My website is now three months old, that calls for a celebration! Waiter, whisky!
I get older but they stay the same age…of course I’m referring to my favourite aged single malts, but it could apply to another word starting with the letter W.
Talisker. Oban. Macallan. Lagavulin. Laphroaig. Glenlivet. Glenmorangie. Jameson. Dimples. Dalwhinnie. Special occasion? Maybe some Johnny Walker King George V. Something local? Maybe some Limeburners. Whisky is a fantastic drink and for every occasion. You can have your “everyday-ers”, you have your “I want something more than average but I’m not drinking that yet” and then you have the ones that you really want to savour, the ones you have with nothing else because you truly want to consume every sensation that arises.
A quick whisky lesson, the main difference between scotch/whisky and whiskey is geographic, but also in the ingredients and down to the UK vs US spelling war. Scotch is whisky made in Scotland, while whiskey is made in America, think Jack Daniels, and bourbon is a type of whiskey. Scotch is made mostly from malted barley, while bourbon is distilled from corn. If you’re in England and ask for a whisky, you’ll get Scotch, but if in Ireland, you’ll get Irish whiskey, like Jameson.
However, I’m not going to bore you with a history lesson on whisky, or in less developed places, whiskey. I jest, but Scotland is the place for whisky, both literally and geographically.
When we think of Scotland, we probably think of this:
I love Scotland, I can’t wait to go there and I have plans to cover the entire North Coast 500 in a drive holiday that includes England, Ireland and Wales. I think Skellige from The Witcher 3 is heavily influenced on Scotland. There’s this place I’ve recently come across along the NC500 called “The Torridon” (https://www.thetorridon.com), and it has a dedicated Whisky (and Gin) bar that has more single malts than days of the year. I know where I’m stopping on my next holiday! Plus, it is a 5-star luxury hotel which suits me perfectly.
And, as I finish writing this post after several nips of Dimples 15 year old, whisky is truly the nectar of the gods, it not only keeps me warm on a cold day, but I think it makes me a more likeable person haha!