Where Did You Drink Last Night?

[Deactivated Member]

Consider this a less tasting-oriented alternative to "What Did You Drink Last Night?". Whether you were in a favored pub, among friends, or at home, the emphasis here is the setting and the events in your life, rather than the evaluation of the spirit.

I spent the past few days in Stonington, Maine, a fishing and holiday town down at the end of one of those crenellated peninsulae between Portland and Bar Harbor. Me dear old Mum, who has spent the last few years caring for my Dad (now in the nursing home), expressed a desire a couple weeks ago to take a break up that way, to relax and eat lobster and steamers and sit by the water and watch the boats go by. I was fortunate to find a rental online, surely available due to a cancellation. The weather forecast was for chilly nights, perfect whisky weather. I chose a bottle of Talisker to take along. Stonington is famous for fog, but we had brilliant sunny days, not too warm, and cool, clear nights; the fog did roll in late one evening, but burned off early the next morning. We ate not only lobster and steamers, but swordfish and sole and haddock and mussels and chowder. Stonington is dry, but that only means that the restaurants are BYO, and the market a few miles up the road sells wine and beer and liquor.

After dinner, we sat on the deck, overlooking the harbor (across the street and between the houses, but still), Mom enjoying her sherry, and me, my Talisker. It seemed the perfect choice after seafood, in the cool, damp, salty air. A lovely escape for all too brief a time.

[bamber]

Sounds great Mr. T. I drunk a few Ardbeg 10's and some WIld Turkey in the squalor of my front room whilst watching Columbo videos (gilfriend is away).

[Mr Fjeld]

Not only does it sound great but it's also a nice thing to do to and with you mother!

Maybe I shouldn't write in this thread yet as I didn't drink last night, but I usually only drink every other weekend because of my work. Anyway, I mostly drink in my own company and not with friends - or should I rather say in the same room as my girlfriend and my dog. She (and my dog) doesn't drink much with alcohol in it but appreciates the fact that I do. Although I occasionally go out for a beer with friends I seldom drink whisky. It's mostly reserved for my own company and I guess best considered as my own private time - increasingly and almost disturbingly often in front of the "puter" clicking my way through http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/ . I don't really now what it is, but there is something with that country that fascinates me enormously! Perhaps it's the scenery or bloody history - at times so closely connected to my own country's early kingdoms?

So untill I meet some of you at Islay in the future I guess I'll enjoy my whisky alone!

Skål!
Christian

[Deactivated Member]

It's true, Christian, that the history of Norway's early kingdoms was intertwined with that of Scotland's kingly earldoms.

You needn't take "last night" too literally, or even the "where".

Drinking Wild Turkey and watching Columbo.... Yes, Bamber, that in itself certainly qualifies as "squalor"!

[Mr Fjeld]

It's true, Christian, that the history of Norway's early kingdoms was intertwined with that of Scotland's kingly earldoms.

Skål!
Christian

[Deactivated Member]

Last night, on the return trip from PEI, I visited the Lunar Rogue in Fredericton, New Brunswick, an oasis of malt appreciation in the desert of Atlantic Canada. I finally met the estimable proprietor, Frank D. Scott, and had a nice blether over several drams (as well as a pint of the local Picaroon Bitter). I've mentioned before that the Rogue has an excellent selection of malts at very reasonable prices. I tasted Highland Park 18, Glenfiddich 21 Havana Reserve, Caol Ila Cask Strength, and Mortlach 16 Flora & Fauna. The latter, incidentally, had a dry gingery palate that reminded me a lot of Macallan. Am I off-base? Anyway, thanks, Frank--I hope to see you again in two weeks.

[Lawrence]

TattieHeid, it sounds like a good weekend. I have never been to 'that' coast but am determined to visit one day.

By the way, it was very 'quiet' around here while you were gone

[Deactivated Member]

I was in the Lunar Rogue again the other night, again on my way back from PEI. Perfect weather all week, capped by a lovely evening on the Rogue's summer terrasse. I had a Glenfarclas 105 (more please!), another Caol Ila cs, and a Talisker DE that, unfortunately, was not what it should have been, the bottle being nearly empty. No matter, it was a nice night.

Lawrence, East Coast Canada is very different from your neighborhood, as I'm sure you know. It can be a tough place to find a good beer and a dram. But it has undeniable charms, and I love going there. I wish I could have hung around Charlottetown for another couple days. And I really missed Halifax this year.

[Lawrence]

Tattieheid, I have very little experience with the east coast of Canada but aim to explore it one summer. I have a good friend there who is the bartender at a little friend very close to Glen Breton Distillery. We all miss him greatly.

