And because I know people will ask…
The set of lab glass is something Rob and I picked up early in our marriage. We use the large ones for water at our dinner parties.
The books are the complete works of Hawthorne from 1879
The wind-up toys are something that my family has been collecting since my dad was little. These are two of my favorites.
- Squirrel. Modern and just hops but with the tail is so adorable.
- Nightingale. Antique. Sings, flaps wings, and turns her head.
The single-malts, including the ones in the back that aren’t clear:
- Kilchomen Machir Bay
- the Isle of Mull from the Ledaig distillery
- Ardbeg Uigeadail
- Ardbeg Galileo
- Springbank Cask Strength 12 year (Campbelltown)
- Armorik
- Armorik double maturation
- Tomatin 18
- Macallan Whisky Maker’s Edition
- Glenfarclas 17 year
- Provenance Highland Park Distillery 10 year (distilled in 1993)
- The Arran Sauternes Cask Finish
- Balvenie DoubleWood
- Yamazaki
I now have a mental image of you finishing a chapter, then pounding back a shot.
Heavens, no. One does not pound a shot of single malt.
One savors it over the course of an evening, preferably by a fire, with friends.
Or over the course of an evening with a good book….
It seems I have similar favourite things – I’d just trade the wind-up toys for my recorders or guitar 🙂
Or around the table, playing cards with friends. (That was the Tomatin, yes?)
Yes, indeed. Mm… I’ll be back in December, by the way. We should make plans.
Oh, I know. But it was funny…
Next time, show us your cheap tequila collection. 🙂
Funny and horror seem to be closely related in your mind…
The sad thing is that you’re right.
By the way, I bitterly envy you your collection of wind-up toys. Any chance you could post video of them in action?
Is the Glenfarclas 17 still your favorite? Have you tried the older Glenfarclas offerings?
Mmmm, those look like my favorite things as well.
I got lab glass as decanters AS wedding presents.
I have nowhere near the collection of single malts, alas, though I make certain there’s always a bottle of Talisker on hand at all times. I quite overwhelmed them at the distillery with my enthusiasm.
(I also have plain old blended on hand for hot toddies, since you don’t waste single malt on those, particularly when your nose is all stuffed up.)
MMM. Love the Doublewood. Unfortunately so do the fruit flies. Sometimes I’ll pour one, set it down, go to get a book, come back, and will have caught 3 fruit flies without even realizing I had any in the house.
Are you not concerned about the effects of evaporation on the flavour of those malts? I rarely keep more than one bottle at home and it’s usually gone within a couple of months, but when I’m in hotels I’ve found it better to be tactical in my choice of beverage and stick to the better known whiskys as the bottles get finished and replaced more frequently. My favourite malt is Lagavulin but I had some in a corporate out of town hotel and it was just bland by comparison to a fresh bottle.
No. It takes whisky years to evaporate enough to affect the flavor. The foil on the end exists to keep the cork in place during transit and does not provide any more protection from the air than the cork itself. What might affect flavor is oxidization from the air in the bottle. Again, whisky is a surprisingly stable beverage and it takes a heck of a lot for oxidization to noticeably affect it.
More likely what you experienced at the hotel was that the bottle had been improperly stored.
Mmm, single malts! Macallan is my favorite all around. Got a bottle of the 18 year for a gift a few years ago. Liked the Tomatin, and that Balvenie Double Wood- yowsa! I have had one Sauternes Cask finish (not the one you have) and was not overly fond of it.
And you are so right- single malts are for savoring. As are most better quality things. The tequila mention above reminds me of a story: At a Super Bowl party a few years ago, the host brought out a bottle of 100 year old tequila he’d acquired in Mexico. Poured shots. Most there probably thought we didn’t like it, because they all pounded them down. We sipped and enjoyed. It was quite good, and they missed all that goodness.
I don’t drink, but I have serious book lust going on here. Those tomes are amazing!
Oooh, single malts. Yum. Some of those are past my budget range, unfortunately.
I run a research bio lab, and have a lot of interesting glassware on hand. I also help decommission older labs at the university, and grab fun glassware when I see a neat piece. Let me know if you want some; we discard a lot – it isn’t in demand/use very much these days (more’s the pity).