The Night Mail

[Tony_S]

8 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

has just been delivered with a request to sample it

Sounds pleasant. I only get requests for samples!

[Northmoor]

2 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

A bottle of Auchentoshan single malt whisky has just been delivered with a request to sample it and to give an opinion.

 

I know that to give a sensible appraisal, it will have to be rigorously and extensively tested.

 

As you can see, I live a simple and frugal existence when I'm not out pillaging the surrounding countryside for cake.

Auchentoshan doesn't always get the best reviews (although you never know whether they are "officianados" or not) so I'd be interested in how you find it.  I'm dividing my attention between an Ardbeg and an Aberlour at the moment.

[simontaylor484]

I may be a philistine to some on here but i do not see the attraction to whisky 

[Happy Hippo]

20 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

I may be a philistine to some on here but i do not see the attraction to whisky 

Nothing wrong with not liking something: I would never force my views on anyone, especially when it comes to alcohol.

 

I could not stomach whisky until I was getting into my late 30's.  Nyda detests the stuff.  She dislikes Gin as well.

 

I really do not like Lager, and only like Brandy in Christmas cake.

[Dave Hunt]

Bit of a downer of a day regarding Dad (full story over on ERs) and I'm beginning to fear the worst. However, nil desperandum I guess and I'm trying to keep the black dog in his kennel as it wouldn't help anyone if he got out.

Sorry to be a bit of a wet blanket.

 

Night all.

 

Dave 

[jamie92208]

1 hour ago, simontaylor484 said:

I may be a philistine to some on here but i do not see the attraction to whisky 

All the more for those of us that do.

 

6 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

Bit of a downer of a day regarding Dad (full story over on ERs) and I'm beginning to fear the worst. However, nil desperandum I guess and I'm trying to keep the black dog in his kennel as it wouldn't help anyone if he got out.

Sorry to be a bit of a wet blanket.

 

Night all.

 

Dave 

Very sory to hear that Dave, you  obviously need some Scottish Medecine. 

 

Jamie

[SM42]

4 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

 

And very, very messy!

 

Sounds like when the father in law painted our garden benches.

 

There was more paint on him than  the benches

 

 

39 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Nothing wrong with not liking something: I would never force my views on anyone, especially when it comes to alcohol.

 

I could not stomach whisky until I was getting into my late 30's.  Nyda detests the stuff.  She dislikes Gin as well.

 

I really do not like Lager, and only like Brandy in Christmas cake.

 

 

I was the opposite, went off Whisky / ey in my 20s.

 

Still have a bottle ( with an ey )  from my 21st birthday.  The contents must be pushing their mid 30s by now.

 

In my 30s vodka became my spirit of choice, but then I didn't have much choice.

 

I blame the father in law.

 

He leads me astray and I let him.

 

Rude not to really.

 

Andy

(who still hasn't got a replacement lamp)

[New Haven Neil]

1 hour ago, simontaylor484 said:

I may be a philistine to some on here but i do not see the attraction to whisky 

 

I was going to click 'agree', but then thought that looked like I agreed you were a philistine - and I don't want to fall out with you!  So I agree about whisky/ey, hate the stuff.

[PhilJ W]

I can take or leave whisky but as I'm now virtually teetotal I've almost forgotten what it tastes like.

[simontaylor484]

@New Haven Neil i wouldn't have been offended. Its the burn i cant stand. Anyhow i dont drink now too many tablets (all prescribed btw).

 

@Dave Hunt you and your family in our thoughts and prayers for a good outcome

[Northmoor]

3 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Nothing wrong with not liking something: I would never force my views on anyone, especially when it comes to alcohol.

 

I could not stomach whisky until I was getting into my late 30's.  Nyda detests the stuff.  She dislikes Gin as well.

 

I really do not like Lager, and only like Brandy in Christmas cake.

I almost gave up alcohol entirely from when we were expecting our first and neither of us got back into the habit.  I actually got asked by a Muslim doctor one June (during Ramadan), the usual smoking/drinking/exercise questions.   I replied that I'd drunk not much more that year than he would have done, I think I'd had about four units since New Year and just didn't miss it.

