Oolite Bulletins

I have a bottle of Rose Bank Flora and Fauna slowly gathering dust in the back of my drinks cabinet. Again, a silent still, from Falkirk. (I was born in Stirling and spent my toddler years in Denny just down the road, so it's my local distillery).

I now have an annual trip up to the highlands and visit my favourite distillery Edradour (they only make 90,000 litres of whisky a year - less than Bells make in a week) a bring back a bottle or three

I once spent a week in the highlands (methinks) and got a chance to visit the Glengoyne distillery. Unfortunately I had to cancel another hiking trip I planned to do in Scotland but will definitely get back there in the future. Nice countryside, nice people, and nice drinks

For those who find Islay whiskies maybe a bit too smoky, you might like to try some Orkney malts like Highland Park or Old Pulteney: they're a little less peaty and have a nice honey aftertaste. Or to depart (briefly) from whisky entirely, you could do a lot worse than try Blackwood's gin, from Shetland ...

I don't find Isaly whiskies too smoky, but too peaty.

I can recommend Cuillin Ridge from Skye (made by the Brewery) in Uig, and then shipped off to the Isles to be bottled - very tasty and quite rare/hard to get hold of!

Disembodied wrote:

For those who find Islay whiskies maybe a bit too smoky, you might like to try some Orkney malts like Highland Park or Old Pulteney: they're a little less peaty and have a nice honey aftertaste. Or to depart (briefly) from whisky entirely, you could do a lot worse than try Blackwood's gin, from Shetland ...

Jura is a fine Malt also. It has the Island character in abundance, but is not quite so In-your-face as some of the more extreme Islay Malts. Only a short ferry trip from Islay, too. The main road on Jura is a single track road with grass growing down the middle...not many cars on Jura!
By the way not all Islay malts are Uber. The really lethal ones are Ardbeg, Laphroaig and Lagavulin, while others are of more general appeal. I'm thinking of Bowmore, Bruichladdich and Caol Ila in particular, very nice.

Why is it that I always seem to find myself ending up in threads that turn to drinks after a while?

El Viejo wrote:

Chrisfs wrote:

(Super Bowl parties don't count, as my social circle is more than likely to mute the actual game and talk, and only watch the new commercials)

Ah well, that's California for you... the only place where they make an annual ritual of 'mooning' at trains.

That's a new one to me. Apparently, it's a Southern CA thing to do. I live near SF. We are much more refined. sortof... sometimes... in certain ways...

Yah-Ta-Hey's post about Cinco de Mayo made me aware that I haven't bought any rum since this small fancy foods shop closed down.
(Well, 1 bottle of cheapest high-voltage that I abused to produce unspeakable stuff with. And baking.)

Hm, 5pm already, not sure I can get a bottle of any decent rum at this time on a saturday. hm.

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well back to football,

I am happy that, for once, the German team did not have the usual big luck in the drawing for the group stage, with a subsequent very-easy first match.
Group B : Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Portugal.
wow!
As much as I think the German team can deliver very good matches, it is well possible that they won't survive this "killer group". Thrill and suspense right from the beginning.

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In the course of the recent (non-)discussion of a general or representatives-only boycot of the Ukraininan part of the upcoming EC some interesting ideas were brought up.
E.g. Renate Künast, chairwoman of The Greens parliamentary group, formerly chairwoman of The Greens party and federal minister of blabla, and always trying to come off as morally superior, had this most ingenious idea :

Der orange Schal war ein Zeichen für die demokratischen Ziele der Revolution in der Ukraine. Ein solches Zeichen sollten Funktionäre und Sportler deutlich sichtbar tragen.
English : The orange scarf was a symbol for the democratic goals of the revolution in the Ukraine.
[all] Officials and athletes should wear such symbol, distinctly and visibly.
[translation by me]

Yeah, right!

June 13th in Charkiw it is Netherlands vs. Germany.
And German officials, players, spectators - all dressed up in orange.

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Actually, after having laughed may ass off for a while, I now tend to like the idea, more and more.
I guess it would piss off the Käsköppe* so much that it would be worth it. (*cheeseheads)

Already having humiliated the Dutch in 2006 by forcing Dutch people to state "I have to say the German team is playing as our team should" a stadium full of Germany supporters all dressed up in orange could be the next logical step.

<chortles>

At least the FA have left my team's manager in peace at last, and decided on Hodgson for England!