How to finish off a Memorial Day

[ambientboy]

So my wife was out of town in Philly all weekend so I made my own plans with friends for Memorial Day. It was a day of good booze and good sticks and good times.

My friend Kevin's family owns a local pub which I frequent and he extended an invitation to join him and his fam for a cookout which promised to end in good scotch. So naturally I accepted because how can you turn down a guy who has the best scotch list in the city?

While his bro was grilling, we started out with a few 10yr old Party Panatellas that were subtle and smokey and certainly a good pre-dinner stick while enjoying the ever-smooth silkiness of Dalwhinnie 15yr with a splash of water.

After the chicken and kabobs and tasty grilled things, it was time to start a fire in the fire-pit and get out the GOOD scotch, which meant it was time for me to break out the good cigars.

I pulled out two Punch SS2's for Kev and Chris, dug a little deeper in the herf-a-dor and grabbed an 1986 ERdM Panatella Larga for me. I clipped and handed them out as Kevin popped open the Glen Ord 30 year. Now you know why this is in the wine, beer, and spirits thread.

We sniffed the 30yr and got a nice nose of sweet fruit with a touch of honey. The first taste bites you without a splash, coming on surprisingly edgy at first but with a rounded, albeit slightly dry back. A bold flavor with a little ginger to accompany the essence of dried fruits just before the long finish that hinted at broad nuttiness. It was stellar.

All in all, if you've got almost $300 laying around for a distinctly flavorful single malt, I recommend it. If you happen to be in Rochester and want to give it a whirl for roughly the same price as Johnny Blue, Kevin has it at The Old Toad