May the Fourth has come to be known as Cask Day amongst our merry band of brothers over the last 8 years. Scattered to the four corners of North America, we have managed scant few times to celebrate this day in person. As you know, we have been patiently waiting for our cask of Bruichladdich to come of age. But Cask Day just got better. Today is also Star Wars Day in Toronto, Ontario, complete with its own clever pun on Obi-Wan's favourite salutation. Life just keeps getting better and better.
Now you might've noticed that I changed the name of the blog, in a total coincidence with the Star Wars Day announcement, and I hope you will take it with a grain of salt! Nobody under the age of 44 can't say that they secretly don't want to be a Jedi. So, I decided to use this title to indicate my love of science fiction and space operas, rather than my expertise with whisky, so please, just have a little fun with it. The fact that I am fascinated with the complexity of distilled spirits is simply a bonus, don't you think?
So what is there to celebrate on Star Wars Day? Well, for one thing, George Lucas has finally gotten the message, and he recently stated that he would not be making any more movies. To paraphrase him, "why should I subject myself to having fans on the street constantly tell me what a poor job I'm doing?" Well George, you made your bed....Why shouldn't fans tell him when he's doing a poor job? How on earth could you NOT expect fans to tell you that it is inconceivable that with over twenty years to plan, write, shoot, edit, that you could possibly end up with a film that was made as poorly as his prequels.
Some may say, well, even the originals are a little old, don't you think? Actually I don't. Quality endures. Those films are so tightly written, that even today, the dialogue is believable (minus Carrie Fisher's brief dalliance with a British accent in Episode IV), and simply are a pleasure to watch over and over again. Quite the opposite is true of the prequels. The more I see Hayden Christiansen deliver a terribly script, the more I hate the movie. George can't even claim that he's simply paying hommage to 1930s space operas, it's rubbish, plain and simply.
But quality endures. Quality breeds loyalty. Witness my short list of movies which, when stumbled upon, I cannot resist watching to the end, every time: Aliens, The Matrix, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Contact, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek: First Contact, Inception, Planet of the Apes(all of them), 2001: A Space Oddysey, Silent Running, The Fifth Element, Terminator 2, Stargate, Minority Report, to name but a few.
With films, so it should also be with whisky. So many single malts have suffered from brand deterioration. That is to say, so many connoisseurs have commented on the fact that certain brands "are not what they used to be in the 90s, or 80s, or what have you". The common refutation is that it is the palates that have changed, not the product, but can so many fans be wrong? Much of the cachet of single malt brands IS tradition, quality, history, so should distillers not take care to preserve these things? This is the real challenge in the single malt world, where competition from other quality spirits is ramping up, the need to maintain quality in the face of rising costs. Paying attention to the masses, who only discriminate on the basis of the price-tag at Wal-Mart, is NOT the way to maintain a loyal following of fans who will support you to the end.
Now for a malt that if encountered, must be enjoyed.:
Talisker 18 yo, ca. 2009.
Colour: gold
Nose: gentle sweet peat, smoked apples, vanilla. Aromatic narguileh tobacco.
Palate: Spicy attack all over the palate, not too intense. Beautiful sweet and salty interplay. Vanilla/cinnamon combination, oxidized apples.
Finish: very long and spicey, on a sweet-ash note. Leaves you wanting more.
Score: 89 points.
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