My friend Glenn, who I had not seen in almost a year because of the Pandemic, called me up and told me he had a Christmas Present for me. “But Christmas is 10 months away, ” I informed him. “No, this is a present from last Christmas, you know, the one in 2020, ” Glenn explained.
So I drove over to Glenn’s house, put on my mask, and greeted my masked and vaccinated friend who had a long box in his hand. I opened it and there was a bottle of Loch Lomond Scotch Single Malt. In return, I handed Glenn a copy of Hidden Universe Travel Guides: Star Trek: The Klingon Empire. Glenn is a huge Star Trek fan so he was delighted by this gift (Glenn also claims to speak Klingon but I’m skeptical). Christmas in April!
Are you a fan of Scotch? Do you have a favorite drink?
I have never tasted Scotch but so far I only like gin, vodka and wine. And mostly just white wine. My parents drank rye. I didn’t even like the smell of it.
Patti, I know what you mean by the smell of rye. But a lot of fictional private eyes consumed it by the gallon!
It was both popular in the Real World and wry, after all.
Todd, good point!
I’m not much of a drinker, but Scotch will do, as will gin or vodka. Hate bourbon–yuck! And I so seldom drink I’m miles from being a connoisseur. I actually like wine but it doesn’t like me–even one glass will give me a headache.
Michael, some of our friends have the same problem with drinking wine: headaches.
I’m not a fan of scotch or bourbon. I also hate gin. I prefer sweet drinks: Amaretto (sours, or rocks), Kir (or chambord rocks) and mixed drinks with vodka or rum.
On airlines if I have a free drink coupon I’ll get a Baileys and hot chocolate. I used to like sloe gin fizzes, but haven’t had one in years
I’ve only had a few wines I like: A Malbec at the south american restaurant near Bouchercon in St. Louis) and Stella Rosa (which may be the brand name) I would probably like prosecco, but haven’t tried it
No. I hate Scotch. Dewar’s was my father’s drink of choice but the only way I will drink Scotch is in a mixed drink. Ditto bourbon or rye. I’d go with vodka or gin or maybe tequila. Wine and beer, yes.
Jeff, Art Scott loves Scotch. Benriach is a favorite of his.
I don’t drink liquor, George, but like a certain Supreme Court Justice, I like beer. Unlike a certain Supreme court Justice, I don’t do strange things with beer.
Jerry, many of my friends love beer, too. The only beer I’ve liked is Ginger Beer.
No. Really don’t like Scotch, but Barbara does. I haven’t had any alcohol in years, but when I did drink hard liquor it was Jack Daniels Black Label (“Jack Black”).
Rick, one of my Pool buddies drinks a glass of Jack Daniels every day. He’s 87 years old.
Jackie said to say that like you, she likes Sangria, preferably with fruit.
Jeff, I’m a big fan of the Sangria at Carrabba’s!
I was pretty eclectic but still rather abstemious in my taste in alcohol, till Type 2 diabetes meds became a daily ritual and essentially goodbye grain alc. (I’ve been drunk perhaps four or five times, if that, in my life.) It’s been the occasional near-beer or sip of something Alice is having ever since. I definitely like dark ales and stouts, but have recently been indulging myself with some slightly expensive sugar-free ginger beers, as well.
I was rather amused when I brought a gallon bottle of sugar-free Lipton green tea to the pharmacy where I was picking up my drugs, and the pharmacist was incensed that I was clearly trying to overindulge in beer while Type 2. I had him read the label. (Who sells gallon jugs of beer in US stores?)
Todd, Jackie drinks the Liptons too. That pharmacist needs to get his prescription checked.
I don’t care for Scotch. I prefer beer, rum, tequila and absinthe. Not much of a wine drinker either.
Steve, I’m partial to rum, too.
Distilled spirits are for degenerates and sots!
Bob, tell that to the Emperor!
Whiskey was “in” when I was a student 55 years ago but I have to admit I’ve never really liked it though my favourite bar (closed right now of course) had a large selection.
I grew up with beer – or as we say “liquid bread” – in Germany you’re allowed to have beer at 16, spirits at 18 years. So my school friends and I often went to a bar discussing politics, philsophy and what we had just read like Greek or Nordic fairy tales. 1001 nights etc.
Later in my job of course when being invited to a business lunch I had wine like all the others – it is a kind of science to decide which wine is best with each dish.
Was in Paris a few times and had to drink half a dozen different wines – white and read, dry and sweet … with each course a different selection.
And of course there are special occasions like when our neighbour comes over, she gets an espresso and an orange or coffee liquor, sweet but very strong.
And when my wife cooks Greek style I have an Ouzo – when she makes fennel soup (my favourite!) I add a spoon or two of Ouzo to my plate.
Wolf, I had a similar experience with a meal in France. We ate at a ritzy restaurant and the wine changed with every course. I barely made I back to my hotel!
I was in the last generation (of Boomers as well…coincidence? OR CONSIPIRACY!) in the US who could legally drink at 18 (those of us born in 1964), but what fun was that…I did the simple majority of my drinking, and the vast majority of my few drunken lacks of adventure, when underaged. Drunken arguments, when neither you nor your companions can form a fully coherent thought (had such a conversation with an enormous ex-marine in my one18yo overindulgence, both of us drunk off our asses, our fellow college students telling us later Neither of You Seemed Drunk At All–probably because we weren’t slurring so much as having our conversation at half-speed) lack a certain something…less fraught discussions could be fun, but one is certainly overconfident of one’s own humor while inebriated. (At sixteen, it took two assurances that I really, really shouldn’t carry my stage sword into a Hawaiian 7-11 store before I fully realized my companions were correct.) The young woman I had my eye most thoroughly on in high school out there was once able to buy a group of us wine at age 14 (I looked Old Enough by about that age myself, at 6′ 1″ and 190 lbs and already slightly thin hair in front, but I was broke and the male clerk was probably more likely to overlook trivial niceties such as ID for a pretty young woman.
Still think it’s not sensible that 18yos are adults in every negative way but are not allowed the simple pleasures or convenient contracts of most legal adults in this improvisational country….
Todd, like you I could drink in New York State at age 18. I had a few instances when alcohol made me loopy–a feeling I didn’t like–so I pretty much ignored alcohol for years until my doctor told me to drink a glass of red wine each day (for my heart). I took his advice and that’s about my daily limit.