Finally!
It just takes a game of football (sometimes called sucker, sorry, soccer) to ave it known that J&M (well, Mo at least) are also Nudist! Hurray!
SOG will have to stay out of this argument as the Sweaty Socks failed to qualify…oh, we play our lost colony on friday….hopefully the three lions will teach you a football lesson and not to throw good tea in the sea….
M27, I assume you mean your wealthiest lost colony, because in fact all your colonies are lost. (I’d have said your biggest lost colony, but there’s India which is much more populous.)
You sound a bit like a divorced man, still hanging around the bar complaining about his ex-wife 250 years after the separation. I say that with only the greatest affection for the mother country, birthplace of Shakespeare and Bertrand Russell.
Thanks for telling me about that match. I’m off work Friday, so I’ll be sure to watch it. Normally, I’d expect England to win, but if the Saudis can beat Argentina, then anything can happen.
You must be getting pretty confident after having so soundly beaten that powerhouse trio of Albania, San Marino, and Ivory Coast. What a triumph. 😀
@Laripu – don’t you go dissing the legendary San Marino! They scored one of the fastest goals ever in World Cup history, in a qualifier against England.
Laripu, I am going to watch the match dry, that is not because of deference to the match local alcohol ban. But because I am operating as a Taxi for my eldest son, who will be getting pissed whilst watching it in his mates garage bar, which is not accessible by public transport. So.I have to.pick him up, probably in the early hours of sunday morning…Dads Taxi indeed…
I’m watching Canada-Belgium. I have limited knowledge of soccer, but Canada seems to be surprisingly better than Belgium. It’s only the half, though, and Belgium is ahead 1-0.
Canada missed on five chances, including a penalty kick due to a Belgian hand ball. Belgium has scored once on one chance. Plus their acting is better.
Laripu, the games are being played under the aegis of FIFA, not FISA, for the simple reason that they are playing football, a game which bans the use of the hands, unlike the rugby type game played only in the States strangely referred to as ‘football’.
I’ll be watching the match probably drinking tea as for better or worse I’m on the wagon. That it should come to this! (And probably already had far more than my fair share).
Laripu: Please, the whole world calls it “football” or the equivalent in their language, such as “fitba” in my country – only the Yanks (and the posh English Public School boys, who invented the term “soccer”) call it “soccer”!
Your Canadian Whisky (Whiskey?) is far better than the likes of “Jack” and “Jim” in the USA, and can stand proudly alongside Irish Whiskey as being nearly as good as Scotch.
M27Holts: Such paternal devotion! You can always drown your sorrows in good English ale once you have brought your son home and no longer have to drive.
Rest assured, everyone in Scotland will be cheering on the famous “ABE”!
SOG, not only Yanks say soccer. Canucks too. It’s just a word, keep your shorts on. But Canadian whisky is indeed without the ‘e’. I do find it similar in taste to Irish whiskey, but at a third the price. (At least in the US.)
US whiskey, to my taste, often suffers from too much barrel char. I also feel that some Scotches suffer from too much peat. Laphroaig and Ardbeg are like drinking an ashtray. More is not better. JW Black is my limit for peat. But there are plenty of nice Scotches. Even inexpensive Scotch is usually good. Grant’s and Dewar’s for example.
Canadian whisky is not a distiller’s art. It’s a blender’s art. In Canada they ferment and distill each grain separately, and age them separately, usually in used and rejuvenated ex Bourbon oak barrels. Then the master blender takes over and creates a blended product from known single grain distillations.
In the US, 1.75L bottles of Canadian whisky are often sold in plastic bottles, which further lowers the price. I have plenty of old glass bottles and transfer the liquid through a funnel, because I dislike plastic.
I have a bottle of Jameson that was aged in Rum Barrels…very nice. I like my Irish, but some of it is ridiculously expensive, those are the ones that my eldest son guzzles at saturnalia…oh well I can’t take it with me…
In the UK, a team is definitely plural. So Arsenal are top of the league; Spurs are rubbish; England are not going to win the World Cup.
It’s not only football, either. Pakistan were beaten by England in the cricket T20 final; Surrey were the winners of the cricket County Championship this year; Saracens are unbeaten in the Rugby Union Premier League so far this year.
And, often, a team name (especially a nickname) is plural. So you can’t say Spurs is not doing very well this year, or Saracens is on a good run, or the Hammers is playing Wolves early in the new year; it sounds silly.
No, when left-pondians say that, for example, Chelsea is losing to Manchester United, it just sounds wrong.
A lecture about Scotch Whisky – those not interested should skip!
Laripu: Thanks for your info about Canadian Whisky, very interesting. Here’s some stuff about Scotch which may be of interest.
