Bluff Your Way in Whisky [antikvár]

INTRODUCTION The wonderful thing about whisky, apart of course, from drinking it, is that it contains more bluffing elements than almost any other subject - far more than supply-side economics, more even than wine. Wine breeds envy, discord and snobbery, whisky promotes fellowship, amiability and quiet, unassuming superiority. Supply-side economics produced Donald Trump. Until quite recently whisky was a subject that tended to be monopolised by Scots, foreigners, and elderly gentlemen in Clubs. This made the whole area fairly barren ground for bluffers unless they were fortunate enough to find themselves in the company of North Americans with remote Highland ancestry. Such people have a pleasing habit of believing pretty well anything, up to and including the social benefits of the clan system and the romantic joys of kelp-gathering. Things have changed. Whisky appreciation is an idea whose time has come. It will bring you into contact with much nicer people. Real people. Caring people People like us. Like all the best things in life, whisky is a fairly simple business that can easily be made to sound exclusive and impressive by a judicious application of the arcane and a liberal sprinkling of jargon. Knowledge of whisky, like love, is a matter of a basic theme made more enjoyable by an infinite number of variations. The really experienced may even find themselves able to combine the two, a thing real ale enthusiasts could never do. Unlike that other great source of pleasure, however, whisky offers a field of activity in which a rapid turnover of partners (there are approximately 1,182 Scottish ones currently available) is positively beneficial. When in doubt, play safe - pour another dram.