pinions of buddy don: thoughts on a scotch blend

fer the ten or twelve folks that cums by this site purty reglar, ye know how i fell in luv with sangle malt scotch earlier this year. i dun writ about it minny a time. i owe a worl of thanks to eric over at straight white guy fer gittin me started n more thanks to my irish friend fer innerducin me to keens chophouse, witch we have reservayshuns fer this verr fridy evenin sos we kin sample sevrul scotches we probly woodnt never purchus by the bottle.

thats the mane problem with sangle malt scotches: they kin git eggspensive. fer instunts, at that sangle malt scotch tastin we attended at keens las may, the sangle malt that got the mos votes frum the audients fer favert wuz lagavulin 16. twuz the favert fer me n miz bd also. we lacked the glenmorangie 18 verr well n twuz a bit o'luck how miz bd won her a bottle, witch we aint opened it yet n i wunder will we ever open it. we also been given a cuple gifts of scotch. my boss give us a bottle of tobermory 10 sumbidy had give him without knowin he dint keer fer the taste of scotch no how no way. we gut a bottle of macallan 18 frum my irish friend, witch he knows we luv sangle malt scotch even moren he n his wife duz. we gut a bottle of glenlivet 12 matured in french oak casks frum the last visiters to nyc. n we dun bought us a bottle here n there that we aint opened n tiz easy to see how a bidy could git to collecktin.

corse, the proof is in the tastin -- the nose, the taste, the finish, the balance -- n we luv it so much that we dun split our supplies twixt weekend malts -- talisker, laphroaig, ardbeg, ledaig n other such faverts -- n the weekday malts, yer cheaper varities, witch theys all good. sean connery is quoted as sayin sumthin lack, 'scotch straight up. any sangle malt'll do.' tiz a fack that sangle malt scotch is kindly lack sex. when tiz good tiz grate n when taint so good, tiz still purty grate. i lack to save the taste of scotch fer the weekend n durin the week lack as not i'll stick to jack daniels.

taint lack we drank verr much of innythang cummin frum famblies loded with alkyholicks. we purty much lack a shot in the evenin n mayhap a shot n a splash on a weekend evenin. we dont lack bein drunk, but we luv the taste n nose n feel of scotch that dont git ye sloppy.

innywho, tuther day i wuz researchin scotches in genrul, figgern when me n miz bd kin mayhap take a tour of the distillries over thar in scotland. thays minny a site that covers scotches n i wuz a readin thisn, witch they have a site fer mos ever distillres, including lagavulin. whut i found so sprisin wuz this:

"Decanter" magazine compared the relationship of Lagavulin and Laphroaig on Islay with that of Cheval Blanc and Petrus in Bordeaux. In name at least Lagavulin must be Cheval Blanc as it contributes whisky to the White Horse blends and the animal decorates the distillery sign. At a glance the cream- painted distillery buildings could be an inn called the White Horse. The distillery's water arrives by way of a fast-flowing stream that no doubt picks up plenty of peat on the way. The maturation warehouses are battered by the sea and have their own jetty. When the seas are high, Lagavulin's outer walls are knee-high in salt water.

i hadnt never give much thought to whut sangle malts git into yer scotch blends. i had noticed how them blends wuz a lot cheaper than yer sangle malts n a time or two me n miz bd has ordered dewars or johnny walker black label n they wuz ok. whenever i red bout how lagavulin is one of the mane ingredients in white horse scotch, i figgerd twood be wurth checkin how much it cost. much to my sprize, twuz only $16.99 fer a liter of it. yer lagavulin goes fer sumwhars twixt $50 - $70 fer a bottle cordin to whar ye buy it. so we wuz a lil less than hopeful bout that white horse. turnt out to be fine. mitey fine. taint quite lagavulin, but tiz a hole lot bettern jes 25% - 34% as good, witch thats the percentidge ye gut to pay. looks to me lack them blends deserves a bit more attenchun that we dun give em.

aint life grand? thays so much to discover, even after yer all growd up.