There are two kinds of Scotch Whisky distillery in Scotland, Single Malt distilleries, about 130 at present, and Grain distilleries, about 8 in number. The main differences are that the Malt distilleries use only pure barley malt as their raw material, and they distil in batches, while the Grain ones operate a continuous process, and use other grains as well as barley, often maize (“corn” to North Americans). The Grain distilleries produce greater volumes of spirit, consistent but with little “character”. The spirit from the Malt distilleries varies in “character”. Most Scotch by volume is a blend, just as you describe for Canadian Whisky, of Grains and Malts. There is usually more Grains than Malts by volume, but with several Malts contributing to the final “character” of the blend. (Although the popular “Monkey Shoulder” is a blend of Malts only, with no Grains.) Well-known blends are “Famous Grouse” (Favourite in Scotland), “Bells” (Favourite in England), “Johnnie Walker” (Very well-known in USA), “Teachers”, “Dewars”, “Grant’s Standfast”, “Chivas Regal” and many others. But many drinkers prefer to drink Single Malts, such as the “Laphroig” and “Ardbeg” that you mention, BTW they do not “suffer” from their strong peaty taste, some drinkers like it. (I like a Laphroig now and then, although I mostly prefer others.) Some other Single Malts popular with Scottish drinkers are “Glenmorangie”, Glenfiddich”, “Glenlivet”, “Royal Lochnagar”, and “Old Pulteney” (a favourite of mine). Single Malts may be a bit more expensive than blends, especially if they are older, but are usually worth it. All spirit, Malt or Grain, must legally be aged in wooden casks, usually oak, for at least three years before it can be called Whisky, but most Malts are aged for ten or more years before being bottled. Scotch matures in the cask but does not mature in the bottle. Bottled Scotch, blend or Single Malt, is usually 40% alcohol by volume, but it is sometimes available bottled at cask strength, up to ~56% abv, which I find undrinkable without added water, although I normally say no water, no ice, and definitely no lemonade, in a good whisky.
Irish whiskeys that I like are “Jamesons” and “Bushmills”, especially the Bushmills “Black Bush”. Other brands exist but are not so generally available.
So there it is, just off the top of my head. Greater detail is readily available online if you are really interested. But I hope you do find this interesting.
At my mothers wake. My eldest son and his mates got me into at least 5 rounds of holts bitter with a monkey-shoulder double chaser…it ended up very messy and more hangover for my wallet than my head….
I read an article recently that examined the controversy over wine tasting, and claims that most wine drinkers can’t distinguish between cheap wine and the good stuff, or for that matter between red wine and white wine dyed red. I’ve seen similar claims made about vodka. So what about whisk(e)y? From the discussion it sounds like the differences between brands and styles are so pronounced that nobody would ever get confused, but then that what they said about wine.
jb: You are right – the differences, altough genuine, are quite subtle (well, not the peaty taste of Laphroig!) and most drinkers are not connoisseurs.
Thought USA whiskey was called Bourbon. I have a couple of bottles of redbreast 25 years aged…They cost me an arm and a leg…but it is the finest irish I have tasted…
I have Jamesons for every day drinking. My mother had a cupboard full of whisky of all varietys, at least 60 or 70 bottles, untouched….when she died, and I went to her house (I was executor with power of attorney and sole beneficiary of her will since she had fallen out with my eldest brother). All the bottles had mysteriously disappeared. Then her friend (a female curate) who got my mother into god, said she had taken the whiskey, because my mum said she could. She also gave me a letter from my mum suggesting that I should give Judith 25K of my inheritance. She had already purloined about 2k of spirits…she got fuck all! I had all the locks changed because I suspected she had a key, the theiving bitch….
SoG, thanks for the lecture on whisky.
Is it coincidence that countries with an ‘e’ in their name spell ‘whiskey’ (Ireland, United States) while those without that letter spell ‘whisky’ (Scotland, Canada)?
Shaughn: I’m sure it’s a coincidence, but it’s an easy way to remember it!
M27Holts: Only some USA whiskey is called Bourbon, there are several other kinds such as Rye Whiskey and Tennessee Whiskey. I have heard of Redbreast as a very good Irish whiskey, but have not had the pleasure of sampling it.
My sympathy about the thieving while you were grieving for your mother.
Essentially all whisky, with or without the e, gets flavor in just a small number of ways:
Malt flavors: Except for peat, these are delicate and volatile, and mostly driven off during distillation. Subtle notes remain. Peat flavors are stable enough to survive distillation; they must become vapor at temperatures similar to alcohol.
Fermentation flavors: I understand these fairly well having homebrewed since 1990. They’re also volatile and mostly driven off. Again, subtle notes remain. Esters are important for fruity flavors, as in ales.
Distillation flavors: Ketones. I don’t know much about this.
Barrel flavors: These are dissolved into the alcohol over time, depending on temperature; the higher the temperature, the shorter the needed maturation time. US whiskies get guaiacols from heavy barrel char. Canadian whisky barrels are typically toasted but not charred, so the whisky gets more vanillin, resulting in caramel flavors that are typical of Canadian whisky.
I was surprised to see that they tied. I thought England would dominate, but it seemed pretty even to me. I don’t have much knowledge about the game, but it looked like the US didn’t embarrass themselves.
