I've often heard many whisky enthusiasts say: "I'm not allowed to buy anymore whisky until I get rid of a few bottles" or "My wife says I'm not allowed to build a bigger storage area". I have to say that having a partner who is just as passionate as I am leads us completely down the other path. I look at Graham and say: "There's no more room in my bookshelf". He scratches his head and builds me shelves. He looks at me while we are on vacation and says: "Do we want this bottle", and I don't even look over. "You want it, get it". You can see the dilemma right? There is... NO VOICE OF REASON!
Now mind you we do try to have limits (try...) so our spending habits have changed slightly in the last few years. We are more selective with our whisky purchases and have many less bottles open then we did 5 years ago. Looking back at 2016 and what we bought, I was quite satisfied with our choices and only had one small disappointment overall. Not bad, I say...
As mentioned in a previous post when tasting the whiskies in the advent calendar, I knew I was going to be in trouble and promised myself I would limit my purchases to 3. Many of whiskies in the Secret Spirits calendar were pretty stellar but I managed to narrow it down to the ones I really wanted a full bottle of. Wemyss Marmalade Appeal, Glenrothes 27 year old.
Number 3 on my top 12 of 2016 easily slides into this position for two reasons:
1. These bottles are rarely available in Canada and I usually have to wait until a trip to Scotland or the kindness of #whiskyfabric to get these, so I'm super excited to have this one in our collection.
2. This whisky was truly a stellar dram and next to Velvet Fig (which I miss very much), this is the best of the Wemyss Malts I've ever tried.
Serge Valentin (Malt Maniacs) as well as www.whiskyfun.com rates this particular bottling 4 stars. (I highly respect his opinion).
My review was here as part of the advent fun I participated in:
http://whiskylassie.blogspot.ca/2016/12/day-21-wemyss-glenrothes-27-year-old.html
Whiskies that make the "world" stop for a few minutes are a rarity. I come across these every once and awhile and absolutely cherish them. There were very few bottles of this Wemyss (688 I believe)... and I consider myself extremely lucky to be getting one.
To Emma, Karen, Jacqueline, Ginny, and the rest of the team that works extremely hard at Wemyss Malts: Keep up the good work. Every whisky enthusiast should be so lucky to own a few good bottles from this independent company.
Cheers!
Lassie
So many of my whisky friends have pledged to have a dry January. Today is only the 5th day of the new year and already some of them seem to be awfully grumpy. I suppose it's not helping that I as well as others are posting all the lovely whiskies we are drinking and in my case I'm quite the opposite in thinking as every year my challenge is to get rid of as many whisky heels (bottles 2/3 empty) by the end of January. It helps that I have many friends and a mid month party to help me accomplish that. I assure you we don't spend the entire month of January in a whisky induced haze. If anything, our consumption is done on a much more moderate basis as we seem to limit ourselves to 1 to 2 drams and not even every evening. As a matter of fact, I haven't had a whisky since January 2nd. So, it's not like we are obsessed with getting rid of the whisky by any means.
Dry January? Now I know some people do it as a fundraiser, that's fine but for those who are not I was a bit perplexed so I did a bit of research and found that many health professionals are in agreement when they say that for the heavy to moderate drinker this "dry January thing" is total bull feces and if anything will only cause some people to drink more for the rest of the year. Overindulgence during the holidays leads to an overtired liver and bloated tummy and so I get it, some people are on a perpetual food/alcohol hangover so they think by crying out: That's it, I'm going to detox and drink not a drop of alcohol for the entire month of January!" they are doing their body good. But the reality is, they are not.
They spend a month of abstinence staring obsessively at the date they can pour their first of many whiskies and statistics show February 1st is now one of the busiest days for pubs and bars.
Wouldn't it simply make more sense to take the time to consciously make it a point to drink in moderation let's say 360 days a year or better yet, maybe designate one day a week as alcohol free? That would be 52 days of sober/year and a weekly detox for your liver all in the name of good health and moderation without giving up on something you enjoy doing. It really shouldn't have to be feast or famine, should it? Just sayin people, just sayin...
Good luck to all the lot of you who have decided to try this but with that said today I'm starting my month of #heelslaying. Out with the old, time to clean out the bar and finish off some of those whiskies I've been desperately clutching to for whatever reason. Last year's total was 26. How far will I get this year, with a little help from all my friends of course :)
FAIR WARNING - Many photos of my heelslaying will appear on facebook and twitter so beware you poor dried out souls, it's going to be a tough month. For the rest of you I issue a challenge! Holding on to that last sip of Yamazaki 18 for a special occasion or the 124 samples sitting in a cardboard box full of dust? YEAH THOSE, it's time to get rid of them and get your #heelslayer on. Have fun, be safe and post those photos. Share your empties as well as your memories with me please!
Friendly competitions always welcomed. Might even consider sending a rare sample out to anyone who beats me :) Cheers all and have a great January no matter where or how you choose to live it.
Let the #heelslaying begin!
Johanne
