Sip whisky off bodies at Valentine tasting

If you really want to appreciate the age of a fine 50-year-old malt, sip it from the navel of a 50-year-old man. That is the premise of a planned whisky tasting being hosted by Bompas and Parr this Valentine’s Day.

The anatomical whisky tasting will involve guests sipping whisky from the “natural contours” of models’ bodies.

The event invites whisky lovers to sample a 25-year-old whisky “paired” with a 25-year-old performer, a 30-year-old with a 30-year-old whisky, and so on up to rare 50-year-old drams.

The catch being that participants will then sip said whisky from a prepared crevice on the assigned performer’s body.

Bompas and Parr, which specialises in “flavour based experience design, culinary research, architectural installations and contemporary food design”, admitted that the idea had “lain dormant” for some time as it grappled with the “practical and ethical” considerations of such as event, however it is now set to become a reality.

Explaining the concept, Bompas and Parr said: “The spirits will be drunk from the natural contours of the performers’ bodies, each born the same year the liquid was put in a cask. There are gustatory and intellectual benefits to the practice, the heat of the body will raise the temperature of the whisky, helping to showcase the flavours as guests form a uniquely intimate bond with the performers.”

While you sip your dram, the performer will regale you with tales of their life to “elevate the practice of body-shots and grasp the full magnitude of the years the spirit has lain in cask, slowly gaining in complexity and maturity.”

The event is likely to turn the general acceptance that older whiskies are more desirable on its head, given that you could very well end up sipping it from the “navel of a half-century-old Hell’s Angel”. 

The event has been designed to tie in with an upcoming issue of The Gourmand which contains a photographic exploration and essay on bodily drinking techniques and drinking rituals from across the world.

The event is due to take place at the Ace Hotel in London’s Shoreditch on Valentine’s Day with tastings taking place at 3pm and 7pm.

Tickets will be available via the Bompas and Parr website shortly.