We All Remember Our First Time

Yes, we all remember our first time. One of the guys in our little group was inspired to write about his first experience.

I'll never forget the first time we met. She was tall and slender. I was taken aback that she was sitting by herself in the center of the table. I didn't want to label her, but what could I do, a label was all she was wearing. Her colouring caught my eye. She was neither a brassy red, a bleached blonde, nor a faded brunette, rather she was a soft amber. My hands shook as I reached out and gently touched her. She felt cool, but I was soon to discover that she had an inner fire. Sensing that she wanted me to get a better read on her, I held her closer. She was definitely not an open book, but she did wear her identity on her sleeve. It was clear to me that she was quite mature and I could see that she was about 45 (abv). Resting now quite comfortably in my hands, it was clear that she wanted me to proceed even further. Holding her firmly, I removed the only remaining barrier to getting to know her better. In my hands she flowed softly. I raised her to my face and my olfactory senses tingled like never before. It was a feeling both compelling and repelling at once. Nonetheless I had made up my mind to throw caution to the wind and indulge myself in her offering. Holding her to my lips, I took my first taste. WTF!!!, I cried and immediately recoiled!!! She was not what I had expected at all. In fact, she was downright nasty. I quickly turned away, my face reflecting a mixture of disappointment and revulsion. Like a disappointed lover, I wanted nothing more of what she had to offer. It felt all wrong, oh so wrong and I was sure it would never work between us. I wanted to run, but I needed to remain calm and not show what I was feeling. I turned away from her and my eyes returned to the place where I had first noticed her. Immediately I realized that my attention had been so focused on her that I had failed to notice that she had not come alone. Sitting in the same place, my eyes caught sight of another who had now taken her place. Despite my reluctance to experience a similar fate, I was unable to avert my gaze. Mustering up every ounce of courage that I could, I approached her as I had the first. As I began to get to know her better, I could see that she had an exotic air of smokiness that the other had lacked. I was immediately drawn to her and I resolved not to give up on my search for the right one. Surely she would be more to my liking...   JP

Ahhh, C'est l'amour! 

Jim Murray's Whisky Bible

I previously made mention of Jim Murray's Whisky Bible. If you care to get a copy, and you should if you love whisky, you can visit his website...

http://www.whiskybible.com/

I am sure that you can also find it at your local book store or wherever you buy books. The cover says  "Over 4,500 whiskies tasted, evaluated and rated". I would have to say he has the best job in the world.

Cheers!

February 2014 Tasting

These are the whiskies we had at our February 2014 scotch tasting. I meant to take notes or everyone's thoughts and opinions however I was too busy cooking. As there is no such thing as a bad single malt scotch they were all varying degrees of good. I suppose one of the most entertaining aspects of our scotch tasting is reading from Jim Murray's Whisky Bible. If you love scotch you need a copy of this book. Most of the time he's on the money as far as his tasting notes go but the descriptions are priceless. 

So our first whisky was not even a scotch. It is a locally made and award winning Canadian whisky. 

I had to post this picture of the seal on the Macallan's bottle as we had not seen this before.

We paused to say goodbye to this good friend Ledaig. We finished the last drop. Alas we knew thee well.

We always loved the Aberlour 12 year old and the Aberlour A'bunadh so we were very excited to try this 16 year old. It did NOT disappoint.

Jim Murray rated this Arran Malt with the Amarone Cask Finish very high and considering the price we were pleasantly surprised but still surprised that Murray rated it so well.

We have had this Bruichladdich before and it's a hard one to beat.

For many of us this Lagavulin cask was the highlight of the evening.

This whisky, considering the cost (over $300) and age was disappointing. It lacked body and had almost no finish. There is a school of thought that says if you age a whisky too long you smooth the goodness and flavour right out of it. Perhaps this 32 year old Mosstowie should have been bottled 10

All in all we had a good night as usual, good food, good friends and plenty of good whisky.
Till next time!

Sláinte