Postdog, that’s clever. Google Allah.Translate tells me it’s “in sha allah”. Unfortunately I’ll be working when the US plays Iran. I might see some highlights.
Once religion had a big say in which football team you supported in England. Man Utd were catholic and Man City, predictably protestant. I know a lot of older fans who were forced or selected their team based on their religion. I did not. Fortunately that religious influence has seemingly disappeared from the English game. However, I think that in Scotland, religious bigotry is still quite influential in football.
SOG. Since you clearly have far superior knowledge of whisky than I do. Would investment in maturing whisky in the barrel be returning the promised 8-12% per annum that an email promises? Is investment in whisky a thing? Or is that email yet another scam? So very hard to know what is the best investment and what constitutes the best option? Does maturing whisky gain a lot of money whilst in the barrel?
M27Holts: You are right about religious bigotry in Scotland. This is, and always has been, mainly in the Glasgow and the surrounding area, largely caused by the large number of Irish people who emigrated to Scotland during the great famine in the 19th century. Many Glaswegians still regard people of Irish descent as unwelcome incomers. The bigotry largely relates to two Glasgow football clubs, Celtic, originally founded by Irish Catholic priests, and Rangers, which is often seen as identified with Orange Lodges. (Orange Walks still take place every year in many towns in the Central Belt of Scotland.) The mutual hatred is less strong now than it was, but is still far from extinct! To a lesser extent it spills over to other parts of Scotland, such as my city of Aberdeen, where there are supporters clubs for both Glasgow teams, in spite of Aberdeen having its own Scottish Premier League team!
M27Holts: Re Whisky: It is indeed possible to invest money in whisky in the cask, and people can genuinely make good money in such investment. But, as with any other investment, profit is not guaranteed!
Well, in my opinion. If you have never been to the stadium of the football team you support then you cannot really be a ‘proper’ supporter. Since the match day experience in 1973, my first trip to Old Trafford was so memorable I still vividly recall the sight, smell and atmosphere. That mafe me feel part of the club, a sort of spiritual connection and I suppose a sort of quasi-religious experience gives your support substance….so unless you have visited White Hart Lane (I have been there about 10 times during the 70’s and 80’s) you are not a Supporter of the hairdressers from Tottenham court road , as we like to call them….
M27Holts: I think Laripu’s remark was an ironic reference to the supposed Jewish connections of Spurs in relation to Laripu’s own Jewish heritage!
A joke, Rob!
Billy Connolly told a story about a Jew living in Northern Ireland: when Proddy thugs asked him if he was a Catholic, he could truthfully say “no”, and avoid being beaten up; similarly if the other side asked if he was a Protestant.
The punchline was that the guy was stabbed by an Arab!
There’s a joke about an Eastern European Jewish refugee that came to New York’s erstwhile immigration processing place, Ellis Island. He spoke only Yiddish, which is similar in some ways to German, but uses Hebrew script. He had been coached in what to say, but wasn’t very good at remembering it.
The immigration officer asked him his name so he could write it in the forms. The refugee got flustered, couldn’t remember a damn thing. (His reply was in Yiddish, but the words are the same in German, so that’s how I’ll write it.) He mumbled “already forgotten”, meaning “I’ve already forgotten what I was supposed to say”.
In response to the question about his name, he said “schon vergessen”.
And that’s how a Jewish immigrant to New York got the name Sean Ferguson.
SOG. Ah, see, I made no connection betwixt spurs and Jewish religion…I did once you pointed it out, but it had no relevance, I took him at face value and thought he was a yankie spuds fan…
I always find it interesting how so many footballers not only believe that God is a fan of the sport but also takes a particular interest in their individual success. The sign of the cross as they run on to the pitch clearly gives them a marked advantage and on the odd occasion where they feel that it worked and they score the inevitable offering of thanks to the sky ensures that the imaginary friend maintains his support.
The last time I took any interest in a way that might be called a fan was when Forest won the FA Cup in 1959 and Elton John’s uncle, Roy Dwight was carried off with a broken leg, having scored the first goal.
I now find the whole set up ludicrous, with fans talking as though they have any influence in the running of their clubs, which are merely businesses taking ridiculous amounts of money from them – ‘we need a mid field player’. The term, ‘we’ here is among the most misapplied words anywhere, as is the loyalty to a bunch of mercenaries who will play anywhere for the highest bidder. One of ‘our lads’ was hero worshipped until last week when he moved down the road and changed his shirt from red to blue and is now ‘our’ sworn enemy.
It almost makes religion seems rational.
^ that is why I swore never to set foot inside old trafford once the club was bought by the Glazer family as a cash cow. If every utd fan had done the same, the glazers tenure at utd would have been a short one, when nobody renewed their season tickets. Now the asking price is 5 billion pounds….probably a chinese businessman will add utd to his portfolio…
Religion rational? Some numb nutz at cambridge saying that a painting of christ with his wound representing a vulva, means that the artist is showing us that the mythical jebus character was a transexual…you couldn’t make it up…
I think it was Jerry Seinfeld who noted that given the mobility of the players, and the fact that very few of them are actually from “here” originally, what fans are really rooting for in the end is “our uniforms against their uniforms”.
