Whisky Lovers
Whisky lovers really need no excuse to enjoy their beverages. A Wednesday night, like this one, with no particular reason for celebrating, is as fine a night as any other to enjoy a glass of, let's say, Bruichladdich or even Bunnahabhain 18. In fact, you could say that the glass of malt whisky becomes the occasion; an empty glass about to be filled, a bottle of malt waiting to be poured, and fifteen minutes with nothing else in the world to distract you -- That's an occasion for celebration right there.
Having said that, it's still more fun to drink good whisky in the company of others who enjoy their spirits. And for that reason, we held the second annual Whisky Lovers Ball last week, in its traditional venue - my backyard. The menu included the usual red meat (this year we grilled butterflied leg of lamb and served it with a chutney glaze), red wine (Malbec and a California Cab), smoked fish (that had been prepared in the bullet the weekend before), and a bottle of Wagner Riesling Ice Wine, served with two versions of Susan's signature pecan pie. In a generous concession to the ladies, I served a bottle of Proseco with the appetizers, giving the gals the choice of a Kir Royale if they wanted a touch of glamour. One of the gals, apparently familiar with our reluctance to serve white wine, brought a bottle of chilled chardonnay, which I was happy to pour, in an effort to display tolerance and a touch of gender diversity to the proceedings. (But honestly, white wine at the whisky lovers ball? At least no one asked for a lemondrop martini.)
We poured a selection of outstanding malts through the evening. Stacy fell in love with the Aberlour 16, which I must admit, is a wonderful standard bearer for the Speyside malts. I opened a Macallan 17; my friend Tony was drinking HP18; and I offered Dr. Ron a pour of A'Bunadh, because he's a bourbon guy, and that malt is so rich and caramelly that it resembles some of the better bourbons. After dinner, we went smoky, and drank Lagavulin, Laphroaig, Talisker 175, and even a touch of Ardbeg Uigeadail. Everyone went crazy for the 175, but how surprising could that have been?
A couple weeks ago, before disaster hit, I was at Danny's and told him that there are only two places in Rochester where I really love to drink malts. His house and mine. I mean Rochester is not New York or Boston, and we don't have any Keens or Last Hurrah. So while there are plenty of spots where one can enjoy a glass of good whisky, there's no place in town where one could start the evening with Macallan's 17, and then finish things off with an incomparable pour of Talisker 175. Which makes me realize that the day is almost done, and before long, on a Wednesday night, we'll have another one of those occasions when a bartender pours some scotch into a glass, neat, and the party begins. Cheers; salute; l'chaim; here's looking at you, kid.
Having said that, it's still more fun to drink good whisky in the company of others who enjoy their spirits. And for that reason, we held the second annual Whisky Lovers Ball last week, in its traditional venue - my backyard. The menu included the usual red meat (this year we grilled butterflied leg of lamb and served it with a chutney glaze), red wine (Malbec and a California Cab), smoked fish (that had been prepared in the bullet the weekend before), and a bottle of Wagner Riesling Ice Wine, served with two versions of Susan's signature pecan pie. In a generous concession to the ladies, I served a bottle of Proseco with the appetizers, giving the gals the choice of a Kir Royale if they wanted a touch of glamour. One of the gals, apparently familiar with our reluctance to serve white wine, brought a bottle of chilled chardonnay, which I was happy to pour, in an effort to display tolerance and a touch of gender diversity to the proceedings. (But honestly, white wine at the whisky lovers ball? At least no one asked for a lemondrop martini.)
We poured a selection of outstanding malts through the evening. Stacy fell in love with the Aberlour 16, which I must admit, is a wonderful standard bearer for the Speyside malts. I opened a Macallan 17; my friend Tony was drinking HP18; and I offered Dr. Ron a pour of A'Bunadh, because he's a bourbon guy, and that malt is so rich and caramelly that it resembles some of the better bourbons. After dinner, we went smoky, and drank Lagavulin, Laphroaig, Talisker 175, and even a touch of Ardbeg Uigeadail. Everyone went crazy for the 175, but how surprising could that have been?
A couple weeks ago, before disaster hit, I was at Danny's and told him that there are only two places in Rochester where I really love to drink malts. His house and mine. I mean Rochester is not New York or Boston, and we don't have any Keens or Last Hurrah. So while there are plenty of spots where one can enjoy a glass of good whisky, there's no place in town where one could start the evening with Macallan's 17, and then finish things off with an incomparable pour of Talisker 175. Which makes me realize that the day is almost done, and before long, on a Wednesday night, we'll have another one of those occasions when a bartender pours some scotch into a glass, neat, and the party begins. Cheers; salute; l'chaim; here's looking at you, kid.
posted by pops | 5:47 PM
3 Comments:
Nice posting.
Now lets move to the hard core members of this blog.
The 2009 Baseball season.
As a less than satisfied Yankee fan over the last 3 seasons I continue to pound my chest in 2009. This includes redemption at the 2nd Annual 'Haters Ball' at Keen's in NYC. There will not be white wine served.
I like the 2009 Yankees the pieces finally fit together. Barring a seismic shift they will play Detroit (maybe Twins) with a very good team ERA. Fortunately the Yanks are 4-2 against and will have home field.
In the case of the redsox they are playing very well and could go on a major streak. They are currently 3rd in the RPI behind the Yankees and LAD. What they need to do is make a statement in the middle of the month when the LAA come to Fenway. The LAA are not as good as prior years but the redsox have not played well (2-4 against them this year. Empathy (to a limited degree) from a Yankee fan who has no love of the LAA.
So I am counting my chickens, let's set a date for Keen's. The WS will end no later than Thursday Nov. 5th. I purpose the 7th, 14th or 21st of November or we could slide into December 5th. We all have busy family and business schedules so let's look at our calendars and narrow down the dates.
A Happy Yankee Fan,
G-man
G,
Good suggestion. I will e-mail Danny and the boys, but I seem to recall that the Sunday before Thanksgiving was the best for all of us bergs.
As for the Angels, we always play them poorly during the regular season, but have had to play through them the last three times we went to the ALCS. So it could look like old times this fall, that is if the Sox can hold it together for one more month.
I still need to double back and expand the post on the Ballechin. Look for that within the next few days.
Great time had by all at the Whiskey Lovers Ball. We even introduced a few Rums which have become my latest dalliance when I am not drinking our beloved elixir. Specifically for those readers who may wish to dabble with a beverage and cigar I recommend Ron Zacapa 23 yr old, Pyrot Rum (either the Pistol or the XO) and Zaya 12 yr old. Some day I hope G-Man is in town for one of these happenings.
Baseball. I have been noticeably (I hope) absent from the discussion for several reasons. First and foremost I have watched little of the games this year as I came to the conclusion that I was jinxing the boys (I never thought I'd live to admit this). I watched all through the first half and we stunk the joint up. As I religiously stayed away (I would watch only innings in which we were at the plate) or skip multiple innings we began to win again. I refuse to change the mojo now.
As for the Haters Ball which I would NEVER skip an inning of, I will be in NYC over the Halloween weekend. So a little push away from that would be nice. At the moment all weekends however are in play....daled
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