Off the Bench

[Lucifer Box]

I shall recommend what I feel are two good ones for starters (so I shall avoid the peaty ones which aren't to everyone's taste). As with all such things, everyone will give a different opinion anyway.

Blended: Johnny Walker Black Label. Reasonable price, universally available, quite smooth and, quite honestly, almost hard to believe it is a blend.

Single Malts: The Macallan 10 Year Old. Smooth as a newborn's bot-bot and a very pleasing warmth afterwards. Not peaty. If money is no object, The Macallan 18 year old is even smoother but has a touch of peat about it.

[AlfredJPruffock]

In the meantime....

Most Single's 'everyday/kitchen' whisky is 8-10 years old. The finesse (and therefore cost) goes up from there.

The ice/water question is still hotly debated, I believe; though I was told by a highlander that water (Scottish mineral, of course) is acceptable as it 'softens/releases' the whiskey - he forbade ice, however.

Aye Cojak

A little water with whisky quickens the absorption of alcohol into the bloodstream.

BTW I had a contract with Johnny Walker once, now Diageo group in Glasgow, we used to receive two litres of the exclusive JW Blue Label free every month, altough I am a Scot, in exile, yet I am not a fan of whisky whatsoever, so I gave these bottles to my sister who was most thankful.

There is a marvelous book by fellow Scot Iain Banks, called Raw Spirit where he drives around the Highlands visting various distillieries, and explores much of the folklore surrounding whisky, or should I say usquabae , water of life !

I think you will like it.

Read the review here ...

http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/s...100062,00.html


PS The best whisky I have tasted IMHO would be Talisker,so I do agree with SP there , but there are so many to choose from ...

Care, mad to see a man sae happy,
Drown'd himsel amang the nappy.
As bees flee hame wi' lades o' treasure,
The minutes wing'd their way wi' pleasure:
Kings may be blest, but Alf was glorious,
Over a' the ills of life victorious!


Inspiring bold John Barleycorn!
What dangers thou canst make us scorn!
Wi' tippenny, we fear nae evil;
Wi' usquabae, we'll face the devil!

[TGAOTU]

Hmmm, funny you should post that, I'm off to Sunny Glassford for a Burn's Supper again this year!

[AlfredJPruffock]

New Years Day 1790 Robert Burns



First, what did yesternight deliver?
“Another year has gone for ever.”
And what is this day’s strong suggestion?
“The passing moment’s all we rest on!”

Rest on—for what? what do we here?
Or why regard the passing year?
Will Time, amus’d with proverb’d lore,
Add to our date one minute more?

A few days may—a few years must—
Repose us in the silent dust.

Then, is it wise to damp our bliss?
Yes—all such reasonings are amiss!

The voice of Nature loudly cries,
And many a message from the skies,
That something in us never dies:

[milanbenes]

TGAOTU,

will that be with friends from the lodge ?

Thanks for the input folks.

Milan.

[Lucifer Box]

Yes, I remember a Scottish acquaintance telling me once, "the only thing you should put in whisky, apart from a little water, is more whisky".

I'll drink to that.

[cojak]

I like Talisker as well.

However nothing comes close to my all-time (never to be repeated) favourite: Loch Dhu.

*wipes away tear at the memory, momentarily catches ghostly aroma...*

[AlfredJPruffock]

Yes, I remember a Scottish acquaintance telling me once, "the only thing you should put in whisky, apart from a little water, is more whisky".

I'll drink to that.

Its funny that most of the people I meet in England inevitably have a Scottish granny, whilst very few have ever actually bothered to visit Scotland and witness the beauty of the Highlands.

Then again ,perhaps its all the anecdotes Ive been telling you about being bottled outside Glasgow chippies has had the desired effect.

And because of all their tears
There eyes can no longer see
The beauty that surrounds them
Isnt it a Pity

[AlfredJPruffock]

All this talk of whisky , Burns and Scotland is making me homesick.

I was back in Scotland for Xmas and our local Glen was frozen, giving a spectacular effect with the frozen white trees against a clear blue sky that beckons infinity.

But woe unto Alf, the exile, whom for his sins has been relegated to living in a foreign city far from kith and kin !

Oh why did I leave my Highland hame ?

Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North
The birth place of Valour, the country of Worth;
Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,
The hills of the Highlands for ever I love.

Farewell to the mountains high cover'd with snow;
Farewell to the straths and green valleys below;
Farewell to the forrests and wild-hanging woods;
Farwell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods.

My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here,
My heart's in the Highlands a-chasing the deer
Chasing the wild deer, and following the roe;
My heart's in the Highlands, whereever I go.

[Rebecca Loos]

when I was in Scotland a few months ago, I visited the Glengoyne distillery and bought a couple of bottles for my stepdad, is that any good?