Day 22 Advent Calendar - Ode to Bob...

Our house has been fairly busy this last week and Graham and I were fighting off some sort of bug. I had been feeling a bit sluggish and really achy. This morning was no different. My knees creaked a bit as I planted my feet on the cold floor and as I searched for my slippers in my semi-conscious state I could feel a twinge in my lower back. "Getting old sucks" I said out loud at the cat, who of course simply blinked and went back to sleep. I wandered quietly down the stairs and poked my finger through door 22. I did a bit of a double take and couldn't quite believe my eyes. I read it and then spelled it out loud just to make sure: C-A-M-B-U-S. What happened next, I can't print... It was a slew of expletive language that even now, my mother would slap me behind the head for... 

This is a unicorn dram for me... Something I never thought I would get to experience in my lifetime. Cambus was a Stirling Scotland grain distillery from the early 1800's that closed forever in 1993. Grain whiskies are often exquisite, especially those that have spent much time in the barrel. I carefully poured just a little in my glass and proceeded to nose/taste it. My train of thought immediately drifted to distilleries of days gone by and how fortunate I have been in these 32 years o whisky imbibing to have experienced so many of their wonderful whiskies. Then an image popped into my head. A moment in time with my friend Bob Rae who we lost in May 2015. Bob... a friend of days gone by. It was difficult not to tear up as I remembered some of the great moments we had shared. He and his wife Daphne showing up in a snowstorm to a "party" we had cancelled, but Bob said: "Nonsense" and showed up anyway. There we were the four of us, spending a fabulous evening talking, sharing drams and laughing while the blizzard raged on. That was the last time I saw Bob.

I went to work but thought of Bob all day. When I got home, we had errands to run and things that needed to get done. I didn't get back to the whisky until much later. I got into my pj's, got a warm fuzzy blanket and proceeded to finally make notes about the Cambus. 

Adelphi Cambus 1988, Single grain whisky, 27 year old at 48% ABV. Bourbon refill cask #59353. 

Colour: Another really pale whisky. Barely there yellow!

Nose: Powdered sugar on an apple danish. Creamy, buttery and sweet.

Palate: Delicate, silky. Vanilla pound cake but with of a Madeira cream sauce. 

Finish: Not as sweet as the nose and palate and it has a bit of a strange aftertaste... a bit "plasticky"? 

Overall this was a very good dram, except the finish threw me off completely. I'm happy I got to try it, but I didn't find this one as balanced as many of the other drams in the calendar. The great part of the discovery is how it made me remember a friend from days gone by.

If you'd like to see what Jonathan thought: 

www.singlemalting.com

Dr. Robert Rae - We miss you dearly my friend

Can't wait to see what is next... and here's to the memory of distilleries and friends gone but never forgotten.

Lassie

Day 17...I bet your advent calendar isn't as good as mine!! Invergordon 26 year old

What a little stinker I am sometimes and I've often been called cheeky too! What can I say, it's simply in my nature sometimes to engage mouth while brain is not in gear...  This was not the case this morning while having a conversation on Facebook messenger at 7:15am. I had made my cup of coffee and I was surfing social media, just checking out stuff when a message popped up in messenger from a "follower" asking me if I had opened door 17 year. I replied with "two shakes, I'll go do that now" and proceeded to run down the stairs. Another fab discovery: Wemyss Malts, 26 year old Invergordon. When I got back to my computer I announced with an exclamation mark what I had found. Things... took a turn for the worse almost from the get go. Whomever this person was proceeded to argue with me that Wemyss wasn't a distillery to which I explained how they were a great independent bottler. 

Poor soul tried to teach me about whisky a little and I listened but continued to point him to authors, websites and other factual information that would help him learn a little better. You would think he would get exasperated, but nope, he must have been in the mood to simply argue with someone, why me though is beyond my comprehension? "I have an advent calendar too you know", he typed. "Oh", I replied, "That's awesome". There was a 5 minute pause so I assumed he had grown tired of the conversation. I say nothing else and another message pops up: "Yours is really crappy". So I tell him, like whisky, that is a subjective opinion and thank him for the morning conversation. END of discussion... and on to other more important things. Way to go Lassie!!!  

Whisky, for some, seems to be about upmanship and bragging rights but for me it's a journey that I've chosen to share with as many like minded people as possible. The conversation only reinforces how lucky I am to have an open mind, appreciate all the mentors and friends I've had a long my way and to truly appreciate the whiskies that I get to enjoy.  Here's to your own whisky journey, wherever it may be for you.