Just saw that the latest census results show that Christians are now a minority in England! The last census in Scotland was a year later, but I hope it will show a similar decline. Bit of trivia: in the 2011 census, my city, Aberdeen, had the highest proportion of non-religious people in Scotland; I expect that will continue when the next census results come out.
M27 Holts: There is indeed a slightly increased level of radon gas in Aberdeen, due to the granite. I really don’t know whether the incidence of cancer is significantly higher because of that. For what it’s worth, the football team are doing fairly well, third in their league, the SPL, after the two Glasgow teams, Celtic and Rangers, which unfortunately dominate Scottish football. I doubt very much whether the extra radon gas makes any difference to the performance of the team.
If Wales fail to perform well this evening, I don’t know about radon gas, but there must be quite a lot of coal mining by-products still around in Wales, in the air and in the water, which may be to blame.
But, come on the Taffies!- In spite of everything!
M27Holts: Looked up radon and found a radon map of Scotland. Actually, the areas with high levels of radon-emitting minerals are in Aberdeenshire, particularly Deeside, and not in the city of Aberdeen itself. Much of Aberdeen is built on sandy ground, the granite is in the actual buildings themselves. The chief harm done by radon is causing lung cancer, but smoking causes more lung cancer, and the combination of smoking and living in an atmosphere high in radon is worse than the sum of the parts. As in most places inhabited by sensible people, smoking is in decline in Aberdeen. I gave up the weed almost forty years ago; I have lived in a granite building for nearly fifty years; I am eighty-two years old; so far I am not aware of having lung cancer – make of that what you will!
SoG, are you sure that Christians are not the minority because they are now outnumbered by the followers of the prophet, p be upon him? I can’t see many mosques being turned into furniture stores, pubs or play schools any time soon and the grip which that religion has on its adherents seems much closer to that which caused more than a little bloodshed here in the past before the Enlightenment and the scales fell from the eyes of the majority.
I would probably be accused of Isamaphobia for the above by some of the sensitive souls and assuming that religiophobia covers the lot of them it could well be true.
I have just had an email from the UK humanist org. Yes xtian figures from 2021 census show that no religion + others (10%) is greater than the followers of christ. Mind you, like you said, serious religious nuttery is far more prevalent in the muslim population. No muslims are in a hurry to embrace atheism and trying to convince a hard nosed follower of mohammed that he was a psychopathic nutter like hitler is a tad dangerous…
On a more parochial level. It looks like the st george of England has slain a dragon again tonight….such symbolism is redolent of religious piety and also shakespearian in its cultural delivery…perhaps some of the English teachers rubbed off on me (Miss Todd-Jones)…think Catherine Zeta Jones’ more attractive older sister…with the accent..
Hmmmmmm
Choirboy: Muslims are the largest non-Christian religion at only about 4%, but, worryingly, are growing in number. At least “no religions” are up to around 30%, and growing.
M27Holts: Three lions against one dragon seems a bit unfair! The first half was pretty boring (both teams!), but it got more lively after the first goal.
We ABE fans will now have to switch our allegiance to Senegal.
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Finally!
It just takes a game of football (sometimes called sucker, sorry, soccer) to ave it known that J&M (well, Mo at least) are also Nudist! Hurray!
I apologize in advance…
That last frame looks like it could become a Messi situation.
SOG will have to stay out of this argument as the Sweaty Socks failed to qualify…oh, we play our lost colony on friday….hopefully the three lions will teach you a football lesson and not to throw good tea in the sea….
M27, I assume you mean your wealthiest lost colony, because in fact all your colonies are lost. (I’d have said your biggest lost colony, but there’s India which is much more populous.)
You sound a bit like a divorced man, still hanging around the bar complaining about his ex-wife 250 years after the separation. I say that with only the greatest affection for the mother country, birthplace of Shakespeare and Bertrand Russell.
Thanks for telling me about that match. I’m off work Friday, so I’ll be sure to watch it. Normally, I’d expect England to win, but if the Saudis can beat Argentina, then anything can happen.
You must be getting pretty confident after having so soundly beaten that powerhouse trio of Albania, San Marino, and Ivory Coast. What a triumph. 😀
MY EYES!!!
@Laripu – don’t you go dissing the legendary San Marino! They scored one of the fastest goals ever in World Cup history, in a qualifier against England.
It’s actually pretty funny, too 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44TfE5mDlBI
Martin, So the 10-nil victory over them a couple of weeks ago was vengeance?
Yes the video was pretty funny.
Laripu, I am going to watch the match dry, that is not because of deference to the match local alcohol ban. But because I am operating as a Taxi for my eldest son, who will be getting pissed whilst watching it in his mates garage bar, which is not accessible by public transport. So.I have to.pick him up, probably in the early hours of sunday morning…Dads Taxi indeed…
I’m watching Canada-Belgium. I have limited knowledge of soccer, but Canada seems to be surprisingly better than Belgium. It’s only the half, though, and Belgium is ahead 1-0.
