Long time no see

So I havn't posted in a long time, it started with summer, when I didn't drink any whisky, I didn't drink because it didn't seem very summery, it was to warm and I didn't want anything strong, I spend the summer having a few beers in the park, which was very nice.

I didn't actualy drink whisky again until october, when i finnaly got around to it. so it was basicly a 6 month dry spell of no whisky. Then in nowember came Oslo Whisky festival, again I went with my dad, while it was still great fun, it was not a fun as last year, some of the whiskies I tasted last year wasn't even there, including my favories, bushmill 16 and hakusu 10.

My had was a total peat head and almost exlusivly stayed with the peat whiskies, he very much enjoyed ardbeg, and tried sevral from them, we did get to smell norwegian whisky, which I hope will be in stores in a few years. But there wasn't any seriously big highlights like last year. Good fun, good drink.

I then had a friend over for a whisky evening, we tried all my whiskies, he wasn't a big knower of whiskies, so I had fun guiding him through them, particular fun was my laphroaig, as he had never trid smokey whisky before.

So whats next, well I'm as we speak trying to learn how to drink wine. Well not how to drink, but how to actualy survive it. Having grown up on cola and sutch. I have always found wine to be horrible poison. I have tried to learn to like it before, but never got through a single glass.

So I bought a random chardonay, didn't much care for it, but i did drink the whole glass, which was a first, and to my suprise it was not the sourness that put me off, but the taste it self. It had this off taste I didn't care for.

But I didn't give up, I asked around on TMP of all places and got sevral replies, I was recomended a risling, which I bought, and I also bought a random red I was recomened at the store.

I put the red in the fridge an hour before dinner, just to cool it sligtly to "wine cellar" temprature. I tired to drink it to my steak but found it was not thrist quenching enough, with my potato boats with salt on them, i needed something to really cool my tung, so I through out the glass(gasp) and went over to coke. But not discuraged, the next day I poured myself another glass of red, not to food this time, but next to some dark chocolate.
And to my supirse it was very good, the wine Pedro Del Castillio was very good, I found the taking small sips was not a good idea, as the tip of the tung tasted the sourness, if I took a propper gulp, filling them moth letting the wine cover the whole of my tung, it was a lot less sour, and more importantly I got lots of new tastes, I got dark berries, plum, wood, stuff like that.

Before I knew it the bottle was empty and I had a nice buzz.

So I bought another bottle, another red also recomeded at the store, It's still at home, right now I'm doggy sitting for my parents during new years, I had nice turkey dinner, and a red alamos next to it, having learned from the prevous time I had wine with dinner, I also had a glass of water next to it, to quanch the thirst.

It was a little more sour then my pedro, but it was very good to food, the wine complimted the dinner very niecly.

Wine does give the dinner a higher taste class, coke is coke, it makes you unthirsty, but thats it, wine taste actuakly inhances the dinner experience.

Sake?

So I'm in this japanese mood lately, painting samurais, playing shogun total war, watching Japanese movies ect.

I allready have tested Japanese whisky and it's very good. so it was about time to try sake.
I got two bottles today, a Nøgne Ø sake, which is something as "exotic" Norwegian Sake.
And a bottle of Masumi Sake.

I tried the Masumi today, and I was quite suprised by what I've found, for some very odd reason the first taste is almost exactly like Martini Vermouth, which I don't understand. Vermouth is wine, and while sake is often called rice wine, it's actualy rice beer, it's made like beer, and it's made of cerials like beer, not fruits like wine. But the taste is there, and I don't much care for vermouth, so after the first taste I dumpted the rest of the glass into the sink, but then when I sat down again. I got a really nice after taste. It was fresh apples kind a thing.

So I drank like half the bottle, having to fight the vermouth taste to get to the after taste.

It's very strange, it will be intersting to see if this vermouth taste is standard in sake or if it was just this one.

Dive into blends

So about a year ago I bought a bunch (well two bottles) of blended sctoch, Ballantine's and J&B,When I started on them I had no idea about whisky ect. I shottet them like cowboys of old.
When I actually tried to drink them I couldn’t and they ended up being given to my stepfather, who can drink just about anything.

I have since kept to Single malt, and American stuff, but on Saturday I was at my parents and my step dad had two blended scotch. Upper Ten and Ballantine's Finest, the Ballantine’s came in a nice metal box, with ice cube tray, seems a bit fancy for a cheap blend.

I was not really looking forward to trying these, as last time I tried blends it didn’t go to well.First up was the upper ten, in past years it was almost the only whisky you could get in Norway.I let it breath for a few minutes, and nosed it, first impressions were not that good, it had whisky nose, but also a distinct nose of raw grain alcohol, almost vodka like. Luckily the raw alcohol nose did not bleed over to the taste; the taste was typical whisky, not a high or a low.

Next up was the Ballantine's it had even stronger raw alcohol nose, it was overwhelming I didn’t even smell the whisky, only raw vodka like nose. But again the nose did not run over to the taste, the taste was again distinct whisky.

In the end this was perfectly palatable, but blends are so expensive in Norway I don’t see why you would spend £35-40 on blends, when a single malt only cost £45-50.