Whisky, Beer and Baseball

I've been drinking Aberlour 16, which is the same whisky as the 12, only with four more years in the barrel. Great Speyside whisky, full-flavored, softened by a sherry cask finish. Jackson gives it an 84, and whiskyfun.com gives it a point better, the modest reviews resulting, in large measure, fromthe whisky's easy drinking character. The whiskyfun guys say that even your maiden aunt could enjoythis malt. Actually, I'd rate it higher, closer to 90, and wouldn't subtract points for being so accessible and palatable. I'm someone who loves big tastes, but we don't have to go all the way out, to enjoy a distinctive flavorful malt. The real issue here, however is not with the 16; it's with the 12. The Aberlour 12 is almost as good as the 16, and for at least $20 less. So yes, the 16 is a fine malt, but in the future, I plan on saving a few bucks and enjoying the 12, which I am coming to believe is the very best entry level malt on the market. Hard to find anything as good for under $40.

Now let's talk beer for a moment. Last weekend, I stopped into the town beer purveyor, Beers of the World, in case anyone cares, and asked about getting a couple new hoppy ales. As everyone knows, I like strong flavors, and although I enjoy a variety of brown ales, stouts, some of the bigger and bolder lagers, even wheat beers in the summer, my favorite is a bitter hoppy pale ale. I think the genre is IPA, or maybe amber ale, but for example, I really enjoy Red Hook ESB, as well as many of the Magic Hat brews, all of which seems to have an abundance of hops in the mix. Anyway, the guy at Beers of the World recommended HopDevil, by the Victory Brewing Company in Pennsylvania, some little town I never heard of. And, I'm happy to say, this beer is fabulous. Big strong hoppy flavor, but not overly bitter. In fact, there's just a touch a sweetness to the brew. I went to Victory's website and learned that someone had awarded it Beer of the Year back in the 90's, so I'm not the only one who likes the stuff.

Finally, the Sox lost last night, for the third time in the last ten games. Considering that more than half those games were played on the road, that's not too bad. And also considering that two of the three losses resulted from blown saves by Papelbon, which are going to happen now and then, but not much more often than that (let's hope). Of course, one of those blown saves came after an error and a bobble by Lugo, who is on track to break Renteria's recent 30 error season record in 2005. Without the Lugo error, Pap would have gotten out of the inning, and Sox would have chalked up one in the win column. Last night, after falling behind 7-1, Sox battled back, and got within one run in the top of the ninth. Manny ground out with a man on second to end the game. The point being that even in the three losses, Sox were in the game at the end each time, and despite all the early season troubles, are still playing 600 ball coming into tonight's game. So they've got to survive one more road trip in May, this next one to the west coast, but if they can get through the early part of the season in decent shape, after the all-star break, the schedule is much more favorable. Of course, as G-Man points out, September success will depend in a large part on who is healthy. And even with a deeper roster, and some great young players coming up from Pawtucket, let's hope everyone stays healthy this season.

On second thought, never mind that last paragraph. Forget everything I wrote there. Twins took the final game of the series (what are we doing playing a four game road series anyway?); Buckholz had a lousy outing; and the Sox were beaten handily. A trip to Baltimore, and then it's back to Fenway, before that west coast swing.