BiggAndyy the Magazine

So I am channel surfing the television this evening and I come across LOST on ABC. I don’t follow the show but I will usually stop and look for a moment or two just to see what new world appliance or convenience they find on that deserted island this week.

Well this time the surprise is a Chinese spike bayonet SKS. I am thinking, whoa! An SKS on television, I will have to stay tuned in for a bit to see if they have it fire off in fully automatic fashion and blow through 50 or 60 rounds of ammo before the guy looks at it in disgust and thrown it to the ground as if it will no longer shoot bullets at all ever.

Well, I did not get very far until they had the guy carrying it (Naveen Andrews) stumble upon a cow… on a desert island. Ok, I don’t follow the show so there is probably an explanation in the storyline somehow, but I don’t care, I’m watching to see what the guy with the SKS does.

He sees the cow and steps gingerly towards it and brings the SKS up to his chest and there is heard a chuck-chuck cocking sound. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! The sound guy puts the sound of a lever action rifle cocking for the SKS; a bolt action carbine that would sound more like caaa-lunk.

Guys, it isn’t hard to get these things right! SKS’s are the cheapest and most available semi-automatic rifles in the United States, SOMEONE on the payroll must know someone who belongs to a shooting range. Yes, even though it is Commiefornia and all that. It just looks bad (in this case sounds bad) when something so simple is gotten so wrong.

This is a bit of a departure of late since I have been drinking mostly single malt offerings, but the Johnnie Walker 12 Year Old Blended Malt Scotch sort of fell onto my lap so I HAD to give it a try and then talk about it.

From the outset many whisky connoisseurs, with much more discriminating pallets than mine, consider blended malt scotches to be of inferior quality to the single malt scotch. In terms of flavor and color and aroma a blended malt scotch is supposed to be wanting in all those categories.

I won’t go so far as the disparage a scotch merely because it is a single malt or a blended scotch. I will judge based on color and aroma and especially flavor. If it doesn’t taste good then I will come down hard on a scotch. Johnnie Walker 12 Year Old Blended Malt Scotch is not an offering to come down hard on at all.

A rich Pale Gold in color, the Johnnie Walker 12 Year Old, dressed in it’s diagonal black striped label, LOOKS the part of a rich bodied and potent spirit. The aroma, however, betrays a hint of the blended nature of the scotch with a less than expected punch.

I was fully expecting a strong initial attack and a gradual strengthening of the floral bouquet on second nosing and dilution with some water. But straight from the bottle the scotch was rather subdued and easy going, a fruity aroma with a strong background of caramel. Even with a strong inhale I was not able to coax out any extra strength.

A few swirls in the glass and I dove right in, full strength. A good choice! I like a nice strong attack right at the outset, lets me know I am drinking scotch. A few swishes around the pallet and I down the first mouthful. I pause to consider the aftertaste.

For such a strong initial burst the aftertaste is quite mild, almost timid in comparison. If I had to I would point towards a McClelland’s Lowland Single Malt for a comparable finish. Not harsh or overwhelming, but also not inspiring either. I wondered if a bit of water would release a bit more aroma and flavor.

I now just add 1/4 dram of water to a dram of scotch rather than trying to play around with “a little bit here, a little more there”, etc. 1/4 dram is not a magic number by any means, but I have never ruined a scotch by going with just 25% water and I have never greatly improved a scotch by going to 50% or more water.

The aroma was more fruity with the addition of water but not overpoweringly so, which is what I expected. Diluting the scotch won’t strengthen the aroma, just bring out more of its character. The initial attack of the flavor of the scotch was much more pleasant to the senses and the aftertaste was more prominent with a 1/4 dram of water. I was surprised to how much difference there actually was with the addition of a bit of pure water.

To sew it all together, a blended malt scotch, at least this Johnnie Walker 12 Year Old Black Label, is not inferior to other single malt scotches, just different.

Going by color you could be fooled into thinking this is a full bodied powerhouse of a scotch. It is not. But it is not a bottom shelf plastic bottle of 5 dollar a gallon rot-gut either. With the judicious addition of water this blended malt scotch is very refreshing and a welcome invitation to sit down in an easy chair and solve the problems of the world with a close friend and a cigar.

What good is it to be sitting in a bar with some friends without attempting to hustle a few drinks out of them? Not much fun at all if you ask me. Fortunately the BBC has a program that occasionally caters to our more basal instincts for chicanery and frivolity called The Real Hustle.

A few of their better clips have found their way to YouTube and one is linked here for your enjoyment and hopefully fun and profit. It will take a little practice, but while you are waiting for your mates to show up to the pub why not put that time to good use?

Can you come up with some of your own or do you have some of your own that work like a charm? Let us know!