And enter stage right…the “Scotch Siren”.
I must honour my friend and fellow blogger with bringing forth the Scotch Siren who had been roaming in the mist to finally emerge and show herself at a tasting he invited me to partake in. I have had a love affair with the beautiful liquid gold prepared by the masters for a very long time. The story and connection it embodies from the land, the people, the craft, and the shared experiences from gathering to take it all in with all of your senses and to drink it are just a few elements of passion that fan the flames inside my heart whether enjoyed neat, with a little water or ice. But it wasn’t until sharing a feast and festivities with Lord McDonald that he so easily recognized that within me and the words so effortlessly rolled off his tongue to call me like he saw me…the Scotch Siren. It was perfect. So, with much gratitude I wanted to give him some ideas about how he could display his very extensive scotch collection of bottles and boxes and as synchronicity would have it…he showed me a picture while I had started to write this blog, which he had no clue I was doing, of his newest purchase. It was a picture of his display that he had purchased and I was so excited for him that it brought this Siren to joyful tears.
Being that he is a Lord from the Clan McDonald with roots in Islay, it was no surprise he had a cabinet full of bottles, boxes and containers due to the love of the dram. But that love had left these sentimental bottles and boxes under the counter, calling to him…”please get me out of the dark dungeon where we can be appreciated for the joy we bring you”. I can relate on a smaller scale and maybe you can too, where your excitement in purchases have you running out of room for what you thought was ample space and you actually then start considering what you can move out or have a garage sale to increase footage in your house, or perhaps just go for it and turn that other spare bedroom into a Pub and Tasting room to accommodate these containers of joy and all that comes with that!
In my fortune of partaking in Scotch tastings with Lord McDonald, he deserved no less than for me to at least make a few suggestions. It has been a recurring topic of discussion along with our tasting notes as to wanting to enjoy the beauty of all that the story and life that Scotch gave us which included everything from the container, the story on the container, the bottle and not just the pour. But how does he make room or display them and on what? Heck, what can I do cause I’m running out of room!
When we have talked about decanters, boxes and most recently display cases, it got me thinking about how most boxes I hesitantly fold up because the story and box is a part of the experience for me as well, but I still put in the recycle bin. But for some of the boxes, whether cardboard, wood, or tins it just seems like a crime punishable to the dungeon to let them go out the door and end up on a recycle belt into the abyss. Since he acted on his passions it would seem our discussions and celebration stirred something within him to follow his heart for all of the enjoyment that connection brings for him. And it stirred something in me to start to share my love as well for anyone who is interested.
So, I will pass on our what I was going to share and also pass on Lord McDonald ‘s blog post that shows his beautiful display, with his permission of course.
I will share on this journey why that last little bit in your bottle may tug at your heartstrings to save it because the thought of an empty rare, 21, exclusive or just your favorite has everything in your being saying don’t drink the last drop…but… I will give you some reasons (personal and industry legit) why you would want to. I’ll give you some ideas to help celebrate the journey you have had with those drams and send all the memories and experiences it gave you to the scotch or whisky gods with a proper final celebration.
Part of living a conscious life for me is recognizing what brings you joy and then taking action to do it. I have not taken formal classes or even been so fortunate as to yet travel to any distilleries but I can share my love and passion in that authenticity from my heart. If you have a passion for something in particular, go for it. By saying Yes to myself and to life I have had tastings, experiences and memories with a treasured friend and I hope you all continue to enjoy!
Slàinte mhath
