One of Japan’s oldest distillers shares a delicious dessert idea.

Whiskey, being a versatile spirit, can be enjoyed in a number of ways. While strict purists may insist on having theirs neat, you can also find whiskey aficionados who prefer it on the rocks or with water or soda.

But though those are all fine options, equally compelling is a recent suggestion from Nikka, one of Japan’s oldest whiskey producers. In a recent tweet from the distiller’s official account, Nikka recommended that you skip any form of H2O or other conventional cocktail mixers and instead combine whiskey and pudding.

Specifically, Nikka is talking about the type of pudding called “purin” in Japan, a type of creamy but firm custard topped with a thin layer of caramel sauce. We’re always looking for chances to consume sweets or hard liquor in a professional capacity, and this two-in-one opportunity was too tempting for us to resist trying.

As grateful as we were for the suggestion, we unfortunately didn’t have any Nikka Whisky on hand. We did have part of a bottle of Cardhu Gold Reserve left, though, so we opened up a single-size purin and poured a splash of Scotch across the top.

We gave the contents of the cup a stir with our spoon, then brought the utensil up to our lips. We took a taste, and discovered that Nikka knew exactly what it was talking about. The whiskey harmoniously blended with the purin, tying together the pudding’s sweet and bitter notes in an elegant flavor arc.

Now that we’ve answered the question of “Do whiskey and pudding go well together?” we’re ready to start the next mental debate: Is this delicious combination a dessert, or a digestif? To figure that out, we think we’ll have to have several more, for research purposes, of course.

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