why do i drink whiskey
I've been drinking whiskey for not so long but I can't imagine (I don't want to imagine) my life without it aroma, warmth and color of _Uisce Beatha (water of life) _ in Gaelic I drink whiskey, by the way, for so many things that may not fit in this letter - but I'm going to try: the first and most important it's the scent. The fragance. I perfume.
And it is that no matter how complicated and stressful the day has been, how foreign the world seems to us so many times: **a finger of Laphroaig ** (one of the drinks of my life, the myth of Scotland: single malt of the island of Islay) and let the nose fall on the glass so that all the doubts of the world are stained with autumn , so that the noise is clothed in silence and the harmony of the essential (nothing more than malt fermented and aged in sherry barrels) takes the beaches of Normandy, which is this now of so many slow awakenings and lazy bedtimes. That's why I drink whiskey.
I drink whiskey for the aroma, for 'le parfum'
I drink whiskey because that simple act connects me with the simplest: smell, touch, taste, emotion and memory. Did you know that the olfactory memory is the only one that does not die? These are the words of Marc Levy: "The faces of those we love most fade with time, the voices are erased, but the smells are never forgotten."
That's why I imagine a whiskey for every moment of my life , a drink for each cramp - I drink Laphroaig, for example, when the world seems to fall apart and all I need is silence and banishment.
I drink whiskey when all I need is silence and banishment
It's Islay's fault. the largest of the hebrides islands and the mob that is heritage there; “Islay, inclement land, with hurricane winds and perpetual rains, with barely three thousand inhabitants. Islay, more than land: terroir. T erruño is the word and peat is its essential component : a penetrating aroma of smoke and charcoal that fills any room”. A complex, addictive and fascinating aroma; there is no middle ground with Islay. There never was.
It's Islay's fault
Some people drink whiskey to forget, like Threshold: “Whiskey has helped me write a few (the best) books, produce thousands of articles, and forget several unforgettable girlfriends”; but I drink to live, to remember that beauty is also balance and clarity, that's why I drink hibiki —which in Japanese means resonance, from the Suntory House.
The perfect bottle, a glass jar with 24 faces to symbolize the 24 seasons of the ancient Japanese lunar calendar. Orange blossom, jasmine, vanilla and cinnamon, so many sunsets in spring and all the nuances of the world.
I talk to two people I admire, why do they drink whiskey? Javier Canada, good friend. Drinker. “A grown-up drink for grown-ups. A terroir and cellar drink; honest and tired, safe from that festering quagmire called 'fads' and 'trends'. A hard and true drink, which does not give shelter to experiments (flower gin and tonic?) or cheesy. A slow drink -because yes, there are slow drinks and fast drinks- the perfect companion for one night alone either a face to face in the usual bar . Slow because the whiskey is not swallowed, it is savored”.
It's the fault of... do we have to look guilty to drink whiskey?
another crazy, Diego Cabrera the man behind the bar Salmon Guru and confidant of so many unforgettable nights: “It was a coincidence, I stumbled across this distillate looking for it in my dad's bar, fortunately he drank good whiskey so my initiation had nothing to do with the bottle. I remember that first sip; I didn't understand what I was drinking but so many stories, affections and stories made me fall in love with that deep drink. So yours. At that time in Buenos Aires you didn't see the big brands that I can have in my own bar today, so when I arrived in Europe and got to know Scotland thoroughly, I rediscovered this unique spirit and was able to listen to all those stories again”. Memory and family. And true. What beautiful reasons, Diego.
I drink Whiskey because I know that one never heals from his past; because I have learned that it is not about forgetting, but about understanding. And because, why fool ourselves, each drink reminds us that we have come here to play.