The oldest person in the UK died this year at the grand age of 112.
And one only hopes that St Peter had a tumbler of whisky waiting for her when she arrived at the Pearly Gates.
Grace Jones attributed her longevity to uisce baitha, ‘the water of life’.
She took a Famous Grouse Scotch whisky every day with the blessings of her doctor.
She began the habit when she was 50 (why so late?).
All of which gives me ammunition if the Scary One pulls me up over my nightly dram.
Now I often get asked if it’s Scotch or Irish for me.
To which the diplomatic (and truthful) answer is: Both!
I’m reminded of a wedding guest I met at a friend’s nuptials.
We got talking about where we’d been on holiday and shared our experiences of Islay.
An island off Scotland which you can view from the North of Ireland.
And crucially has eight distilleries which for a population of 3,228 means one for every 430 people.
I asked the wedding guest if she had visited any of them on her travels and felt a little silly when she informed me that she was a whisky taster.
Hiding my jealousy, I asked if she chose specific whiskies depending upon her mood and the weather.
And she regaled me with a story of her visiting a rough and ready bar in Edinburgh’s port town of Leith.
Which she dropped in on on a cold and wet winter night.
The portly Fiftysomething barman asked her what she wanted to drink.
And when she said ‘whisky’ he suggested ‘is that not a bit strong, dearie?’
To which my new friend rasped back by giving him tasting notes on all the bottles of whisky on the top shelf. Back of the net!
While you’re in Edinburgh best check out The Scotch Whisky Experience on the Royal Mile https://www.scotchwhiskyexperience.co.uk
The world’s whiskies
Now I try the whiskies of the world wherever I find them and have become particularly partial to bourbon and rye from visiting Washington http://Easy DC and my cousin’s husband (he hails from Kentucky).
While here in Ireland there’s whiskey under your nose with https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/09/11/whiskey-irish-for-whisky/ and of course Scotland http://www.visitscotland.comwhere it was invented https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/04/15/sportstraveltraveltravel/.http://www.tourismireland.com
And in my popular drinks column which will return… it takes research! https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/09/12/jocktails-whisky/
Of course there have been strange places where I’ve discovered whisky and none stranger than at the top of the Swiss Alps…. https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/swhisskey/
And visit www.myswitzerland.com to learn more about this and that cool (well, it would be) ice bar.
MEET YOU IN THE BAR
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