Ahh, whisky my old friend!
A few nights ago I had my first glass of whisky in 8 weeks. And it tasted good! When my daughter was born, I celebrated with a dram of 16 year old Lagavulin (naturally), a favourite of mine as well as Ron Swanson from Parks & Rec. Then came the whirlwind of 8 weeks of newborn during which I pretty much scaled back to low abv beer to survive. Finally, with my wife and daughter asleep I turned the lights down low, put on some chill-out music (Air) and poured myself a finger of Kilchoman matured in a Red Wine Cask (Douro Valley, Portugal) that I picked up from the distillery on Islay when we visited in 2018.
Drinking an Islay whisky transports me there, one of my happy places that I've visited 5 times now. With Kilchoman in particular I picture their unique farm distillery, inland from the coast and with its smaller stills it has a very different feel to it than the other distilleries on the island. Pour in some water to dilute from cask strength and release the volatiles, enjoy seeing the oils slightly precipitate out since it's non chill filtered. Tasting notes on the sleeve:
Colour: Rich heather honey
Nose: Buttery and creamy with peat smoke lingering in the background.
Palate: Sweet and rounded with bitter chocolate, liquorice and integrated peat smoke.
Finish: Clean and sweet with a rich texture and long finish.
Take a deep breath of the aroma from my favourite whisky tumbler, drink the first sip, letting it linger on my palate before sliding down my throat, enveloping me with warmth. I feel myself relaxing from the day and the immediate demands of being a new parent. I allow myself to catch up with some friends on my phone then turn to my new book, “Peace Talks”, the much anticipated (and waited for) next book in the Harry Dresden series by Jim Butcher.
Part way down Page 1 I hear a stir in the bedroom. The book will have to wait but it was nice to drink a whisky again in the quiet of the night.
Entry 27 of my participation in the “100 Days to Offload” challenge – find out more and join in!
2020-08-27 #100DaysToOffload #whisky #Islay #reading