And at last there is Whisky

Finally. A post about Whiskey. Or rather Whisky. I love both. According to our good friends at Wikipedia:

Whisky or whiskey refers to a broad category of alcoholic beverages that are distilled from fermented grain mash and aged in wooden casks (generally oak). Different grains are used for different varieties, including barley, malted barley, rye, malted rye, wheat, and maize (corn).

With few exceptions, the spelling is always Scotch and Canadian whisky (plural: whiskies), and Irish and American whiskey (whiskeys).^[1]

For Christmas I got a really nice bottle of Scotch, The Macallan Cask Strength Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky - thanks Chris! I had a quick taste of it when I got it, but never really delved too deeply into the bottle.


So when my lovely and charming wife went out dinner with some of her running friends, I took the opportunity to spend some time with a nice bottle of scotch. My good friend Bessom generously donated his time and efforts to help me explore the bottle. We. poured some into my brandy snifters, another recent Christmas gift - the perfect shape to drink fine liquors out of.

So how is it? In short - delicious. This is a cask strength (116.8 proof) whisky that has been aged in a sherry oak cask. The color is reddish gold and the initial smell is very alcohol-y and strong with a floral scent. The first sip is very strong due to the high proof and surprisingly fruity.

We quickly added a little water to the glass, and it became even more enjoyable. The whisky really opened up and without all of the alcohol taste we could pick out more individual flavors of flowers and especially honey. It was quite excellent. It's heady stuff and not something that I will drink every day. I plan to take a sip from time to time and savor it.