 

In the last year, some stories about an old friend who had just died, introduced me to the joys of Single Malt* Scotch.  It's a perfect drink for a secretly unreformed spotter like me; you can "collect" the different regions, distilleries, blends, plus the style of bottles and packaging are often works of art.  Reading about the history of the distilleries and all the varied techniques used is absorbing.  Like @simontaylor484 I could never stand the "burn" but have learned there is definitely a technique to drinking it which avoids it.  I have also learned that like in most things (beer and wine for sure), there are whisky snobs who tell you that real whisky drinkers like such and such (usually some smoky-tasting, throat-burning liquid that smells like drain cleaner and would probably be quite an effective but very expensive one).  Ignore them and drink what you like.

 

*Don't let snobs tell you there's anything wrong with a good blended malt, they are made from blending the same single malts they rave about.  Often some extremely good ones; there are some single malts which are hard to obtain because 98% of production goes into things like Bells, Famous Grouse etc.   Blended malt is like vanilla ice cream; it's possible to buy good and bad, depending on the quality of the ingredients, but if you only drink blended malt you'll only ever eat vanilla flavour ice cream.  Trying the different single malts is like trying all the other flavours of ice cream from all the artisan ice cream makers.

[jamie92208]

And of course if you like the single malts and appreciate them, it helps if you live in the Cognac region surrounded by artisan cognac producers.  The stuff is nothing like the big three, where again the majority of production goes. In fact it's so good that it has a problem,  wives like it and bottles go down twice as fast.

 

Jamie

Edited May 8, 2021 by jamie92208

[Happy Hippo]

 It's a bit wet outside this morning.

 

More of the Brownie points from yesterday are coming home to roost.

 

The neighbour whose doors I fixed asked Nyda if we'd like to go around and watch the Lions rugby matches which are going to be broadcast on Sky, and which we don't have.

 

We'll all be able to sit down and enjoy a match together because for once we'll be supporting the same side.

 

Since she used to run a cake shop, I'm sure that the refreshments will be top notch.

 

In other news, a friend mentioned the Heljan 7 mm scale AEC railcar.

 

I sent him the BRM review.

 

He bought one, and is very impressed.

 

His wife has now made me persona non grata.

 

 

[Dave Hunt]

Some years ago we went on a guided tour of the Caol Isla distillery on the northern tip of Islay and were told, like Northmoor, that a lot of the production went for blending. The guide, who was an ex-chief distiller, said that the most highly paid people in the whisky producing business are the chief blenders for the big names as they have to be able to produce the same taste year after year when the availability of the different distillations varies a lot.

 

He also told us that the supposed effect that local water supplies have on the taste of single malts is a myth and that in dry years his distillery had sometimes received deliveries of fresh water in tankers. The two things that do affect the taste more than anything else are how the barley is dried and the shape of the necks of the distillation vessels, which govern exactly what the distillate is. Apparently the latter is so important that when new distillation vessels are required it is common for the necks to be cut off and left in situ whilst new bodies are welded on underneath.

 

The most surprising thing, though, was that he was teetotal and had never tasted what he had spent a working lifetime producing, basing his judgement of the distillates purely on smell.

 

Dave

Edited May 8, 2021 by Dave Hunt

[Happy Hippo]

12 hours ago, SM42 said:

 

Sounds like when the father in law painted our garden benches.

 

There was more paint on him than  the benches

 

 

 

 

I was the opposite, went off Whisky / ey in my 20s.

 

Still have a bottle ( with an ey )  from my 21st birthday.  The contents must be pushing their mid 30s by now.

 

In my 30s vodka became my spirit of choice, but then I didn't have much choice.

 

I blame the father in law.

 

He leads me astray and I let him.

 

Rude not to really.

 

Andy

(who still hasn't got a replacement lamp)

Do you think that vodka may have been the origin of the bench painting debacle?

[Oldddudders]

2 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

In other news, a friend mentioned the Heljan 7 mm scale AEC railcar.

 

I sent him the BRM review.

 

He bought one, and is very impressed.

 

His wife has now made me persona non grata.

Why? They surely don't expect to be taking a pricey overseas holiday this year?

[SM42]

34 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Do you think that vodka may have been the origin of the bench painting debacle?

 

No just good old fashioned amateur enthusiasm coupled with a vague idea of how a paint brush works and which end you hold.

 

During the typing of this I have received a call from a mobile number. I have had several of these of late  that claim my National Insurance number has been compromised. I answered the first, not knowing who was calling and hung up when the recorded message started. They seem to think I may be fair game. I just ignore them now

 

They try a spoof number each time

The number is very similar to mine  each time and I fully expect me to ring myself at some point.

 

Andy

[SM42]

Uh oh!

 

It has just been decreed by the higher power that we are to go shopping. 

