First Tuesday Club

I was kindly given a subscription to the Scotch Malt Whisky Society for my 40th birthday and have remained a member ever since. A few friends are also members and so we now meet on the first Tuesday of every month to sample the many delights (and occasionally folly) of the Society's unique approach to single cask, single malt Scotch whisky.

Yesterday, we had a good crack at the whiskies and chose a Highland theme as our guide (at least for the majority of the evening - more on that later).  After quenching our thirst with a small lager, we kicked the night off with a 27 year old Clynelish from an ex-sherry butt, bottled at 57%.  Neat, this proved a lovely dram with sweet sherry notes and just a gentle heat.  But add just a little water and the heat ignited to jalapeños level.  Fabby!  This allowed the lovely loft odours and a sweet, almost effervescent grain like finish to come through.  The dry lingering sherry notes stayed on the lips and in the mouth for some time. Really nice dram.  Given the distillery's history of peated whiskies, there was surprisingly little (if any) smoke on this one.

Next up was a 20 plus year old Glen Moray which had the most intense highland toffee and buttered popcorn nose.  Neat, there was apple, melons and a hint of sweet spangles!  Grapefruit notes came through with a little water and the heat moved from the front to the sides of the tongue.  Lovely French polish and sherry aspect to this one, with nice length and a very slight smoky note.  There was no fizz on this one.  Two of the company thought it was the winner of the night.

Third up was a 21 year old Glen Ord from the Black Isle.  We had this sucker with a coffee and it was delicious!  The big flavour notes on this one were banana custard and liquorice.  A big strong whisky perfectly suited to accompany a nice coffee.

Fourth (getting late by this stage) we have another Clynelish, but this time a 28 year old.  This one had gentle heat and subtle orange and gentle oak.  The sherry finish really sat well in the glass and hung around as a lovely reminder of a yummy treat long after the dram was gone.

Finally, a wee palate cleansing lager and then off to Islay to finish the night.  John selected an 8 year old Port Charlotte and it was a stonker.  Toffee, nutty, creme brulee characteristics with smoke and oak and black pepper to finish.  Great barley nose.  Just perfect before we headed off in search of our various travel routes home.

Next month the theme is sherried finishes.  Looking forward to it already.

Hyperspin

Spent today creating scripts for Hyperspin, my retro gaming frontend of choice.  Have been working on this project on and off for around 4 years now.  It feels like it's nearing completion.  If you have never played Space Invaders, Galaga or Tron in a proper arcade then you'll have no idea what I'm going on about.  But I did - and  in their absence, I have my home arcade.  Sam came round the other day and trounced my Galaga high score.  I need to re-balance that outcome very shortly.  But not tonight.  Tonight is first Tuesday club at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society.  I'll be recording here our thoughts on what we sample there - good and bad.  Back soon with some whisky insights!

Mama

Synopsis:  Offscreen, a man kills several of his business partners and his wife and then runs away into the woods with his two little girls.  He prepares to commit murder suicide but at the last moment is killed by a strange presence in the cabin.  Mama!  Five years later, the girls are found by their uncle living ferile in the cabin and are subsequently put under the care of a psychiatrist, who agrees to recommend the uncle and his girlfriend as the childrens' legal guardians - as long as they agree to move into a special home where he can monitor their progress.  They all agree to this, but it quickly becomes apparent that Mama has also come along for the ride!

So, why did we pick this movie for last Sunday's movie night.  Very simple.  Kev hates the scary ones and jumps like a girl!  It really adds to the fun when you have someone in your company who hates and loves the scary movies with equal passion.  And if the volume of Kev's jumps is any measure of success, then this movie is a triumph!

The Director, Andres Muschietti - extending his earlier short film into a feature - is sure-footed throughout and makes very effective nods to a number of other genre films which obviously inspired him (from Rear Window, through Repulsion, to Ringu and beyond).  This leads to a very thoughtful and beautiful looking movie with significant visual punch.  There is very little gore and the scares are delivered more through good old fashioned "boos" which are high in atmosphere than spatter.  And with that in mind, the scares do indeed come a mile a minute, with the movie remaining unnerving for almost its entire running time.

The movie was produced by Guillermo Del Toro which by itself raised the interest of our group of movie lovers.  While not on a par with his previous supernatural productions such as "The Orphanage", it's a solid and creepy movie which delivers great scares and quite a few emotional hooks, especially the ending.  If anything, it is only let down by an over reliance on CGI over practical effects.  A focus on the latter would have led to a more understated film, which in my opinion would have raised it from very good to great.  But if you fancy a few jumps with the lights down low, this one comes recommended.

Yamazaki 12 Year Old

Met a lovely chap called Colin today who informed me that he had bought a bottle of Monkey Shoulder on the back of my recommendation below.  Gosh!  The wonders of the internet.  So with one follower in the bag, I thought it was time to unleash a few more thoughts on recently sampled quality drams.

The Yamazaki 12 year old (available in Waitrose and other reputable supermarkets!) is a corker of a Japanese dram.  My take on this one is simple - Christmas cake in a glass!  It is fruit heaven, with plenty of body, smooth and oily on the palate and lots of winter spice and lovely citrus notes, which then develop into an almost rum finish.  It is an outstanding dram for the money and the consistency in quality is a bit embarrassing to a Scotch drinker.  Every bottling delivers and you need never fear in buying a bottle and then being disappointed.  The Japanese take their quality control seriously and their approach to whisky production is no different.  While an essentially artisan tradition, Suntory have brought a level of quality to their whisky making process (especially around their wood selections) which mean the finish is always consistent.  No nasty sulphur notes on this baby!

