Some cask strength therapy for Backward Britain

Some seasonal temperatures and the Land of Dope and Toley grinds to a halt. Aided and abetted by a public transport system that's been carved up and privatised to various degrees by the ugly sisters of Labour and Tory. Our rail system is unreliable at the best of times but when the weather goes traditional, it goes wrong. Why is it that European nations such as Finland and Germany who have a greater range of temperatures than we do (very low in the winter and high in the summer) can manage, but the likes of First Scotrail and Network Rail can't deal with anything outwith a range from zero to 25 degrees Celsius?

If Dumb Britain's corrupt Westminster parliament cannot re-nationalise our railways then it should be a priority for Holyrood. And it takes an independent Scotland to introduce some common sense to public services, then so be it.

As Brooker says, "Fuck Britain".

If you feel like turning to drink in order to combat the twin evils of extreme cold and backward Britishness, then you could do worse than try:
Caol Ila SWMS 53.131 'Turbuso Humo', 9yo, 67.9%
Inchgower Cadenhead's 2001 bottling, 11yo, 61%
Edradour Natural Cask Strength, Cask #468, 13yo, 57.4%

Edinburgh Roc, whisky and German sweeties

Roc na Gàidhlig saw three excellent Gaelic-singing rock bands of differing genre deliver some roasting new Gaelic music to a bitterly cauld Forest Cafe in the new Gaidhealtachd of Dùn Eideann. I once saw the Forest described as a kind of 'hippie Starbucks'. Does that mean a laidback cafe with broken windows and one toilet cubicle per 100 people? Whatever, in this age of cynical capitalist greed that sees bankers getting golden handshakes while all sorts of working folk - including those at Johnnie Walker and Tamdhu - facing the dole, it's good to see some kind of cooperative venture apparently succeeding.

Hey, there may be some tosspots involved in these things but that's life. Show me one microcosm of human activity that doesn't include some conflict with those involved.

Speaking of tosspots... senile Tory Hibee and Edinburgh Evil News columnist John Gibson failed to show up for Roc na Gàidhlig. As did his fellow pro-ignorance campaigners Iain Whyte and Michael Blackley. If only they'd known that Edinburgh Gael and punk 'legend' Ruairidh Polloi was handing out whisky to all who wished a wee slug of the uisge-beatha.


High-Commissioner aint really my taste but recent weeks have seen me have plenty of the good stuff. Frau Wind and Cloud was fortunate enough to score a birthday-present bottle of Cadenhead's 2001 bottling of an 11yo bourbon hogshead Inchgower at 61%. Beautiful stuff and classic Inchgower. A fruit-salad nose gives way to honey and salt on the tongue. Superb stuff. It also goes great with 'Salzige Heringe' - a kind of salty liquorice chewy sweet from the north of Germany.

It's also the time of year that our Deutsch freunden start eating the stollen that they baked a few weeks previously. This sugary fruit-loaf type of thing goes well with our old Ileach friend Lagavullin 16. The 'Lag a' Mhuillinn' btw was picked up for a mere £30 odd from Wine Rack - another store facing the good auld capitalist axe.

With the boom and bust brothers of Tory and New Labour looking to win the right to run/ruin 'Great' Britain sometime next year - and both of them seeking to plunge the Great Satan into even deeper debt with more spending on nuclear weapons and foreign wars - then it has to be time for Scots to seriously think about going it alone.

If drams were bands who would they be??

If drams were bands who would they be?? The headline yon skinny lass from Sex and the City never wrote. Here's the current TOP 3 drams though die Frau says there's one or two Old Pulteneys bubbling under...

1- Laphroaig 18yo - This replaces the 15. And it does, in style.
Like the raw power of Oi Polloi - see below - meeting the complex but hard-edged melodies of System of a Down. Replaces the 15yo with something deeper and more complex like a Biffy Clyro classic. Take a stick of liquorice, dip it in molasses and lemon juice and dust it with smoked paprika. Eaten with a leaf of seaweed. Still Laphroaig but closer in aspects to Ardbeg or Lagavulin.

2- Bruichladdich 16yo Cuvee Margaux 'C'
The perfect pink-pop of the Pet Shop Boys. You may not admit to liking it, but this expertly crafted tune sticks in your head. Almost a rose wine colour, it has age and is elegant but still a breath of fresh air. A juicy fruit from Islay. One of six Cuvee casks, A to F.

3- Inchgower 17y0 Port cask
Christy Moore's smooth voice sucking a Fisherman's Friend but not in the Oi Polloi dressing room. From the 'Castle Collection' this one is oilier than Cliff Richard. Like a MacCowans toffee bar rolled in salt and pepper. With a longer finish than a Mogwai epic. Haven't see this here but if you're in Germany or the Netherlands, keep your eyes peeled.