First to the farm shop for some garden  lantern type thing, to the butcher"s, to the supermarket and then to a large Swedish furniture retailer. 

This may be an expensive day.

 

I may even come home with a new lamp for the bench and I can do some late night modelling

 

Andy

 

In IKEA no one can hear you scream

Edited May 8, 2021 by SM42

[Stubby47]

No2 son has come home for a flying visit to meet his new nephew - yes, we became grandparents for the first time last weekend ( officially Nine & Taid).

However, with the announcement the all 800 units are currently grounded, his 08:45 train back to base ( via several changes) might now be replaced by dad's taxi services.

 

 

[PhilJ W]

1 hour ago, Stubby47 said:

No2 son has come home for a flying visit to meet his new nephew - yes, we became grandparents for the first time last weekend ( officially Nine & Taid).

However, with the announcement the all 800 units are currently grounded, his 08:45 train back to base ( via several changes) might now be replaced by dad's taxi services.

 

 

That must be pretty serious to take the whole fleet out of service all of a sudden.

[Oldddudders]

 

 

[Winslow Boy]

2 hours ago, SM42 said:

Uh oh!

 

It has just been decreed by the higher power that we are to go shopping. 

First to the farm shop for some garden  lantern type thing, to the butcher"s, to the supermarket and then to a large Swedish furniture retailer. 

This may be an expensive day.

 

I may even come home with a new lamp for the bench and I can do some late night modelling

 

Andy

 

In IKEA no one can hear you scream

 

And not even a meatball to sustain you.

[bbishop]

Plans disrupted by the rain and blockades.  I shall fill up the car then go for a possibly damp walk.  Worth noting the former as I last filled up before Christmas and the gauge only dropped into the red yesterday.  Next week I'm meeting my sister after five months to collect my Christmas cake.  The cake will be well matured, she doesn't stint the alcohol, less sure about the icing.  Meeting is fine because she had her second jab last week.

 

I'm not really a spirit drinker.  I can drink vodka but really don't see the point: it gives a bite to the mixer but I'm happy enough just drinking the mixer.  Whisky medicinally as a whisky mac so the cheapest hooch from Sainsbury's.  I'm not keen on brandy but will drink a brandy based liqueur.  Never, ever touched gin - I cannot stand the smell (and my mother was the same).

 

I love wine, especially a rough red, but the reverse is not true.  I'm liable to drink wine like beer, with the expected consequences - think Alice Carter!  So I usually stick to beer, haven't had a session for over a year but it would be a quick pint first then perhaps a pint an hour.  Fine with beer, not with wine!

 

However, speaking with my sister, we are both averaging less than three units a week during Covid.    Bill

[Happy Hippo]

1 hour ago, Stubby47 said:

No2 son has come home for a flying visit to meet his new nephew - yes, we became grandparents for the first time last weekend ( officially Nine & Taid).

However, with the announcement the all 800 units are currently grounded, his 08:45 train back to base ( via several changes) might now be replaced by dad's taxi services.

 

 

Nain-Taid is usually a yell from my Grandson who has not yet really gathered that it refers to two separate entities.

[Happy Hippo]

6 minutes ago, bbishop said:

Plans disrupted by the rain and blockades.  I shall fill up the car then go for a possibly damp walk.  Worth noting the former as I last filled up before Christmas and the gauge only dropped into the red yesterday.  Next week I'm meeting my sister after five months to collect my Christmas cake.  The cake will be well matured, she doesn't stint the alcohol, less sure about the icing.  Meeting is fine because she had her second jab last week.

 

I'm not really a spirit drinker.  I can drink vodka but really don't see the point: it gives a bite to the mixer but I'm happy enough just drinking the mixer.  Whisky medicinally as a whisky mac so the cheapest hooch from Sainsbury's.  I'm not keen on brandy but will drink a brandy based liqueur.  Never, ever touched gin - I cannot stand the smell (and my mother was the same).

 

I love wine, especially a rough red, but the reverse is not true.  I'm liable to drink wine like beer, with the expected consequences - think Alice Carter!  So I usually stick to beer, haven't had a session for over a year but it would be a quick pint first then perhaps a pint an hour.  Fine with beer, not with wine!

 

However, speaking with my sister, we are both averaging less than three units a week during Covid.    Bill

Damp walk? It will be if you fill the car up with water.

 

PB and I are on call 24/7 and will render immediate assistance if you have an allergic reaction to the cake.