Heather Davis Talks Scotch

By Richard Thomas

Whiskey has been a fixture on the underground scene since the beatnik era, if not before, and certainly my own introduction came during my late 1980s alternative and punk days. So when I caught up with alternative model Heather Davis and discovered she had a thing for scotch, rye, and Irish whiskey, I can say I was pleased, but I can’t say I was surprised.

RT: You describe yourself as primarily an Irish whiskey and Scotch drinker. How did you get find yourself over with the malty Scots and Irish, rather than towards American bourbon and rye?

HD: I started drinking American whiskeys with coke, but as I learned that whiskey is actually delicious, I started gravitating towards more complex flavors that aren’t as sweet and sugary.  I think that bourbons tend to be muddled by overly sweet flavors.  Much like chardonnay, I get where people with different tastes than me like it, but it’s too definitively one flat and overpowering flavor for me to get behind it. Exceptions exist, like Woodford Reserve, for sure. 

RT: You also profess a particular liking for Speyside and Highlands. What attracts you to single malts from those regions, as opposed to say the peaty Islay stuff?

HD: The really peaty Islay stuff tends to be on the opposite end of the scale as bourbon, but I don’t often drink it for the same reasons. It’s so intensely one flavor that everything else gets a little lost.  Speyside and Highland are interesting to drink (and delicious), though in the winter, sometimes, something nice and smoking like Caol Ila is great. It feels warmer to drink. 

RT: On the modeling side, your focus is on alternative work. You are also a professional body piercer, and do some fire-breathing. In your experience, is whiskey a popular spirit in those circles?  

HD: I do find that whiskey tends to be a lot more prevalent in those circles.  We also like nice things, though, and that makes a difference.  With both body piercing and any kind of circus style performance, the quality of your equipment can make a huge difference in the experience. As a piercer, nicer jewelry and a higher standard of technique makes my job easier, and the procedure far more enjoyable for my clients.  When working with fire, good equipment makes my performance easier, safer, and it looks better to the audience. I’m used to paying more for higher quality gear, because it matters, and that applies to most aspects of my life, including my drinks, and I’ve noticed a similar trend in the people I spend a lot of time with. 

Also, when you’re on tour, it’s a lot nicer to sit down with someone and enjoy a conversation and a nice whiskey with a friend you don’t see often than it is to slam fireball shots in the back of a trailer with no heat. Though there are definitely times when that’s a great plan too. 

RT: While it’s not your main thing, you do like a little bourbon or rye in old style cocktails. You also live in Iowa, so has your mixology interest brought you to Iowa whiskey, like Templeton Rye or Mississippi River?

HD: I love trying new things, and I love whiskey with a story–one of the fun things about scotch is reading the legend of the distillery, with things like the “Seven Men of Tain” and all that.  Templeton is an Iowa legend, and it was Al Capone’s prohibition era spirit of choice, so I was excited when it became more readily available. However, I find that Templeton tends to be a lot more similar to a bourbon than a traditional rye, and I was a little disappointed. 

Mississippi River, however, absolutely rocks their Cody Road Rye–I haven’t tried the bourbon. It’s from the same town as Buffalo Bill, who was not only a wild west legend, but he was a legend of showmanship, too, which had a big impact on American Circus, so any time you bring him up, I’m all over it.  He didn’t make the whiskey, but it is named after him.  As far as drinking, it’s a nice, strong, definitive rye, and it mixes really well.  It’s a little hot in the front for me to like it neat, but it’s great on the rocks, too.

RT: Whiskey is still something of a guy thing, although much less so these days. Even so, does it attract any attention when your in a bar, point to the upper shelves, and ask for Old Pulteney or something like that?

HD: It’s really dependent on the bar.  When I’m at punk dives and car shows, it’s more of a “Hey, you have great taste, high five” thing, and a little bit of a conversation starter.  Once I get away from my normal scene, though people are still surprised when girls drink whiskey, and weirdly, even more shocked when I am knowledgeable about it. 

RT: As a solid whiskey fan, what are your regular, go-to brands?

HD: Woodford Reserve is probably my favorite bourbon for cocktails. Cody Road or Sazerac are my preferred rye whiskeys. They are both pretty “HEY! I’M RYE WHISKEY!”

For scotch, I generally have a bottle of Oban 14 or Glenmorangie Nectar d’Or around the house. They are both nice, smooth highland scotches, Oban is the slightly smokier of the two, Nectar d’Or is a little brighter and sweeter.  The Maccallan 12 is usually what I drink out on the town, a surprisingly high number of places carry it, and it’s a great example of highland scotch. And, when I get asked about my whiskey, it’s a pretty friendly one to let people try when they aren’t very familiar with whiskeys or scotches.  

However, any time I’m at a bar with a good whiskey selection — locally, the Royal Mile is my go to — I’d rather just have a 5 minute chat with my bartender and try whatever (s)he thinks is best.