In Praise Of Scotch Whisky

  • Bunnahabhain (boon-a-havn). First step to heaven. The mildest of the Islay options, for those who wish to tread softly into peat and smoke.
  • Glenmorangie (glen-mor-n-jey). The Lasanta. WOW! My default choice.
  • Auchentoshan. Rare in many ways. One of the few distilleries operating in Scotland's Lowland region. Triple distilled. Subtle.
  • The Famous Grouse. A blend, including The Macallan and Highland Park.
  • Bowmore (boh-mor). Legend. 10 years old. Smokey extravaganza! One of the oldest distilleries in Scotland and the oldest Islay single malt. My favorite top-off after whatever whisky I'm drinking on a particular evening.
  • Aberlour. An ultra-dark speyside, aged 12 years in oak and sherry casks. Ooooh so smooth!
  • Old Pulteney. 12 years old. Clean and smooth as you would expect from a maritime offering.
  • Tamdhu. A delicious Speyside offering that tastes a bit like my favorite Glenmorangie The Lasanta. Used extensively in blends, including The Famous Grouse, J&B, and Cutty Sark. Apparently the distillery was shuttered in April 2010. Should I hoard the bottles that are still available in stores?
  • Laphroaig. The king of smoke. It doesn't get any nastier than this. Pour this Islay dram when you're ready for that knockout punch!
  • The Speyside. An excellent example of delicious Speyside nectar.
  • Bruichladdich Rocks. An unpeated Islay. An oxymoron? And how does one order this in a bar -- Rocks on the rocks? ;-)
  • Ardbeg. Water of Life. Perhaps the smoothest of the Islay offerings. My favorite Islay.
  • The Macallan. Cask Strength. Only a top notch distillery can make 60% alcohol taste like maple syrup! Do not miss this gem. My favorite single malt.
  • Cutty Sark. A truly delicious blend. My favorite among the blends. They recently changed the bottle design. So, save the old one, if you have it.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Milwaukee Appliance Hand Truck

Image
Milwaukee Appliance Hand Truck, leaning against my shed Also known as a cart or a dolly. The model is HDA700. I paid around $120 for it. Here's a list of the features. Wrought iron frame 800 pound load capacity 6 inch non-marking wheels (solid, non-inflatable, never go flat) Stair climbers to help move loads up and down stairs and curbs Padding to prevent the cart from damaging the appliance (this is the white strip in the picture above) Belt or strap that goes around the appliance to secure it to the cart and keep it in place Manual ratchet belt tightener, the buckle-like part at one end of the belt (more on this below) Belt tightener handle (this is the red handle in the picture above) to add more tension to the belt once the manual ratchet has been used to the tighten the belt  I recently used this hand truck to move a big ass 320 pound refrigerator out of my garage (where it was delivered) and up a couple of steps to the deck, up one more step through the doubl...
Read more

My Experiments with the PICAXE 08M2+

Image
PICAXE 08M2+ I generally prefer to do things the hard way. For example, you can either microwave a frozen dinner or cook from scratch. The microwave option is a good backup plan, but cooking from scratch has far too many advantages, as I outlined in a recent blog post on the do-it-yourself way of life. In the electronics and robotics world, the analogy of cooking from scratch is to build circuits using a bare bones micro-controller chip (e.g. the PICAXE ) rather than a fancy board (e.g. the Arduino ). Therefore, once I get a circuit working with the packaged Arduino approach (e.g. this robot I built recently), I usually try to replicate the circuit using more basic components like the PICAXE. My decision to consider the PICAXE was influenced by Charles Platt's coverage of it in his awesome book Make: Electronics . But essentially, I am a minimalist and I want to see how much I can get done with a bare bones chip rather than a bulky board-based micro-controller like the Ar...
Read more

Utility trailer buying guide

Image
Introduction I recently bought a utility trailer . (I'll explain momentarily what that is and why you might consider buying one.) Going through the process (research, preparation, purchase, registration, setup and maintenance) has taught me that it's not a simple endeavor and very little good documentation exists in the public domain (e.g. on the Internet). Hence, this post. Research In dictionary terms, of course, "to trail" means "to follow" (or to trace the path of a primary vehicle). Alternately, Wikipedia defines a trailer as an unpowered vehicle pulled by a powered vehicle. So, let's get acquainted with what a utility trailer is and why you might consider buying one. If you're a hardworking, blue collar American you probably already have one -- it's the back half of your pickup truck . Well not quite, but that's the reason Australians refer to a pickup as a utility vehicle. A pickup is characterized by the presence of a flat...
Read more