Don't mention the vomiting dog

Aye it’s a varied life, this whisky game. Fresh from drinking 70 year old Mortlach at Edinburgh Castle last week, your humble chairman found himself, and it seemed, about half of Glasgow’s Whisky Club and forum members from whiskywhiskywhisky.com at McSorley’s for the opening of a cask of Abhainn Dearg.

The McSorley boys took it upon themselves to take a 600-mile trip to pick up a wee cask from the Red River Distillery on Lewis, where McSorley’s manager Mike Donald hails from.

Various adventures unfolded which you can see here http://www.vimeo.com/9977614

Don’t mention the vomiting dog!

The pub was packed, the nibbles were great and there was a fabulous exhibition of the ancient art of cooperage when the Fishers Cooperage boys came along and built a cask before our very eyes.

Start of the show was Marko Tayburn who flew in on the last plane from Stornoway to officially open the cask. The usual speeches were made, including some incoherent bumbling from your chairman, then Marko cracked the cask. In the ensuing melee, I was able to get a hold of a dram (see above for proof) and for a new make eight weeks old, it was remarkable. Already it had colour, a light pink bluish, and had pear drops, peaches, bags of fruit and was very very fresh.

It’s on sale at the end of McSorley’s Bar until it runs out, and once it’s gone, it’s gone.