On March 25th, Donald MacKenney passed away at the age of 82. He was Graham's great uncle. A bachelor who never married or had children of his own. He loved to cook, he loved to tell corny jokes and he loved his nieces and nephews dearly. Uncle Donnie as we called him, was the patriarch of the MacKenney clan.
Now, those of you who know me know that I'm a huge proponent of opening your whiskies now, while you are here and able to enjoy them. I always cringe when I hear people say: "Oh, I'm saving that one for a special occasion". Why do we need special occasions to open some of these? Isn't the fact that we are here, in the present, enough? Those were the questions I always pondered in my head but never said out loud.
In late April when we were helping clean out uncle Donnie's house, we found several old bottles of liquor in the basement. George (Graham's dad) looked at a few of them and asked if Graham and I wanted an old ceramic crock of Ballantine's that was tucked away under the bar. Apparently, Donnie had been holding on to it for a special occasion. I shook my head... Another example of the "special occasion" that never came. Graham examined the crock and thanked his dad. When we got it home, we examined it a bit closer. It was filthy, covered in years of dirt and neglect. We did a bit of research and discovered that it was from the 1960's but we had no idea what the condition of the liquid was like inside.
Donnie's was cleaned, everything was gone and the house was ready to be sold. Life... moved on. I went to Scotland, spent an amazing 3 weeks there. Graham stayed home and got the boat ready for launch. The next thing we knew it was the 3rd week of June and father's day was around the corner. We invited everyone over for a family dinner. George, Micky, Colin and his fiance Stephanie. After the meal, Graham went downstairs and brought up the Ballantine's. He poured everyone a dram and then surprised us with the whiskies. Jokingly Graham warned us this could be most horrible and so we raised our glasses to the memory of Donnie. In silence we drammed. George had a few tears in his eyes, which of course caused the rest of us to get a bit emotional as well. My father in law took very good care of his uncle in those last years of his life. It's what family does and I could not be prouder to be part of this one. The whisky, by the way, was absolutely sublime.
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| Donald MacKenney |
We all took turns telling stories about Donnie that night, we laughed and we truly enjoyed this very old and special whisky. I had a bit of an epiphany. I realized that even though I'm a staunch believer in opening and enjoying my whiskies, we would have never had the chance to try the Ballantine's the way we did if Donnie was of the same mindset. The reality is, the special occasion in this case, was Donnie himself.
I will likely never drink all the whiskies we have in our collection, mind you we will try our best ;) But I do know, that there is some comfort in knowing there just might be a few bottles left over that will be opened and toasted in my own honour when I leave this place we call earth.
As always, my thought is share those whiskies with the people you love now, but... now I'll add: Maybe hold on to a few just in case you know people who might appreciate raising a toast in your honour once you pass.
Cheers and can't wait to tell you what lies ahead for the rest of the top 12...
Lassie
As I have mentioned before this year has been beyond educational. I have gone coast to coast and attended 10 different whisky events. Over the course of 2013, I have had the utmost pleasure and honor to meet: Lawrence Graham, Oliver Klimek, Tim Puet, Mark Gillespie, Charles MacLean, Peter Silver, Dave Broom, Ralfy Mitchell (retired). Add Davin de Kergommeaux & Martine Nouet and I've met 1/3 of the malt maniacs of the world. I am the ultimate whisky geek!
They all seem to have one thing in common: The belief and desire to help anyone on their whisky journey. In my opinion it is what sets them apart. Although Oliver and I befriended each other on Facebook and Twitter we had not met in person. He advised me in late 2012 that he was coming to Canada and I was elated. Of all the people I looked forward to meeting, he was at the top of that list. I find his sense of humor quite hilarious and he's got a great palate/nose that I highly respect. So, meet with did. He came to the Victoria Whisky Festival in January and we spent much time together going to some of the same classes or simply hanging out afterward. Mr. Klimek is almost 100% the same personality you get to see on social media and that means much to me. It is simply refreshing to meet someone face to face and have their personas match the virtual world.
Something I suspect is a tradition between bloggers or friends is to bring whisky samples when travelling to meet others and so of course we obliged as well. We exchanged samples in Victoria and I came home with several lovely little 50ml sample bottles.
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It wasn't until April that I had a chance to start opening them. I came across one marked Johnnie Walker Red - 1960's. I recall staring at it and thinking WTF? Then I remembered the conversation Oliver and I had. He felt that the whiskies from days of old were sometimes 10X better than the whiskies of today. Having never tasted them, I think I was skeptical. Whisky is whisky, is it not? Well, not really...
I discovered by doing a head to head with JW Red from today against the JW Red of the 60's - Not even close... and I've discovered that a few times since. Lot 40 Canadian whisky, Greenore 8 Irish whisky, Talisker & Macallan's 10 year old bottled in the 70's, etc...
And so dram #4, Johnnie Walker Red from the 1960's started a new obsession for me... Try the whiskies from the yester' years. Don't mistake what I'm saying: Not old whiskies... but whiskies bottled in the "olden" years.
In November another opportunity presented itself when Igor Kossov took Graham and I aside at Whisky Live Toronto and said: "No... no, come over here and meet Joe". The next thing I know we have a date for the next day at the Via Allegro restaurant with Igor.
http://viaallegroristorante.com/spirits
Igor explained it was an amazing place to see/try some interesting whiskies. Sounds cool I thought. The next day when we arrived with Rick Culver, I got out of the car seriously thinking we were at the wrong address. It was a non-descriptive strip mall with several store fronts... "This is a special place for whiskies??" I was very skeptical until we walked in.
With over 1000 whiskies in their collection, needless to say I was in whisky heaven. They brought over the book (which was thicker than the Gutenberg Bible) and Graham and I proceeded to look and drool over the immense catalogue. After much deliberation and a bit of help from Igor we all settled in with food, espresso, whisky or a combination thereof. It was a full afternoon of relaxation, fantastic company, amazing whiskies and most importantly great conversations. I feel like we've known Igor for years. He is beyond wise, smart as whip and truly a whisky enthusiast and lover. In my heart, he is the epitome of a Malt Maniac. So between he and Oliver my eyes were opened and my nose/palate introduced to some lovely whiskies from days of old. Yet another memorable experience that affected me deeply for 2013. Back to that Johnnie Walker Red from the 60's. IT WAS DELISH. (I can't even swallow the stuff from today?!!)
I wish you all the opportunity to try something that was made/bottled in those early years. They are truly a rare and beautiful experience to have, even more so with friends. Here's to the days of yore!
Lassie
