck! “Sommeliers” knew the brew after tasting a sip. But to recognise the type of whiskey just by its aroma was news to me. But a nose that can sniff is worth more than…
Olfaction (sense of smell) is a fascinating sense. Most of us give little thought to how smell works. Odors even hold a surprising ability to evoke powerful emotions in us just like aromas are capable of evoking powerful memories and, conversely, deep revulsion. The detection of an odor – pineapple, for instance – brings to mind a pineapple, of course. In some of us, that same smell might also remind us of a pineapple-flavored medicine that we detested as a child, sparking feelings of dread and nausea. An aroma has the ability to cause an upswell in old emotions – all from a minuscule concentration of airborne molecules. Olfaction plugs deep into our brains. A single odor can be attached to physical realities, memories, and dreams, all in one fell swoop.
Olfaction predates the rise of the mammals by millions of years and is widely considered to be the oldest vertebrate sense. For humans and other primates, vision has taken over as the most vital sense; but, for many species, olfaction is still their most valued tool. Anyone who has paid attention to a dog will know that our sense of smell is less developed than theirs. However, even with our reduced overall sensitivity, we can actually detect millions of airborne odorants in very small amounts. Many animals have more sensitive nostrils than ours, but, if necessary, humans can track down the source of an odor fairly accurately.
Olfaction unlike other sensory modalities – sight, hearing, touch – is directly plumbed into the brain via the first cranial nerve. It does not need to travel a circuitous route. Once processed, it connects with other centers and that is the reason why odor, memory, and emotion seem so thoroughly entwined. The tight relationship with the endocrine system also explains how a smell can generate a whole-body response – whether pleasure or disgust. Today, the need for olfaction is less pronounced for humans, but it is still present. So, although our emotionally ingrained response to smell might seem like overkill in the modern world, it wasn’t always so.
A study recently done at the University of California, Berkeley tested volunteers, with blindfolds and headsets to block their vision and hearing. They used their sense of smell to find a location on the grid. Containers with sponges, some of which were infused with essential oils, were placed along the edges of the room to guide participants to their destination. Blindfolded, all of them were easily led toward a location whose scent they had smelled “only once before”. Like homing pigeons, humans have a nose for navigation because our brains are wired to convert smells into spatial information. Our 3-D sense of smell is veritably humans’ built-in GPS (global positioning system).
With so much praise being showered by scientists on olfaction I myself feel upbeat. I promise I will spot, just by smell, a “Lagavulin”, the next time I go for a party – provided I am served the brand by a profligate host like Dr. Noorani. Any bets?
(Dr. Francisco Colaço is a seniormost consulting physician.)