Canada missed on five chances, including a penalty kick due to a Belgian hand ball. Belgium has scored once on one chance. Plus their acting is better.
M27, while watching Canada-Belgium, I’m having Canadian whisky in deference to Canada, my birthplace.
When I watch USA-England, I’ll have Canadian whisky, because I like it. 🙂
Laripu, the games are being played under the aegis of FIFA, not FISA, for the simple reason that they are playing football, a game which bans the use of the hands, unlike the rugby type game played only in the States strangely referred to as ‘football’.
I’ll be watching the match probably drinking tea as for better or worse I’m on the wagon. That it should come to this! (And probably already had far more than my fair share).
Laripu: Please, the whole world calls it “football” or the equivalent in their language, such as “fitba” in my country – only the Yanks (and the posh English Public School boys, who invented the term “soccer”) call it “soccer”!
Your Canadian Whisky (Whiskey?) is far better than the likes of “Jack” and “Jim” in the USA, and can stand proudly alongside Irish Whiskey as being nearly as good as Scotch.
M27Holts: Such paternal devotion! You can always drown your sorrows in good English ale once you have brought your son home and no longer have to drive.
Rest assured, everyone in Scotland will be cheering on the famous “ABE”!
SOG, not only Yanks say soccer. Canucks too. It’s just a word, keep your shorts on. But Canadian whisky is indeed without the ‘e’. I do find it similar in taste to Irish whiskey, but at a third the price. (At least in the US.)
US whiskey, to my taste, often suffers from too much barrel char. I also feel that some Scotches suffer from too much peat. Laphroaig and Ardbeg are like drinking an ashtray. More is not better. JW Black is my limit for peat. But there are plenty of nice Scotches. Even inexpensive Scotch is usually good. Grant’s and Dewar’s for example.
Canadian whisky is not a distiller’s art. It’s a blender’s art. In Canada they ferment and distill each grain separately, and age them separately, usually in used and rejuvenated ex Bourbon oak barrels. Then the master blender takes over and creates a blended product from known single grain distillations.
In the US, 1.75L bottles of Canadian whisky are often sold in plastic bottles, which further lowers the price. I have plenty of old glass bottles and transfer the liquid through a funnel, because I dislike plastic.
If you’re looking for a recommendation, stay away from the bog-standard 3-year Canadian Club. Seagram’s VO is much better at that price point. But the more expensive 12-year-old Canadian Club is excellent. This one: https://www.abcfws.com/ccstore/v1/images/?source=/file/v8787497596689661851/products/215802.jpg
All of them are better without ice.
Football? Futbol? Soccer? It’s all Sports Ball. UGH.
But Saudi Arabia ARE beating Argentina??
Saudi Arabia is A SINGLE TEAM so Saudi Arabia IS beating Argentina!
Happy 17th to Jesus and Mo!
As I don’t have anything to add to either the sports or alcohol talk, I’ll just wander out into the garden and peruse old panels
Oh, and of note to nerds, it looks like Author has managed to learn how to draw elbows. Well done, that!
(There was a bit of discussion about elbows around the time of the style-change. I DID say ‘of note to nerds’…)
I have a bottle of Jameson that was aged in Rum Barrels…very nice. I like my Irish, but some of it is ridiculously expensive, those are the ones that my eldest son guzzles at saturnalia…oh well I can’t take it with me…
@Donal
In the UK, a team is definitely plural. So Arsenal are top of the league; Spurs are rubbish; England are not going to win the World Cup.
It’s not only football, either. Pakistan were beaten by England in the cricket T20 final; Surrey were the winners of the cricket County Championship this year; Saracens are unbeaten in the Rugby Union Premier League so far this year.
And, often, a team name (especially a nickname) is plural. So you can’t say Spurs is not doing very well this year, or Saracens is on a good run, or the Hammers is playing Wolves early in the new year; it sounds silly.
No, when left-pondians say that, for example, Chelsea is losing to Manchester United, it just sounds wrong.
A lecture about Scotch Whisky – those not interested should skip!
Laripu: Thanks for your info about Canadian Whisky, very interesting. Here’s some stuff about Scotch which may be of interest.
