These days my second round almost always seems to end up at Barolo.
Hwasan pear and cheese
There’s a pear variety called Hwasan, and the sweetness and the crisp bite are outstanding. A cut above the usual Singo pear.
New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc
Barolo never misses with its wine picks.
Balblair 1983, 30 years old
Balblair is one of the key malts in Ballantine’s. It was used mainly as a key malt for a long time, then around 2013 it started releasing single malts in earnest, and this is one of the top models from back then. You can really tell how much care the distillery put into it — the case and the bottle are so beautiful that I reached for it on impulse, never mind how it tasted. Should a whisky even be allowed to look this good?
The leaflet
Took a photo to remember it by.
The back
I’ll have to sit down and read it properly later..
The bottle
The fact that it shows a soft brown even though it’s natural colour must be proof that it matured really well.. This whisky came out in 2013, and back then the mood was that since you could no longer get the famous 70s vintages, you might as well grab an 80s one instead. On top of that, official bottlings are lower in strength than CS, so they can taste a little tame.. but this one really is delicious.. There’s a bit of that soft Ballantine’s character to it, a fresh citrus aroma fills your nose, and it finishes heavy and salty.. It shows you the standard for what a high-end whisky ought to be.. You shouldn’t believe the old-timers who say such-and-such used to be legendary and there’s nothing like it these days — the world keeps on producing delicious whisky..
Then again, it hits me that people born in ’83 are 41 now.. I always thought of them as kids, and I wonder when all that time slipped by.. Life really is over in a flash..
GlenDronach 1993, oloroso sherry matured, The Whisky Hoop
I have no idea why GlenDronach has got so expensive lately, but it seems it’s no longer the whisky you drink because it’s cheap..
The bottle
The one I had this time was distilled in ’93 and aged 23 years — a thick sherry bomb, dark as soy sauce.. It was bottled by an enthusiasts’ club called The Whisky Hoop, and it was fairly well known even at the time.. It was a bit tight, so I added a splash of water and a gorgeous aroma came up; a dram where you could enjoy the flavour shifting in the glass. If you’re in the mood for a big sherried whisky, I highly recommend it..
Snacks
Snacks
I don’t think there’s anything happier than the time I spend drinking whisky, but it’s a shame I’m so busy I only get to do it once in a while. And so another good day goes by.
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