My New Religion

I finally went a few weeks ago to the Brandy Library in Tribeca and instantly fell in total love....with their menu. I had the Peat Promise sampler and it definitely delivered. Some of the tasters were old favorites; Caol Ila 12 and Black Bottle (which reminded me I need to order it for the store) as well as some new scotches I hadn't tried yet including the Six Isles and Connemara cask strength. I want to work my way through all their samplers. It's a great way to learn about spirits. I highly recommend going there and trying something new (or old).

Monday was my birthday and gathered up my friends and head down there again. This time, my mission was their seasonal cocktails. The list is unbelievable and I had the best Mint Julep ever. Also had a delicious cocktail made up of bourbon and Rhum Clement (a really yummy rum that's infused with oranges and spices). Then there were all the drinks my friends ordered which I had to take sips off of. Such items as cognac muddled with fig, or highland single malt mixed with bitters. Whatever crazy combo they came up with it made sense in the end. If anyone wants to go...drop me a line. I still have a whole lot of drinking to do!

www.brandylibrary.com

Huge gap in blogging France

I was moving along pretty steadily with getting my trip and thoughts out into the blog world, but then something happened. It was called the International Wine Center. I am finally done with getting my advanced certificate in wine (well I still need to wait 3 months before I see results) and after a few weeks of doing nothing but playing Puzzle Quest and reading book candy, I'm ready to take on the blog again.

Now that I have all this new knowledge of the wine world, I still find myself not using a whole lot of the jargon they taught me to describe wine. I guess you can't teach an old dog new tricks. They teach you to describe words with typical adjectives: fruit forward, oaky, tannic...but I still tend to tell our customers the following: so good it broke my heart, i want to put a straw in it and just drink, killer juice. Then there are my descriptions of some of my favorite spirits: made me break out into a jig, i love to wear it as perfume, or it's like a symphony (that can be used with wine as well). Sometimes you just have to go with that initial feeling.

I promise to finish what I started very soon. More pictures to add...thanks Stuart! Plus there's a big chance I'll be spending some time in September working a harvest...Yay!