There are two kinds of Scotch Whisky distillery in Scotland, Single Malt distilleries, about 130 at present, and Grain distilleries, about 8 in number. The main differences are that the Malt distilleries use only pure barley malt as their raw material, and they distil in batches, while the Grain ones operate a continuous process, and use other grains as well as barley, often maize (“corn” to North Americans). The Grain distilleries produce greater volumes of spirit, consistent but with little “character”. The spirit from the Malt distilleries varies in “character”. Most Scotch by volume is a blend, just as you describe for Canadian Whisky, of Grains and Malts. There is usually more Grains than Malts by volume, but with several Malts contributing to the final “character” of the blend. (Although the popular “Monkey Shoulder” is a blend of Malts only, with no Grains.) Well-known blends are “Famous Grouse” (Favourite in Scotland), “Bells” (Favourite in England), “Johnnie Walker” (Very well-known in USA), “Teachers”, “Dewars”, “Grant’s Standfast”, “Chivas Regal” and many others. But many drinkers prefer to drink Single Malts, such as the “Laphroig” and “Ardbeg” that you mention, BTW they do not “suffer” from their strong peaty taste, some drinkers like it. (I like a Laphroig now and then, although I mostly prefer others.) Some other Single Malts popular with Scottish drinkers are “Glenmorangie”, Glenfiddich”, “Glenlivet”, “Royal Lochnagar”, and “Old Pulteney” (a favourite of mine). Single Malts may be a bit more expensive than blends, especially if they are older, but are usually worth it. All spirit, Malt or Grain, must legally be aged in wooden casks, usually oak, for at least three years before it can be called Whisky, but most Malts are aged for ten or more years before being bottled. Scotch matures in the cask but does not mature in the bottle. Bottled Scotch, blend or Single Malt, is usually 40% alcohol by volume, but it is sometimes available bottled at cask strength, up to ~56% abv, which I find undrinkable without added water, although I normally say no water, no ice, and definitely no lemonade, in a good whisky.
Irish whiskeys that I like are “Jamesons” and “Bushmills”, especially the Bushmills “Black Bush”. Other brands exist but are not so generally available.
So there it is, just off the top of my head. Greater detail is readily available online if you are really interested. But I hope you do find this interesting.
At my mothers wake. My eldest son and his mates got me into at least 5 rounds of holts bitter with a monkey-shoulder double chaser…it ended up very messy and more hangover for my wallet than my head….
I read an article recently that examined the controversy over wine tasting, and claims that most wine drinkers can’t distinguish between cheap wine and the good stuff, or for that matter between red wine and white wine dyed red. I’ve seen similar claims made about vodka. So what about whisk(e)y? From the discussion it sounds like the differences between brands and styles are so pronounced that nobody would ever get confused, but then that what they said about wine.
jb: You are right – the differences, altough genuine, are quite subtle (well, not the peaty taste of Laphroig!) and most drinkers are not connoisseurs.
I shall be cheering on USA tonight, in the best ABE tradition, but definitely not drinking USA whiskey!
Thought USA whiskey was called Bourbon. I have a couple of bottles of redbreast 25 years aged…They cost me an arm and a leg…but it is the finest irish I have tasted…
I have Jamesons for every day drinking. My mother had a cupboard full of whisky of all varietys, at least 60 or 70 bottles, untouched….when she died, and I went to her house (I was executor with power of attorney and sole beneficiary of her will since she had fallen out with my eldest brother). All the bottles had mysteriously disappeared. Then her friend (a female curate) who got my mother into god, said she had taken the whiskey, because my mum said she could. She also gave me a letter from my mum suggesting that I should give Judith 25K of my inheritance. She had already purloined about 2k of spirits…she got fuck all! I had all the locks changed because I suspected she had a key, the theiving bitch….
SoG, thanks for the lecture on whisky.
Is it coincidence that countries with an ‘e’ in their name spell ‘whiskey’ (Ireland, United States) while those without that letter spell ‘whisky’ (Scotland, Canada)?
Shaughn: I’m sure it’s a coincidence, but it’s an easy way to remember it!
M27Holts: Only some USA whiskey is called Bourbon, there are several other kinds such as Rye Whiskey and Tennessee Whiskey. I have heard of Redbreast as a very good Irish whiskey, but have not had the pleasure of sampling it.
My sympathy about the thieving while you were grieving for your mother.
SoG, that was a good rundown of Scotch whisky.
Essentially all whisky, with or without the e, gets flavor in just a small number of ways:
Malt flavors: Except for peat, these are delicate and volatile, and mostly driven off during distillation. Subtle notes remain. Peat flavors are stable enough to survive distillation; they must become vapor at temperatures similar to alcohol.
Fermentation flavors: I understand these fairly well having homebrewed since 1990. They’re also volatile and mostly driven off. Again, subtle notes remain. Esters are important for fruity flavors, as in ales.
Distillation flavors: Ketones. I don’t know much about this.
Barrel flavors: These are dissolved into the alcohol over time, depending on temperature; the higher the temperature, the shorter the needed maturation time. US whiskies get guaiacols from heavy barrel char. Canadian whisky barrels are typically toasted but not charred, so the whisky gets more vanillin, resulting in caramel flavors that are typical of Canadian whisky.
This is a good rundown of the various flavor chemicals:
https://topwhiskies.com/blogs/whisky-blog/what-is-the-chemistry-of-whisky
Donal Feran – I think the Brits use the plural form for team names…just a matter of custom.
I was surprised to see that they tied. I thought England would dominate, but it seemed pretty even to me. I don’t have much knowledge about the game, but it looked like the US didn’t embarrass themselves.
