Another week is over.

Wow talk about time flying the week has come and gone. The rain I am afraid is staying , not that I mind the rain its just that of late the persistent hard downpour is scaring my dogs.
Nothing like being woken by a 50kg Labrador trying to get into your bed at 3 in the morning.
Ahh well at least we can have a wee dram to keep the chill away.

Tuesday I ventured up the west coast to visit with Darelle Scheepers a new friend to Mc Beth on Whisky, she had gathered 20 or so keen souls to taste whisky, network and basically have a good time. On arriving I was greeted by 2 blokes in tuxedos, I was a little concerned by this as I generally do things quite low scale and informal.

I was soon put to ease as Darelle arrived and explained they were only the butlers ( her colleagues I believe) and that it was not a black tie event.
Shoo it has been a while since I had been up the coast and much has changed as far as development is concerned. What has remained though is the warm hospitality and the friendly people.
I waffled on a bit about the history of whisky trying to remove the myths and preconceived ideas. I did a straight comparison between 3 Irish malts and 3 Scotch malts.

1 Murray Mc David Ben Nevis 1999
A dry hay like nose I said library book on the night as they looked like a learned bunch, and were, young and fiery with promise its youth still struggling to find balance on the palate good barley and complex oak.
2 Greenspot
Now for those that are in the know they were very fortunate to sample such a fine pure pot still whiskey as it is not available in SA. It had a lovely clean light and fruity nose , mouthwatering with a touch of eucalyptus and tons of honey to a subtle soft lingering finish.
3 Tyrconnel Single malt.
A rich vanilla nose with baker mix of almonds and castor sugar. So chewy and moreish on the palate with a late spicy buzz on the palate and an eternal finish.
4 The Speyside 12 Years Old
Rich caramel, sherry and loads of Orange and good spice of cloves and nutmeg on the nose with a sweet subtle yet still immature palate for its age a rugged and rich compote of dark plums.
5 Bushmills 10 Years Old
Hints of vanilla with sherry indecision on the nose. the palate is soft sweet barley sugar and fuller spice finish ,the complexity though is lost maybe because of the third distillate.
6 Smokehead
Rich fresh lemon zest with dark plum and tar smoke and more smoke and brimstone.
A sweet luscious malt that still fighting the smoke and peat with as subtle sea breeze.

It must be said that this was not a peatfreak crowd although there certainly were 2 definite converts and one lady who assured me that she was not a whisky drinker and had tried thousands before, she conceded that maybe she had overlooked whisky for too long and was ready to investigate once more. Two others still cannot believe that anyone could possibly like peat.
A great evenings work , I headed home through a rather misty highway all along thinking that next I should probably stay over night.