So, what are you drinking now?

@OdysseusUnbound neat! I just added a strat too

@RikS Awesome. Which one did you get?

@OdysseusUnbound standard player in 3 tone with a snappy maple neck. Love it. Though, takes a while to get used to the 9's as I'm used to 10's on my gretsch.

@RikS I played 11-52 gauge strings for years and just a few months ago, a Rick Beato video convinced me to switch to 9-40 (balanced tension) gauge strings and I haven't looked back. Those player series are really nice guitars. The pickups have a ton of that classic Fender "quack" that I love so much. Errr...back to drinking. I'm probably going to sip something tonight, but I'm not sure what. Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban? Laphroaig Triple Wood? The last of my (currently open bottle of) Booker's ? Open something new?

@OdysseusUnbound well, tell us what your playing tonight, and we can all recommend something suitable. I find that "ace of spades" goes well with the 50% ABV J. Daniels I picked up last week, whereas anything Gilmore like requires a lot more subtle nuance...

@RikS I’ve really been on a Hendrix and SRV kick lately in anticipation of getting my new Strat. Well, I’m never not on a Hendrix kick since he’s probably my favourite electric guitarist of all time. What pairs with Jimi and Stevie?

@OdysseusUnbound with Hendrix, I'd probably say a rather massive reefer... With Paige, a somewhat less contentious Lagavulin 12

And you gotta upload a sound file!

Girvan 31 yo Grain Whisky, SMWS G7.10, the cask named "The Texan tea party". I salute and thank Bryan McCoy who generously gave me this sample on September 26, 2018. 31 years of used oak influence, in this case 31 very nice years of used oak influence. Piquante, spicy, and delicious. Tongue-tingling. I can see Texas in the graininess here, central Texas, like Abilene, or North Texas, like Amarillo.

The sharp edge of the grain here reminds me a lot of the sharp edge of the Irish Pot Still unmalted barley flavour profile.

It is quite a treat to drink 31 yo whisky these days.

Cheers, friends!

@fiddich1980 Haha, ‘fraid so. I have 15. I also have around 60 fountain pens. I haven’t bought a watch or a fountain pen for a couple of years, but the whisky and vinyl record collections are increasing steadily. It’s some kind of bad hoarder gene.

@OdysseusUnbound Stevie Ray: Southern Comfort? Maybe not. That’s a banging headache waiting to happen. Something good from Jack Daniels then. BTW, I’m also addicted to Rick Beato.

@BlueNote He’s such a knowledgeable guy and seems so down to earth. And honestly, he won me over easily since the first video of his I saw was an int-depth interview with Eric Johnson, one of my favourite guitarists ever. I wish I had some Texas whisky in honour of SRV….or some Seattle whisky in honour of Jimi?

@Victor - Glad you liked the Girvan! Thanks for jogging my memory of that long gone bottle.

@OdysseusUnbound @BlueNote @RikS - For playing ability as well as his guitar collection, if you aren't familiar with Joe Bonamassa, I highly recommend a listen, especially his live recordings. He's one of those musicians who is actually better live than on studio recordings, in my humble opinion, but I'm a drummer so what do I know? :-)

@casualtorture - Thanks! I hadn't thought of the Ledaig in whisky porn terms, but I think you are right. It pretty much checks all of the boxes for me; perfect age, great color, ex-sherry cask, sweet, peat, smoky, balanced and a little bit of a Campbeltown funk note as well.

Last night, a dram of Glen Grant SMWS 9.224 (14 year - May 2007) “Harvest hayride happiness” - 1st-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 61.7% ABV. This bottle was "good", "fine", "ok", when I opened it, but it seems to be developing some complexity and character over time. It tasted better last night than it ever has previously.

@OdysseusUnbound He had a really good session with Tommy Emmanuel, too. Beato’s a killer guitar player himself, actually he’s an amazing all around musician.

How about a few Lone Star beers for Stevie Ray. A Starbuck’s double shot Americano for Jimi, maybe spiked with some good whiskey.