It's one to be enjoyed over a fine book or listening to your favourite album.  I'd go for the second side of 'Low' by David Bowie, but also appreciate that our tastes may differ.  Nevertheless, regardless of the soundtrack you choose, this whisky offers much to enjoy as it warms in the glass and opens up its charms.

Interestingly, Yamazaki is owned by the Japanese Suntory Empire, which also includes a few Scotch malts in their repertoire (such as Bowmore and Auchentoshan).  Thoughts on these two will no doubt follow shortly.

The Monster Under the Stairs

A short film my boys and I made a few weekends ago, when it was wet and windy and we needed to keep ourselves amused.  We hope you enjoy it.

.

Louise Page

Just returned from the funeral of my dear colleague Louise Page, who passed away as a result of a rare bone cancer at the age of 42.  We met on the Common Purpose course a few years ago.  On that course, a small group of us bonded and have stayed in touch - meeting for meals, sharing work stories and supporting each other.  Her funeral was uplifting and a real reminder to enjoy life and friendship in the moment and appreciate the beautiful things that come our way to the fullest.  She told me she was looking forward to hearing my Steve Martin story next time our group met up.  I was looking forward to telling her it, just to hear her laugh.  Unfortunately, due to her illness, that never happened.  She will be missed and I'll never watch Jurassic Park again without thinking of her (which is a good thing!).  Au Revour Louise.

The "after crying" picture of her in this post is one taken recently by Scottish photographer Rankin for his "Alive: In the Face of Death" exhibition.  A BBC documentary featuring Louise's involvement in that project will be shown on BBC Two's Culture Show on 1 June 2013.

The Secret of Eternal Happiness

Time for a little magic!  A performance by yours truly.  Enjoy :)

Monkey Shoulder

Kev brought this little number round for the DVD night.  He got it in his Christmas hamper.  Cheers Santa!

I've seen it on the supermarket shelf, but have never been inclined to purchase it.  That position changed as soon as I had a large dram.  It's lovely stuff.  The mouth is creamy and the nose is sweet and peppery - with chocolate (cocoa?) and spices.  I picked up cinnamon, followed by nutmeg (maybe even cloves).

The taste is buttery and sweet, with honey and that lovely vanilla note that underpins the very best Speyside malts. And this little number is blended, made up of three such Speyside malts (Balvenie, Glenfiddich and Kininvie).  Overall, it's both smooth and chewy, with a medium length that sits well on the palate neat.  Its also very competitively priced and could soon replace Aberlour as my go to mid-week whisky.

Juan of the Dead

Well, the first DVD night of 2013 started with this little gem.  Truthfully, I picked it up purely because of the title and the fact that I've been to Cuba and have stayed in Havana.  Thought it might be fun.  It certainly was!

Synopsis - Juan (or Juanita to the old lady upstairs) is a slacker trying to rebuild trust with his daughter, who is planning to leave him and move to Spain to stay with her mother.  Juan's best buddy Lazaro is also trying to reconnect with his son.  Both buddies begin to notice that the locals are going a bit crazy, killing people and eating their flesh!  Also, the recently deceased appear to be coming back to life.  On the television, Castro's Government claim that the zombies are dissidents revolting against the country with support from the USA.  Juan sees an opportunity and starts a business to profit from killing the zombies - "Juan of the dead, we kill your loved ones!"  But in doing so, he and his team of misfits soon find themselves at risk.

Firstly, we didn't expect a great deal from a low budget zombie flick filmed in Cuba, but we were wrong.  It was funny, imaginative and well acted.  Some basic understanding of recent Cuban political life could be helpful to appreciate some of the comedy pathos (references to the 'special period' for example).  But its not really necessary and the majority of the laughs come from sight gags, including one hilarious scene between Juan and Lazaro on a rooftop at night, which left all of us with sore jaws from laughing so much!  I had hoped that Juan might steal the yacht from the Museum of the Revolution at the end of the film and use that to escape, but I appreciate that option might not have played too well with the current administration :)

Overall, a solid little comedy horror flick with some excellent effects for its budget and some memorable visuals.  In particular, the mass zombie slaughter in Revolution Square and the underwater zombie scenes are both pretty special - with the latter reminding me of the 'lost' footage and related posters for Zombie Flesh Eaters.  Nice to actually see how such a scene works in practice.  If you enjoyed Shaun of the Dead, this little gem is an extremely pleasant surprise and comes highly recommended.  The soundtrack is also fabulous.

Aberlour 10 Year Old

Well.  For a number of years now the Aberlour 10 year old has been a staple of my whisky cupboard.  A go to mid-week whisky.  A session whisky and an affordable one at that.  For £20 a bottle, there was nothing at all to complain about.  It tasted yummy (sweet sherry and honey, balanced out by Cointreau oranges and a bit of white pepper).  Pretty sophisticated stuff given the price point.

Alas, the last bottling I purchased was simply dire.  A strong sulphur note now commands the nose and palate - and while sulphur can certainly make a whisky, it actually breaks this one.  My mate Kev bought a bottle a few weeks later and came to the same conclusion.  Bummer.  Luckily, he was also able to locate an older bottling for a side by side comparison.  And its clear that our initial thoughts are sound - the balance has changed.  Real shame.  Hope this is a short-term issue.  It would be a shame if we couldn't enjoy this affordable dram in the years to come.