The Cabinet assembled last week for its first meeting of the year. We try to hold this meeting as close to Robbie Burns Night as our pathetically complex modern schedules will permit. This is also the meeting where members are encouraged to dress "Highland style", however they chose to interpret that, or "formal style", also however they chose to interpret that.
This year we decided to pay homage to Burns's playful side. He was, predictably, a frequent visitor of the salons and gentlemen's clubs around Edinburgh. And there, equally predictably, much whisky was consumed alongside claret, brandy and port. But after drinking (and talking politics) these establishments were often best known for gambling. In particular dice games such as "hazard", a forerunner of craps, were popular. With this in mind, as well as our overflowing stocks in mind, I devised a dice game wherein the dice rolls would determine the whiskies consumed. The odds were weighted towards the less loved malts occupying precious shelf space...
I left on a trip early the morning after the meeting, so my memory of the details has fogged over somewhat. Therefore in the interests of accuracy, as well as for the pleasure of publishing a short post for a change, I will simply list what we drank and assign each one of our "Honest Whisky Rating" scores based my recollection of the consensus in the room that night:
Stronachie 12 = "Three Drams", good, recommended, must try.
Caol Ila 12 = "Two Drams", fair, recommended with reservation, don't seek out, but don't necessarily avoid.
Balblair 03 = "Two Drams" as well.
AnCnoc, Peter Arkle Edition = "One Dram", mediocre, not recommended, drink only if nothing else available.
It is interesting to note that the Stronachie went up a rating grade since we last tasted it and the AnCnoc went down a grade. Just goes to show. Something.
Slainte!
This year we decided to pay homage to Burns's playful side. He was, predictably, a frequent visitor of the salons and gentlemen's clubs around Edinburgh. And there, equally predictably, much whisky was consumed alongside claret, brandy and port. But after drinking (and talking politics) these establishments were often best known for gambling. In particular dice games such as "hazard", a forerunner of craps, were popular. With this in mind, as well as our overflowing stocks in mind, I devised a dice game wherein the dice rolls would determine the whiskies consumed. The odds were weighted towards the less loved malts occupying precious shelf space...
I left on a trip early the morning after the meeting, so my memory of the details has fogged over somewhat. Therefore in the interests of accuracy, as well as for the pleasure of publishing a short post for a change, I will simply list what we drank and assign each one of our "Honest Whisky Rating" scores based my recollection of the consensus in the room that night:
Stronachie 12 = "Three Drams", good, recommended, must try.
Caol Ila 12 = "Two Drams", fair, recommended with reservation, don't seek out, but don't necessarily avoid.
Balblair 03 = "Two Drams" as well.
AnCnoc, Peter Arkle Edition = "One Dram", mediocre, not recommended, drink only if nothing else available.
It is interesting to note that the Stronachie went up a rating grade since we last tasted it and the AnCnoc went down a grade. Just goes to show. Something.
Slainte!
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