[Paul A Jellis]

Last night I was drinking in The Old Sail Loft, Looe, Cornwall sipping Jura 10yr, not one of my all-time favourites, but, somehow, sitting there overlooking the harbour, watching the boats on their way out for night fishing, it was perfect. A coastal whisky for a coastal location.

Can situation change your perception of a whisky? Now I believe it can.

Cheers

Paul

[Deactivated Member]

Can situation change your perception of a whisky? Now I believe it can.

Absolutely! And that's why, as much as I appreciate the efforts of the many folks here who go to great lengths to make detailed notes and give objective ratings and scores, I cannot personally imagine doing so. I do not believe that there is any such thing as an objective tasting. You can do your best to eliminate all the possible variables, but at the moment you taste, you are Admiral Harry T Lawrence in a tasting room in Glasgow at 10:00am on the fourth of July, you had lamb for dinner last night and scrambled eggs and haggis for breakfast, the temperature is 30°C and the humidity is pushing 100%, your girlfriend said something to you as you left for the tasting that may or may not have been hostile, and you had MacAskill 42 and Glen Googly Root Beer Barrel before tasting this Glen Campbell Rhinestone Reserve. Not only will the circumstances never be the same for you again; they will never be anything remotely similar for me.

Just now I am having what is lately my favorite twofer--Talisker 10 followed by Bruichladdich 10. I discovered quite by accident that any Bruichladdich tastes great after a peaty dram, very full-bodied and flavorful. I love to find such synergistic effects; it usually involves deciding what dram to have after what dinner.

Somewhere else hereabouts, someone mentioned having a dram of Highland Park 25 with vanilla ice cream. I can't wait to try that!

For me, whisky is the Water of Life, not a laboratory experiment. Again, I do not wish to denigrate those who actually do the lab work--I appreciate what they do, and read their notes with great interest. And I know very well that all of them enjoy whisky in the "real world", as well. But I take great delight in knowing that a Jura 10, a whisky not very highly rated by anyone (including me), really hits the spot for Paul A Jellis on a Saturday night overlooking the harbor in Looe, Cornwall. That, in my mind, is what it's all about.

[Lawrence]

Good comments Tattieheid, I'm not sure if I mentioned that most of the time I just nose & drink the stuff and enjoy it.

The more serious work happens less frequently. But it happens.

[Paul A Jellis]

Mr T

Maybe the plate of oysters I was eating at the time added something to the taste of the Jura or vice versa!

I can now say that there no whiskies that I do not like, just not found the right time to drink them.

I must try Bruchladdich after a peaty dram, that sounds interesting.

Cheers

Paul

[Lawrence]

Yes, that does sound interesting, I'm going to try it also.

In the interest of science of course.

[Tom]

Excellent post mrT. Personally I try to get around this by making 3 notes of a dram at 3 different days, then take the average of those. Those are then the notes I keep. However you are completely right, because even after that a dram surprises you in a certain occasion or location. There is no way to get around this, and I believe that that is the magic of single malt in its essence.

You know at a certain occasion I drank an entire bottle of Loch dhu with my father and asked for more!!!Guess that proves it completely.

[bernstein]

That, in my mind, is what it's all about.

D'accord! Where would I be without this one single gorgeous evening in this tiny little village called Nethy Bridge in the Cairngorm mountains after an extensive hiking trip with a Glenlivet 12 in my hand looking at the sunset some 20 years ago. I can still feel and taste how it was...

[smokey]

Cool thread.

For my part, my wife had just bought me a pretty nice 8oz Sheffield flask for Christmas. I filled it with some Talisker 18 and after my part time job sipped off it on the way to the station whilst smoking one of Nat's cigarellos. Divine. I did get some funny looks once I made it on the subway. Kind of made me feel like I was in a movie. I mean, I'm from California, and before coming to Tokyo I was pretty casual. I have a business class in the evenings for a pretty big trading company, so I'm always in a suit. It felt...a little surreal.

Wearing a nice suit, drinking good whisky, commuting home on the subway. Got some stares, but I'm pretty sure the "salarymen" workers stared with envy...not contempt. (cant be sure )

Having a flask...i love it. I remember when someone asked me why I smoked (yeah I know, dirty habit) I had answered, "It creates moments...you never step outside with a good friend and say, let's have some chewing gum" With a flask and some good whisky, I feel that I've found a way to enrich that moment even more.

I know you don't get the benifit of smelling the whisky, but I'm much more into how it tastes anyway.

Cheers to your own moments....alone or with good friends.

[Badmonkey]

At home, sitting at the old teak table, while typing out brief messages to the rest of you whisky sponges. All things considered, that's not a bad way to end an evening even if it's not ideal.