Life is very good.
On Saturday, my wife and I went to a fantastic little place, The Bottle Room, a craft beer and wine bar. In addition to very nice food menu, they offer an astounding collection of craft beers from around the country as well as excellent imports. We both ordered warm sandwiches, but the real reason for the stop was the beverages. Tammy enjoyed a four wine sample flight, and I had sample flight of three single malt Scotches, with about 20ml poured for each.
From right to left, the Oban 14yr was the lightest. A lot of honey in the nose, with some grassy flavor with hints of citrus fruits. It was good, and I had been very curious about trying a bottle of it, but now I know that I won't bother with it.
The Highland Park 12yr was very nice with smoke in the nose and the flavor. There was definite pear flavors and it was much less sweet than the Oban. it was good, and I would consider buying it.
The youngest of the flight, the Laphroaig 10yr was like being hit in the face with a bale of smoked peat wrapped with fresh seaweed. It had a powerful smokey flavor with a medicinal character (in the brewer-speak of a beer judge, it was "powerfully phenolic" and also a distinct saltiness. It was bold. It was really "in your face." And I will buy that again, because that was incredible!
Sunday morning was a relaxing day. I decided to make Baked Egg with Feta and Spinach. Unfortunately, I didn't have any feta cheese, but I did have some crumbled bleu cheese, so I subbed out the Greek feta for some American bleu.
And discovered that bleu is too pungent for this recipe. The flavor overwhelmed everything else, even only using two tablespoons (1 ounce/28g) for a batch of four eggs.
Oh, well. It was a learning experience. Not everything will always go perfectly, and that is okay. If you never try, you won't learn and grow. As for the remaining eggs, we threw them out. In our world, if the food is not "worth the calories (or points)" then we simply won't eat it. We eat well because we only eat food that is good enough to justify expending my food budget calories.
And the next two times we go to the Bottle Room (and we will go again) I am going to try the Scotch Top Flight (Glanmorangie 12 yr, Lavagulin 16 yr and Glenlivet 18 yr), and the Bourbon Flight (Buffalo Trace, Angel's Envy and Booker's.)
Question for everyone: Of the various liquors I mentioned, which have you tried, and which is your favorite? Let me know below.
Sounds delightful! There's a British-style pub about an hour from here that does Scotch flights as well, but we've only been able to go once so far. Funny, how the less time you have for a relaxing weekend the more you need it! So glad you took this opportunity.
ReplyDeleteLaphroaig is indeed a smack in the chops, and very well worth it. My sense is that Glenmorangie will prove the most like it in character, but I'm strictly an amateur (in both senses of the word). I'm going to want to try Highland Park, since my husband just took on an interim post conducting a choir in Highland Park (Dallas) along with his 'day job'; I figure if the Scotch is half as enjoyable and welcoming as the people in the choir have been, it'll be a hit. ;)
Thanks for the comment, and let me know what you think of Highland Park.
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