Touring Scotland, a sip at a time

In a few weeks my Grammy will be 85 years old. It's been a couple of years since I've visited her in person, but I keep in touch with her by phone. Sometimes I get the Grammy that tries to get rid of me after 5 minutes and sometimes I am lucky enough to get her going for a good half hour. On one of those extended conversations she was sharing with me how she enjoys a bottle of Dewars Scotch when her sister visits. Up until that point, I had pretty much stuck with a Guinness Draught or a local microbrewery when I wanted a beer. Other than that if I had something adult to drink it would be some wine (also from a local winery).

The idea of having a glass of Scotch became pretty intriguing, so the next time I was at the grocery store I picked up a bottle of Dewars. It was quite a bit different from what I was accustomed to and I ended up mixing it with sprite to get it down. I persisted though, and eventually was able to have it straight on the rocks. Once that bottle was empty I decided that I would give it another go, so I picked up a 12 year old bottle of Glenfiddich. This Scotch really sparked an interest and a love of Scotch was born. My next bottle was an 18 year old Glenfiddich and was unbelievably smooth and full of character. This distillery is in the Speyside region of Scotland, one of the four regions that Scotland is divided into for their Scotches.

My newest bottle is also from Speyside, the Glenlivet distillery. This is a 16 year old Scotch and I wouldn't rate it as well as the Glenfiddich 18, but then again it was much less expensive and also have about 10% more alcohol in it. (You don't drink Scotch to get drunk, it is too expensive for one, you enjoy by the sip)

So my plan is to try a Scotch from each different regions over time. I did keep enough of the Glenfiddich 18 (as my favorite so far) to compare with any new bottles that I get.

It's been recommended to me that my next bottle be a 10 year old Auchentoshan from the lowlands region. Can't wait to try it out.

So I'll send some thanks to my Grammy, by tipping a glass of Scotch later tonight.