Fly High little man
I appreciate your patience; I’m a bit behind on this one, but hey, who’s keeping tabs, right? I’ve been caught up in the first half of this blog for the past two weekends – it’s my birthday month, after all. Not that I need to justify myself to anyone, but Mom and Dad, it was a blast. To any future potential employers, I snagged two business cards during my midnight adventures, and, Jesus, I got you, spreading love and crazy stories.
Today’s topic is appropriately whiskey, part of the big five in liquors, much like the big consulting firms. However, whiskey stands taller in my eyes. As this stunning website beautifully states, whiskey is an amber to brown-colored distilled spirit made from fermented grains with varying blends and varieties, depending on local grains and taste.
Strong, like me at 40%, or my current portfolio losses. This beautiful liqueur is one of the reasons I started writing this in the first place.
What are the actual perks of knowing about alcohol? You are what you eat, right? Potato, Potawto (works better in speech format), I assume it works the same for drinking. On that note, please let me be anything but a Guinness, please. If anybody refers to me as a stout, I’ve lost in life. Old-fashioned, reliable, sexy, yes please. That’s a cocktail, though, so we’re not playing on the same grounding here. Let me ponder on this, and I will get back to you later.
Like anything in life, beauty is enhanced when one is aware of the craftsmanship behind the product. Men like big fancy watches because it magically increases their manhood (let’s just play along with them on this). But also because they are beautifully complex pieces of machinery. They tell a story and have a lot to say about the one who wears them. The thing with booze, just like these beautifully crafted pieces, is also a process that entails a savoir-faire that can often leave you speechless. Bonus points with this product; the more you consume it, the better the story behind the actual thing. You should hear a whiskey maker after the distilling season, afternoons spent crafting away, sipping his way into the best-tasting barrel. I mean, this is all speculation; I can only imagine the scene as I have yet to experience it or meet such talented craftsmen. Which leads me to my next point.
As per usual, I do not really know what I am talking about. But this is the goal in the first place, to take you along the journey of discovering what makes good booze and what makes good politics. Very much alike in these two disciplines, I find myself in the amazingly fun limbo of “this is great, right?”. Aside from liking the damn thing, I have never gone through the process of aiming to learn more about it. For now, it has only been trial and error on the tasting front.
So, in the similar weird vein that has been hitting me lately, I have decided to do something about it. This came after an evening talking about the wonders of wine with my good friend Austin. Great guy, by the way, bigger than life! Turns out that outside of being just a real aficionado, he works in the space – lucky bugger. He highly recommended I take the WSET course. This is the equivalent of what people take in the wine space to become enough of a wine snob that you can advise prime ministers at their regular round tables and decide what red liquid they should drown their worries in. I’d love to become a snob of sorts but on the harder drinks. Hopefully, this will not mean I get invited to the tea party of some oligarchs deciding whose finger they are chopping off next.
What is the bigger picture of becoming proficient in the art of politicizing and boozing? Aside from hopefully opening the door to many round tables and fending off your drunk uncle, I would love to someday do something more concrete in the space, ideally in both spaces. Who knows, maybe even starting my own thing, “James’s Juice,” for family and friends (yep, as soon as that came out, it sounded bad, need to work on the name).
There is that really cool feeling about sharing and seeing people consume and enjoy (hopefully one day), something you have spent time crafting yourself. A bit like this blog, there is that tingly feeling about hoping that someone out there is not only learning something as I do but maybe chuckling once or twice in the process.
A great example of someone doing this well is the “Tout Bien” pils created by Belgian YouTuber - Average Rob. Aside from making me laugh on a regular basis, he was able to pull the coolest stunt and actually live from his passion. That is truly remarkable.
When I was planning this article out (yes, I do think before I write, as opposed to popular belief), I wanted to include a recommendation for this week. Sadly, being nearly fully sober doesn’t give me much opportunity to dance with the blonde angels. However, I got this beautiful whiskey for my birthday celebration this Friday. So ‘Glenturret’ is the one I am going to start this journey on, and see you soon for a review.
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James-Alexander