Enjoy Whisky, or Learn More About It?

@PeterG7 I’d take Marchand in a heartbeat, but the sideshow is so unnecessary. The kid’s got tremendous skill and talent.

@PeterG7, that is brilliant! I wish you great success and hope you make several discoveries!

@OdysseusUnbound, @PeterG7, I'm not a Habs fan, my grandmother was. I don't hate on Les Canadiens. On the other hand, Habs fans are so much fun to tease!

GOlf HABS GOlf

@OdysseusUnbound Here is some interesting trivia for all Hab fans and those that wish they were: In a playoff game against Toronto March 23 1944, Maurice Richard was all 3 stars. Mtl beat TO 5 - 1 and he scored all the goals. When they announced him as the 3rd star the fans booed. They cheered when he was announced as the 2nd star. When he was named the 1st star they went nuts.

@PeterG7, war years, it doesn't count.

@Victor Hey, how do you like the way hockey fans can take a topic on whisky and somehow turn it into a topic on hockey? :)

@paddockjudge I'm looking forward to discovering new malts that are not available to me in Canada. Also, I can't resist a gentle dig. Montreal 24 - Boston 6 (As in Stanley Cups)

@PeterG7 Plus as far as I can tell, have there been any other hockey teams from which we have produced members of Parliament AND Senators?

Wait... whose side am I on here?

@Nozinan Welcome to the whisky/hockey topic. Two I can think of were Ken Dryden and Red Kelly. Both were members of parliament

@PeterG7, 1993 was the last Cup for the Habs, 26 years ago! That's a long time, even for whisky.

@paddockjudge Don't I know it.

@Nozinan Jacques Demers coached Les Canadiens and is now a Senator...

@PeterG7 It was my hero Ken Dryden's defeat shortly into my whisky journey that prompted me to seek revenge against my new Conservative MP. I successfully defeated him in 2015. By defeated I mean that I bled enough of my party's vote to his real challenger from another party so that he could edge him in the election.

But it all has to do with whisky, because it was the 42nd parliament, and I gifted the guy who won, now my friend (born in Scotland), with a bottle of A'Bunadh batch 42. He and his father in law pronounced it delicious.

@paddockjudge If the Habs aged as well as whisky, 26 years is a good thing?

A couple of years ago Guy Lafleur was asked how his fantastic team from the 1970s would stack up against the current team. He said I would be close but he thought his team would have the edge.

The interviewer was puzzled, and asked why he thought they wouldn't do better. Lafleur replied something like "we're 40 years older than they are".

I am rooting for St. Louis, but I will be surprised if they to win the Cup.

@PeterG7 , as for the hockey discussion, this falls into the category 'learn more about something new.' The old favourite topic, whisky, is for the moment being passed over in favour of a new and different experience. (less different, of course, for those who live and breathe hockey 24/7)

@OdysseusUnbound I didn't specify players...

@Nozinan Dryden was a pretty impressive goalie and he put up some stellar numbers for such a short career. Because of his height (6' 4") Phil Espositio once referred to him as "a thieving giraffe". I really like his pose of leaning upon his stick during a play stoppage. I can only imagine what thoughts were going through the heads of the opposition when they saw him doing this. @Victor : I would also like to see St Louis win. It's a best of 3 now so anything is possible. Whisky and sport certainly open up the lines of communication. :)

@Nozinan Jean Béliveau was twice offered a Senate seat by "Lyin'" Brian Mulroney and was offered the post of Governor General by Jean Chrétien. He declined each time because he believed that all legislators should be elected.

@Nozinan : Here's another story contributed to Lafleur. Montreal was beating a team quite badly and the line he was on needed a shift change. Apparently, he handed the puck off to the opposing player and said "hang on to this for a moment, the next line will be right back".

@OdysseusUnbound The office of the GG is ceremonial, and could never really be elected.

How does it relate to whisky?

If I were GG, I would host state dinners (as one does) and I would be sure to bring in a few Connosr consultants to ensure the right libations were served.

@paddockjudge - Canadian

@Victor - American

@TAlexander - dual role. Scotch and ging.... I'd better stop.

@Nozinan The GG signs every piece of legislation (Royal Assent), can refuse to sign a piece of legislation (veto power), is the (acting) Commander-in-Chief of all Military Forces, names judges to the Supreme Court....sounds a lot like a President, dontcha think?

@OdysseusUnbound Except by convention (as with the Queen), the GG acts under advice of the Prime Minister.

So if Jack Layton had been PM, I expect he would have asked his GG to serve Scotch at functions.. I don't know what kind though. Maybe Ed Broadbent would know. He was invited to Stornoway...

I remember reading a Toronto Star news article from 2016 stating that the official whisk(e)y of the Canadian Parliament is Aberlour 12. WTF

@fiddich1980 Yes, the tradition was taken from the British Parliament, and started by Peter Milliken in 2003. He selected 2 Scotches, A Dalwhinnie and a Talisker during his term as Speakerwhich ended in 2011. Subsequently, current Conservative leader and then Speaker Andrew Scheer chose Glenmorangie.

@fiddich1980, most politicians are out of touch with everyday human struggles and fail to understand loyalty. Whatever happened to Home Town Pride?

@paddockjudge If I become Prime Minister I will Nationalize Wiser's and BRING BACK LEGACY!

@Nozinan, I'll work there for the new minimum wage.....of $65/hour

@Nozinan Yes...but if we enacted some Constitutional (and electoral?) reforms, the GG could become a President, a Grand Vizier, a Chancellor, a General Secretary, a Generalissimo, a Grand Pooh-Bah, etc...Making this position the head of the executive branch of government might create a greater separation of powers than we currently have. How does this relate to whisky? Hmmmmm...has anyone ever tried Powers Signature Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey?

@OdysseusUnbound, No, but I've tried Glendronach Parliament 21 YO...I think "Parliament" refers to a parliament of Ravens (or old crows).

Conceptualizing about whisky has become less important for me in the last several years. While I remain eager to sample almost everything available in order to get the experience and to give contrasts to all of my prior whisk(e)y experience, making observations about the experience of each sample seems of less significance to me than it did when my sample size was relatively low.

A large volume of experience has convinced me that the variations, singularities, of each sample experienced in the moment, are now of more importance to me than is the process of tying that unique experience to a branded commercial product.

On Connosr, I pioneered the conversations on batch and bottle variation, and on the changing effects on whisky caused by exposure to air over time. I now see each bottle of whisky in its uniqueness, and not as a representative of the label which it carries. I see that same single bottle of whisky as being scores of different whiskies depending on when after the bottle is opened it is sampled, and how the opened bottle has been handled.

My whisky pleasure now primarily derives from 1) enjoying the whisky in the moment, 2) sharing the experience in the moment with friends, and 3) by far most importantly of all, making friends over the experience of drinking whisky and sharing of knowledge about whisky