"libation" news and stories

With St. Patrick's Day looming up ahead of us it's time to think - not about corned beef and cabbage and beer, which combined has always struck me as a gastric disaster waiting to happen - but rather about the real Irish diet, which is, of course, whiskey and a dash of water.

Everywhere I go I encounter confusion amongst the good and drunk people of this country as to what is the difference between Irish whiskey and "regular" whiskey. They also don't seem to know that bourbon is a whiskey, and yet whiskey is not always bourbon. And, here's an interesting one, Jack Daniels is NOT bourbon, because it's made in Tennessee. So I thought before you go embarrassing yourself in front of all those fireman and police at the bar this Friday, I'd share my encyclopedic knowledge of the subject.

Let's start with Scotch, just to get it out of the way. Coming as it does from Scotland, it's distilled from "malt" (sprouted barley, dried in a drum) and flavored with burnt peat moss as part of its distilling process, which since that moss is not to be found elsewhere makes Scotch its distinctive smoky self. 

 

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A distillery in Scotland is planning to produce the world's strongest whisky. The single-malt whisky will be distilled four times, while whisky is ordinarily distilled only twice. At 92 percent alcohol, the malt will have more than double the alcohol content of ordinary whiskies. The distillery is engaging in the project in an attempt to replicate the Scottish drink described in a 1695 travel book, The Western Isles of Scotland, which contains what is considered to be the world's oldest whisky-tasting note. The book also includes a warning that the drink takes effect immediately, so by imbibing any more than two spoonfuls, "it would presently stop his breath and endanger his life". Despite the warning, the distillery manager believes that the whisky will have a floral note to it. They expect to produce approximately 5000 bottles.

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