May the best team win.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/24/opinion/iran-protests-world-cup.html?unlocked_article_code=MTLT3HRTkB8YAlsviWSHS5YluwqxSTU_jmW88owROYzJzMD60eYmtVe5J_UX2rXeYS3eEQ17jk5r9cwlFYZUP0B8tBr9Pygc0z5wWHtqfL3N7clZVvdIpMLNj0v3S1HPAP5qtFXyBVXU0UJ0BKftqDJleznRnuvsnghwq4uMd_v4wf0YI3H3JFMR6jhzGcmiKu34BU0Ds2wm3vU3rtD_Z0SyLNhzvKH310aMvqMroHd6uhhNbZGrNj0wt5boXQudTUvapBf8khGY9NBwf99K69mcWTZTHXVwQwkj923O90kogyb0xx1uinvIWVt0-ZXG03c5WHrF1SW-2cYqpig3MEc&smid=share-url
ان شاء الله
Postdog, that’s clever. Google Allah.Translate tells me it’s “in sha allah”. Unfortunately I’ll be working when the US plays Iran. I might see some highlights.
Oops. One Allah too many!
Once religion had a big say in which football team you supported in England. Man Utd were catholic and Man City, predictably protestant. I know a lot of older fans who were forced or selected their team based on their religion. I did not. Fortunately that religious influence has seemingly disappeared from the English game. However, I think that in Scotland, religious bigotry is still quite influential in football.
SOG. Since you clearly have far superior knowledge of whisky than I do. Would investment in maturing whisky in the barrel be returning the promised 8-12% per annum that an email promises? Is investment in whisky a thing? Or is that email yet another scam? So very hard to know what is the best investment and what constitutes the best option? Does maturing whisky gain a lot of money whilst in the barrel?
M27Holts: You are right about religious bigotry in Scotland. This is, and always has been, mainly in the Glasgow and the surrounding area, largely caused by the large number of Irish people who emigrated to Scotland during the great famine in the 19th century. Many Glaswegians still regard people of Irish descent as unwelcome incomers. The bigotry largely relates to two Glasgow football clubs, Celtic, originally founded by Irish Catholic priests, and Rangers, which is often seen as identified with Orange Lodges. (Orange Walks still take place every year in many towns in the Central Belt of Scotland.) The mutual hatred is less strong now than it was, but is still far from extinct! To a lesser extent it spills over to other parts of Scotland, such as my city of Aberdeen, where there are supporters clubs for both Glasgow teams, in spite of Aberdeen having its own Scottish Premier League team!
M27Holts: Re Whisky: It is indeed possible to invest money in whisky in the cask, and people can genuinely make good money in such investment. But, as with any other investment, profit is not guaranteed!
So SoG and M27… does that mean I’m no longer required to be a Hotspurs supporter? 😉
Well, in my opinion. If you have never been to the stadium of the football team you support then you cannot really be a ‘proper’ supporter. Since the match day experience in 1973, my first trip to Old Trafford was so memorable I still vividly recall the sight, smell and atmosphere. That mafe me feel part of the club, a sort of spiritual connection and I suppose a sort of quasi-religious experience gives your support substance….so unless you have visited White Hart Lane (I have been there about 10 times during the 70’s and 80’s) you are not a Supporter of the hairdressers from Tottenham court road , as we like to call them….
M27Holts: I think Laripu’s remark was an ironic reference to the supposed Jewish connections of Spurs in relation to Laripu’s own Jewish heritage!
A joke, Rob!
Billy Connolly told a story about a Jew living in Northern Ireland: when Proddy thugs asked him if he was a Catholic, he could truthfully say “no”, and avoid being beaten up; similarly if the other side asked if he was a Protestant.
The punchline was that the guy was stabbed by an Arab!
There’s a joke about an Eastern European Jewish refugee that came to New York’s erstwhile immigration processing place, Ellis Island. He spoke only Yiddish, which is similar in some ways to German, but uses Hebrew script. He had been coached in what to say, but wasn’t very good at remembering it.
The immigration officer asked him his name so he could write it in the forms. The refugee got flustered, couldn’t remember a damn thing. (His reply was in Yiddish, but the words are the same in German, so that’s how I’ll write it.) He mumbled “already forgotten”, meaning “I’ve already forgotten what I was supposed to say”.
In response to the question about his name, he said “schon vergessen”.
And that’s how a Jewish immigrant to New York got the name Sean Ferguson.
SOG. Ah, see, I made no connection betwixt spurs and Jewish religion…I did once you pointed it out, but it had no relevance, I took him at face value and thought he was a yankie spuds fan…
I always find it interesting how so many footballers not only believe that God is a fan of the sport but also takes a particular interest in their individual success. The sign of the cross as they run on to the pitch clearly gives them a marked advantage and on the odd occasion where they feel that it worked and they score the inevitable offering of thanks to the sky ensures that the imaginary friend maintains his support.
The last time I took any interest in a way that might be called a fan was when Forest won the FA Cup in 1959 and Elton John’s uncle, Roy Dwight was carried off with a broken leg, having scored the first goal.