Wemyss Malts Applewood Bake, Invergordon 26 year old. 46% ABV, Cask Type - Butt, cask #86239

Colour: The last of the summer hay

Nose: Upside down apple french toast with powdered vanilla sugar. Scrumptious indeed

Palate: Some sort of baked apple concoction that has custard (I can see it in my head!!) Sweet, tart and rich!

Finish: A bit of a eucalyptus or minty finish. It's fresh but doesn't linger for long.

I have to say from the time I was introduced to Wemyss in 2013 I have enjoyed many, MANY of their releases. They have a fantastic nosing/tasting panel that really get the whiskies and give them fantastic names. Every trip to Scotland has involved buying 2 if not 3 bottles from this independent bottler. Simply fab and Jonathan, I can't tell you how thankful I am to get to try some of these in the advent calendar.

And speaking of Jonathan...  what did he think of today's dram:  www.singlemalting.com

I said yesterday that this could end up being an expensive Christmas... I think I just found the second full bottle I would really love "Jonathan Santa"... I WANT THIS ONE PLEASE!

To the rest of you, I hope you are enjoying whatever dram you love and that you are sharing them with the people you love.  Cheers from a snowy Saint John NB...  Happy day 17!

Lassie

Lassie's top 10 memorable drams for 2015 - #7 Glitter giggles

If you had or have small kids I know you know what I know... GLITTER.... makes you cringe!!! You can't get rid of that crap for years??!??? Speaking of crap ;) why or how this was started is beyond me but these are on the market and yes... they make you poop glittery?!

These are $7.00/two capsules but you can also buy the ones that have 24K gold for $750/capsule and apparently are a hot item on the Asian market. Who knew this was the new definition of luxury?

PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFTTT! Marketing bullshit can apparently sell just about anything these days....

Case in point. I'm about to sprinkle a bit of glittery poop on Haig Club so if you are a huge fan, stop reading now and go do something else ok...

David Beckham (some soccer dude) and Simon Fuller (some bigwhig who created reality tv show Idol something or other) got together and partnered with Diageo to launch Haig Club. Interestingly enough this isn't the first time Diageo links up with celebrity status. Diddy Combs, Justin Timberlake and George Clooney = Tequila. Not a stupid move by any means since celebrity status brings a wider audience and appeal right? I mean after all if David Beckham dressed in is Armani suit drinks Haig Club, then damn it I'm going to put on my Jimmy Choo's and pour myself a tall glass of that stuff too!!! With celebrity status, HUGE marketing budgets for ads, videos and coming out parties around the world, the stuff in the fancy and mysterious cologne bottle, errr I mean whisky bottle is bound to be expensive? Well in the UK it retails for under £45. That's $100 Canadian...

I tried it... it's good but was it $100 good, nope. 

Meanwhile there was a dram I tried and loved in February 2015 at a whisky festival in Kingston Ontario. I believe they were the first whisky festival in Canada to showcase this one and then I was fortunate enough to try it again in March at Celebrate Whisky in Halifax Canada. It's half the price of Haig Club and in my opinion, twice as better. So value for money = excellent. It's less than $50 Canadian = less than £25. And you know what else... unlike Haig Club, it's available in Canada. Needless to say I bought two bottles for that price tag ;)

Ladies and gents:  

Bain's Cape Mountain Whisky, 43% ABV

100% grain whisky made at the James Sedgwick Distillery by highly respected master distiller Andy Watts in... South Africa (yup, you read that correctly my friends). 

Nose: My first thought was creamy MacIntosh toffee bars (from my childhood) and as it develops in the glass it turns into a creamy vanilla custard.

Palate: Sweet grains (reminded me a bit of a young bourbon) then with a few drops of water it softened the oaky aspect I was getting. Lots of ginger spiciness too!

Finish: This one lingers for a long time. It was a bit drying at first and then came the spices and warming sensation. From start to finish this is a well balanced and lovely dram. 

No fancy expensive bottle, no David Beckham 10 Million dollar deal, invitation to a big party or Jimmy Choo shoes but you will get excellent value for a great grain whisky! 

Because honestly most of us don't like anything with glitter anyway...

LASSIE ENJOYING BAIN'S ON WORLD WHISKY DAY!