The curious case of the ‘cockroach taste’

NOW, if you hang out with enough people who drink whisky, blended or otherwise, you’ve probably hear them using the phrase “cockroach smell” or “ka cat mei” in Cantonese, to describe a certain whisky. I’ve even had someone telling me he prefers blended whiskies to single malts because of that “cockroach smell”.

Now, what exactly do people mean by that? One of the most common whiskies I’ve heard described that way is the Glenfiddich 12-Year-Old, so I asked Glenfiddich regional brand ambassador Barry Chalmers what he thought about that description. Turns out he was just as baffled.