Wales and Whisky

Posted on 2007/09/15 15:46:02 (September 2007).

[Friday 14th September]
At the start of next week I'd be spending a couple of days in Dublin for a training course. As always I'm really against the idea of flying, especially where other perfectly practical alternative exist, so I had made up my mind to go by train and ferry instead of by plane.

From London, the easiest way to go to Dublin by land and sea is to get one of the reasonably fast trains up to Holyhead, and then hop on a ferry from there. Of course, the good thing about this is that it takes me fairly close by where my Dad lives in North Wales, and so it seemed to make sense to stop off en route and visit him for a couple of nights. Chie decided to remain in London, as obviously she'd have to be back in work on Monday, but also she had a friend coming to stay from Japan.

So tonight after leaving work I headed over to Euston, and got on a train bound for North Wales. Following my recent experience in First Class I seem to find it really difficult to adjust back to standard class - similar to my experience on the return trip from Edinburgh, it felt really quite cramped and overcrowded. Still, I had a seat booked, and my iPod (full of TV shows I'd recorded recently) to entertain me, so I suppose I mustn't grumble.

I arrived in Bangor at 9, where Dad was waiting for me, and from there we drove back to the house, whilst having a very interesting conversation about that TV program on Protestantism I had watched the other night (Dad had seen it too).

It turned out Lucy and Martin were also staying this weekend, which a nice added bonus to my impromptu visit.

The five of us spent what was left of the evening (and in fact stayed up until well after midnight) sitting around the kitchen table, with me and Dad sampling a range of whiskies, and I struggle to think of a nicer way to have spent an evening.

We started off with the new bottle of Port Ellen - a 23 year old distilled in April 1982. I had bought it in the Islay Whisky Shop (which, endearingly, is also a Spar), and had chosen it because it was in the Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask series, the same series as the famous Fortnum and Mason bottle (which, it transpired, had finally been finished off - there was only a tiny dribble left of it last time I was at my Dad's house). This new Port Ellen wasn't quite as spectacular as the Fortnum and Mason one had been, but was still rather special in its own right - a bit lighter, but still very rich, with a similar mouth feel, nicely balanced peat, and a finish which reminded me of boot polish (although the tasting notes on the bottle itself described this as leathery / tarry - close enough I suppose).

We also had a little of the Caol Ila I had bought in Royal Mile Whiskies in Edinburgh, and then a little miniature Suntory 17 year old (Hibiki), followed by some of the rather good SWMS Laphroaig I had given Dad as a Christmas present (impressively quite a lot of this was still left!). I also had a taste of "the other Port Ellen" I had left at Dad's house before moving to Japan - a Signatory bottling that had always been a bit of a disappointment, but somehow it was nice to revisit this having actually been to this distillery now (albeit long since having stopped production).

Post a comment