@OdysseusUnbound The Quinta Ruban exceeded my expectations. If I had room to store it and an expectation of drinking it I would love to put away a few spares. It is one of the few high quality scotches still available at a reasonable price.

@bwmccoy I’m a big fan of Bonamassa’s live stuff, but it’s become fashionable in certain guitar circles to dismiss him as “rich boy blues”. I think that’s nonsense. The man has incredible talent and is passionate about all aspects of American Blues music. But what do I know? I’m Canadian.

I settled on the last of my Booker’s 2018-01E, some Weller Antique 107, and a few rums: Havana Club 7 Year, followed by Mount Gay Black Barrel.

@bwmccoy @OdysseusUnbound Have to agree re: Bonamassa. He knows his way around a fretboard. @bwmccoy Who's your favorite drummer?

@OdysseusUnbound @bwmccoy @BlueNote there’ll always be people with ‘opinions’ on anyone who is accomplished in any genre of life. As regards Bonamassa’s capacity and feeling, I reckon this video says it all in a way…

youtu.be/GWsDen3la50

@BlueNote - We are going to have to start a drummer thread for all of my favorite drummers. I can't pick a single favorite. Buddy Rich for Jazz. Neil Peart was probably the best drummer ever and if not ever, at least in rock. I learned to play drums listening to / emulating Danny Seraphine of Chicago. The stuff Stewart Copeland did with the Police was amazing. There are several more, but that's a start. :-)

Today was apparently National Cocktail Day, so I had a Greenpoint cocktail before dinner. I had to combine the last of my Knob Creek Rye (50% ABV) with a newly opened bottle of Rittenhouse BIB. Ingredients: 2 oz Rye whiskey, 1/2 oz Green Chartreuse, 1/2 oz Sweet vermouth, 1 dash Angostura bitters, 1 dash Orange bitters and garnish with a lemon peel.

Later, while playing on-line poker with the guys;

GlenDronach SMWS 96.34 (11 year - March 2009) "Stroll Through the Seasons" - 1st-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 60.2% ABV

Fettercairn SMWS 94.10 (13 year - Aug. 2007) "The gentle beast from the east". After 11 years in a refill ex-bourbon hogshead, transferred to a 1st-fill ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry hogshead - 56.0% ABV.

Finished with a peated Speyside dram. Allt-A-Bhainne SMWS 108.19 (7 year - Nov 2011) "Forget Convention!" - 2nd-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 64.6% ABV.

@RikS - Thanks for sharing that video. I knew he opened for B.B. King when he was 12, but I've never seen that video.

@bwmccoy I find it interesting to go back to the early years of artists. I remember years ago, I was struggling to understand why Picasso was so revered? After all, I could also paint funny abstract and similar-looking images works. Then someone introduced me to his early works.... and I realized that at the age of 14 (see images), he had already surpassed what I would ever be able to create. As he progressed from there.... simply, at some point, advanced was so far ahead in his artistic development that I couldn't even comprehend it.

I'm loving this guitar conversation. I don't understand guitars. Guitar is really the only instrument I don't understand. I don't understand the notation in particular. I've composed chamber music pieces from solo instruments up to and including full orchestra, but I don't know how to write a score for guitar. I think 2 or 3 hours of Q & A with one of you guys would answer most of my questions.

I grew up singing but never studied an instrument. In my 40s I studied theory, harmony, form & analysis, orchestration, and composition. If I were to study an instrument my favourites are some of the most difficult to master. First and foremost I love the oboe, but nobody gets to be very good on an oboe without about 6 or 8 years of hard work, and whittling a lot of reeds. I like oboe because I consider it to be the instrument most like the human voice. Others I know feel that way about the cello. If not the oboe I would study either violin or French horn.

I have not followed many guitarists by name, but have no trouble appreciating virtuosity in any genre when I hear it-- just exactly my same universal open approach to appreciating virtuosity in the vast global whiski world. I love Jimi Hendrix and wish I could have seen him live, though I didn't appreciate Hendrix until several years after he had passed into spirit. I did see Jim Morrison and the Doors in 1968, though. In those days 53 years ago it was my same current big sis whiski buddy who was the one driving me and my 15 year old friends to see the Doors before we were old enough to drive ourselves.