I now find the whole set up ludicrous, with fans talking as though they have any influence in the running of their clubs, which are merely businesses taking ridiculous amounts of money from them – ‘we need a mid field player’. The term, ‘we’ here is among the most misapplied words anywhere, as is the loyalty to a bunch of mercenaries who will play anywhere for the highest bidder. One of ‘our lads’ was hero worshipped until last week when he moved down the road and changed his shirt from red to blue and is now ‘our’ sworn enemy.
It almost makes religion seems rational.
^ that is why I swore never to set foot inside old trafford once the club was bought by the Glazer family as a cash cow. If every utd fan had done the same, the glazers tenure at utd would have been a short one, when nobody renewed their season tickets. Now the asking price is 5 billion pounds….probably a chinese businessman will add utd to his portfolio…
Religion rational? Some numb nutz at cambridge saying that a painting of christ with his wound representing a vulva, means that the artist is showing us that the mythical jebus character was a transexual…you couldn’t make it up…
Well you could , unfortunately 🙂
I think it was Jerry Seinfeld who noted that given the mobility of the players, and the fact that very few of them are actually from “here” originally, what fans are really rooting for in the end is “our uniforms against their uniforms”.
Great chance for Wales tonight at the World Cup! I’m sure they will have the good wishes of everyone in Scotland.
Just saw that the latest census results show that Christians are now a minority in England! The last census in Scotland was a year later, but I hope it will show a similar decline. Bit of trivia: in the 2011 census, my city, Aberdeen, had the highest proportion of non-religious people in Scotland; I expect that will continue when the next census results come out.
Isn’t cancer more prevalent in Aberdeen? Due to Radon gas from the granite that the place is built on?
And if England can’t beat a wales side playing three patently geriatric has-beens then they ought to give up. I am fitter than Gareth Bale. 🙂
M27 Holts: There is indeed a slightly increased level of radon gas in Aberdeen, due to the granite. I really don’t know whether the incidence of cancer is significantly higher because of that. For what it’s worth, the football team are doing fairly well, third in their league, the SPL, after the two Glasgow teams, Celtic and Rangers, which unfortunately dominate Scottish football. I doubt very much whether the extra radon gas makes any difference to the performance of the team.
If Wales fail to perform well this evening, I don’t know about radon gas, but there must be quite a lot of coal mining by-products still around in Wales, in the air and in the water, which may be to blame.
But, come on the Taffies!- In spite of everything!
M27Holts: Looked up radon and found a radon map of Scotland. Actually, the areas with high levels of radon-emitting minerals are in Aberdeenshire, particularly Deeside, and not in the city of Aberdeen itself. Much of Aberdeen is built on sandy ground, the granite is in the actual buildings themselves. The chief harm done by radon is causing lung cancer, but smoking causes more lung cancer, and the combination of smoking and living in an atmosphere high in radon is worse than the sum of the parts. As in most places inhabited by sensible people, smoking is in decline in Aberdeen. I gave up the weed almost forty years ago; I have lived in a granite building for nearly fifty years; I am eighty-two years old; so far I am not aware of having lung cancer – make of that what you will!
Oh! – And I have never played football!
Anyway, 3 lions are more than a match for any imaginary beast obviously. Though I do like women with a welsh lilt, very sexy….
SoG, are you sure that Christians are not the minority because they are now outnumbered by the followers of the prophet, p be upon him? I can’t see many mosques being turned into furniture stores, pubs or play schools any time soon and the grip which that religion has on its adherents seems much closer to that which caused more than a little bloodshed here in the past before the Enlightenment and the scales fell from the eyes of the majority.
I would probably be accused of Isamaphobia for the above by some of the sensitive souls and assuming that religiophobia covers the lot of them it could well be true.
I have just had an email from the UK humanist org. Yes xtian figures from 2021 census show that no religion + others (10%) is greater than the followers of christ. Mind you, like you said, serious religious nuttery is far more prevalent in the muslim population. No muslims are in a hurry to embrace atheism and trying to convince a hard nosed follower of mohammed that he was a psychopathic nutter like hitler is a tad dangerous…
And yes I embrace Islamaphobia and wear it like a cloak, who wouldn’t who can think for themselves?
On a more parochial level. It looks like the st george of England has slain a dragon again tonight….such symbolism is redolent of religious piety and also shakespearian in its cultural delivery…perhaps some of the English teachers rubbed off on me (Miss Todd-Jones)…think Catherine Zeta Jones’ more attractive older sister…with the accent..
Hmmmmmm
Choirboy: Muslims are the largest non-Christian religion at only about 4%, but, worryingly, are growing in number. At least “no religions” are up to around 30%, and growing.
M27Holts: Three lions against one dragon seems a bit unfair! The first half was pretty boring (both teams!), but it got more lively after the first goal.
We ABE fans will now have to switch our allegiance to Senegal.
Sorry! Muslims are at 6.5% not 4%. But are still growing!