The good thing about this though, is less late night outs, and more nights in to catch up on some sleep and home mixing & tasting. :) See what I got up to last week:
1. Green Spot Irish Whiskey
Found this gem at my last Labuan trip. It's a very easy everyday dram. Irish whiskey has this common nose - usually perfumey and /or fruity and very agreeable in the mouth, without the usual burn or oakiness so prevalent in Scotch. Green Spot is aged between 7-10 years, matured in bourbon and sherry casks. I love it. I wish I got MORE of it.
Irish whiskies are commonly distilled 3 times and like Scotch, needs to be aged for at least 3 years in wooden casks and they too have a few types:
1. Grain whiskey - made with unmalted grains which are distilled with a continuous still
2. Single malt whiskey - made entirely from malted barley in a pot still
3. Single pot whiskey - a mix of malted and unmalted barley distilled in a pot still.=
4. Blended whiskey - combination of grain whiskey with single malt whiskey / single pot still whiskey.
Apart from Jameson, Irish whiskey is not commonly found in Malaysia yet, probably because there's not much demand as everyone's still mad over Scotch and Japanese whiskies. With all those heart breaking news about Japanese going NAS and hiking up prices to ridiculous percentages, I'm actively switching back to looking for independent Scotch distilleries and Irish, if I can get my hands on anything else apart from the very commonly found Jameson. Please tell me where?
2. Single & Available's Monthly Whisky Fling - Jura
Jura actually means deer in Old Norse. First founded in 1810 and rebuilt in 1963, it's named after the island from where it's located. Apparently, the island's large population of red deer outnumbers its humans. The distillery is the largest, and is the biggest individual employer in the island.
It's not an Islay but the island is right next to it - which explains the slight peat. Curious? You can drop by the retail outlet for a bottle or 2. :)
For more:
http://www.jurawhisky.com
https://www.facebook.com/JuraWhisky
To keep updated about the Whisky Flings: https://www.facebook.com/singleandavailablewhisky
3. Torres Vina Sol White Wine
This Spanish white wine is relatively inexpensive (<RM50) and easy to drink. It's fruity, sweet and smooth. Not dry. Crispy. Tastes better with food I feel, because on its own the sweetness is quite overpowering. Went down nicely with prawn pasta for dinner.
It's apparently quite a popular Spanish brand and commonly used as the preferred house pour in Spanish resorts.
For more:
http://www.torres.es
https://www.facebook.com/bodegastorres
4. Keeping a hip flask for "emergencies".
Brought this 60ml stainless steel hip flask along with me for a dry event earlier. By dry I meant, it was a children's party. And at children's parties, there are always lots of juice. Vodka goes very well with juice. So I packed some vodka to go. :p
Do you keep a flask? I like the novelty of having one (so feel free to get me another!). But the nuisance is having to care for it. If it's not of a good quality, god knows what's going on INSIDE the flask. So please don't get those cheap ones from novelty shops, instead invest in a stainless steel, silver or pewter one. And I personally have a problem with plastic. Glass? Well, not sure if you wanna risk breakage in your bag... or worse, pants!
How do you maintain them? Well, I "wash" mine by shaking it with vodka (the first time), then with hot water, then leaving it upside down to dry. Apparently you should NEVER use soap to wash out your flask. I found a few other sites that teaches you how to care for your flask, hopefully you'll find them useful.
http://www.pockethipflask.co.uk/caring-for-stainless-steel-hip-flasks
http://www.ebay.com/gds/Hip-Flask-Buying-Guide
http://www.gifts-of-distinction.co.uk/blog
http://www.flask.com/how-to-clean-a-stainless-steel-flask
TLDR: No soaps, no dish washer, no acid. Yet, some sites say you could use a squeeze of lemon, baking soda or vinegar to clean your flask (which I won't do), but YMMV. Also, you mustn't leave your alcohol in your flask for too long (not more than 3 days) otherwise it'll turn into a metallic flavour.
Until next week, drink safe!
For more:
http://www.jurawhisky.com
https://www.facebook.com/JuraWhisky
To keep updated about the Whisky Flings: https://www.facebook.com/singleandavailablewhisky
3. Torres Vina Sol White Wine
This Spanish white wine is relatively inexpensive (<RM50) and easy to drink. It's fruity, sweet and smooth. Not dry. Crispy. Tastes better with food I feel, because on its own the sweetness is quite overpowering. Went down nicely with prawn pasta for dinner.
It's apparently quite a popular Spanish brand and commonly used as the preferred house pour in Spanish resorts.
For more:
http://www.torres.es
https://www.facebook.com/bodegastorres
4. Keeping a hip flask for "emergencies".
Brought this 60ml stainless steel hip flask along with me for a dry event earlier. By dry I meant, it was a children's party. And at children's parties, there are always lots of juice. Vodka goes very well with juice. So I packed some vodka to go. :p
Do you keep a flask? I like the novelty of having one (so feel free to get me another!). But the nuisance is having to care for it. If it's not of a good quality, god knows what's going on INSIDE the flask. So please don't get those cheap ones from novelty shops, instead invest in a stainless steel, silver or pewter one. And I personally have a problem with plastic. Glass? Well, not sure if you wanna risk breakage in your bag... or worse, pants!
How do you maintain them? Well, I "wash" mine by shaking it with vodka (the first time), then with hot water, then leaving it upside down to dry. Apparently you should NEVER use soap to wash out your flask. I found a few other sites that teaches you how to care for your flask, hopefully you'll find them useful.
http://www.pockethipflask.co.uk/caring-for-stainless-steel-hip-flasks
http://www.ebay.com/gds/Hip-Flask-Buying-Guide
http://www.gifts-of-distinction.co.uk/blog
http://www.flask.com/how-to-clean-a-stainless-steel-flask
TLDR: No soaps, no dish washer, no acid. Yet, some sites say you could use a squeeze of lemon, baking soda or vinegar to clean your flask (which I won't do), but YMMV. Also, you mustn't leave your alcohol in your flask for too long (not more than 3 days) otherwise it'll turn into a metallic flavour.
Until next week, drink safe!
Insta Weekly is a weekly summary of boozy updates from my Instagram.com/fireangel80 with the hashtag #angeltini. Feel free to follow me if you enjoy daily updates on booze, food and other random stuff by a girl from Malaysia. Cheers!