The world is full of beauty just waiting for us to appreciate it.

@Victor Guitar and whisky people share a lot of characteristics, and not always positive ones. I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "understanding guitar notation" but I'm always happy to answer any questions you have. Did you know that the guitar sounds an octave lower than it is written? Is that the kind of thing you're wondering about?

Your mention of the cello made me smile. When I was in college studying music, my voice teacher told me that as a baritone, I had to imagine my voice as a cello. For anyone who appreciates virtuosity in all its forms, Joe Pass is a guitarist that is a "must hear". I'm hit and miss with jazz, but Pass' "Virtuoso" is absolutely incredible.

@Victor If I played a wind instrument I would want it to be the oboe. But my daughter, who, like me, plays violin, took it for a year and I bought a bunch of reeds for her so I used one and tried to play a few notes. It was really hard to get a sound out of it. If you've written any violin duets I'm sure my daughter and I could play them for you for your next visit...

@RikS That's a Picasso? It looks very similar to Luke Fildes doctor. Either that or all doctors look alike. I knew there was something wrong with my medical skills...I can't grow a beard...

@OdysseusUnbound my guitar Q & A would require sitting down with a physical instrument. Most of my questions would be about corresponding the physical act of playing the instrument to the notes which would reflect that playing on a written score.

As for score transpositions, yes I am very aware and experienced with that. One composes an orchestral score on computer/paper "at concert pitch", then transposes the individual parts scores for the musicians who are to perform it. Quite a few of the most used instruments require transpositions of the parts scores, e.g. B-flat clarinet, French Horn, B-flat trumpet.

LOL ! Talking music composition. The last time I composed a new piece was 2008. It was then that my primary hobby turned from music composition to WHISKI.

What changed? I shifted my primary attention from the study and appreciation of SOUND to the study and appreciation of TASTE AND SMELL.

My interest in music never goes away, of course. It is just temporarily de-emphasized.

And that tuxedo in which I am pictured? I was Master of Ceremonies at 30 chamber music concerts wearing that tuxedo.

@Nozinan It is. I suppose that “wisdom” has always been portrait with a beard - not to suggest that those who can’t grow one would be unwise lol.

@Nozinan I haven't written any violin duets yet. I do have a 3 movement Sonata for Violin and Piano and a 3 movement String Quartet, though.

@RikS @Nozinan I had to grow a beard before they let me teach the Introduction to Philosophy class. It's a curriculum requirement that the teacher have a beard, which seems a bit sexist as most women I know can't really grow a proper beard.

@RikS I grew my only beard and mustache starting in June 2001 and ending in February 2006 when I had a dermatologist remove a benign growth on my upper lip. I had to shave the mustache to get the growth removed and the beard looked like crap without the mustache, so that was it for the beard . Three months into the beard came 9-11-2001. I thought at the time, "Great! I've grown my first beard/mustache in my life, and now I look just like the Taliban!". Facial hair can have a lot of different associations.

@OdysseusUnbound about jazz...it did not attract me and I knew little about it until 20 years ago some new friends invited Julie and me to attend a 3.5 day trad jazz festival in Sacramento with them. We went for 2 consecutive years with them to the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee and had wonderful times. Live music from 11 am to 1 am every day, and I never got tired of it. It was easy to appreciate the virtuosity of the best of the musicians there. What I especially like about jazz music is that they just threw out all of the rule books and did what they wanted to do. None of this 'functional tonal harmony' which held concert music in a church-hymn-like vise for centuries. Exploration of different avenues of sound and rhythm.

From those experiences I became especially fond of Zydeco music ("Les haricots ne sont pas sales") Julie became quite a fan of gypsy swing music, which is its own little neighbourhood. Stuff like Hot Club of Paris...and Hot Club of San Francisco.

What I like most about jazz music in general is that it is very up close and personal. One can still very often go to jazz clubs and sit 10 feet away from the performers while they perform, chat with them on their breaks, and maybe have a beer with them after the show.