A Wee Dram

My friend, Sandi, recently spent some time in Scotland.  The other day, she stopped by with a gift for me and an electronic tablet with photographs from the trip. 

For those of you unfamiliar, Scotland is the place where Scotch whisky is distilled.  That’s pretty much all you need to know.  Well, the Loch Ness Monster is also there.  That’s worth an honorable mention.

Sandi entered my house with her tablet and a couple of bags in her arms.  “Do you like single malts or blends?” she asked once we settled at the stools around my kitchen peninsula.

“Single malts.  They tend to keep the peat or smoky flavor.”

“Good!” Sandi fished a bottle of Cragganmore 12 year old Speyside single malt Scotch from the largest bag.  “Have you ever had this?”

“Nope.”

“Normally, I don’t like Scotch.  But I liked this.  We need to have a wee dram.”

For those of you from East Helena, Montana (like both me and Sandi), a “wee dram” is what we call a “shot.”  Historically, a dram was a coin, a unit of mass, and a unit of volume.  As a measure of volume, a dram is 1/8^th of a fluid ounce.

Sandi then handed me my most important gift: a clear and delicate whisky glass she had purchased in the Scottish Highlands.  That, along with brochures from a few distilleries (Glenlivet, Glen Grant, Aberlour, Brodie, Glen Moray), a “collector’s pack” of Scotch with just a taste of three single malts, and a packet of blooming heather seeds.

The heather seeds are important, too.  Heather grows along the bogs where the peat used for the malting process grows.

As we sipped at our wee dram, Sandi gave me a tour of Scotland with her photographs.  The Highlands of Scotland are lovely.  All stone, inclines, green grass, and sky.   A visit to Scotland is definitely on my bucket list.

Normally, I am I am all about landscape photographs, but Sandi soon scrolled the photographs until she located a snapshot of the guestbook she signed at the Cragganmore Distillery.

“I love that!” I said upon seeing the photograph.

Sandi was kind enough to email me a copy of the photograph (and one of the distillery).  I have posted both photographs here.  Please take a close look at the last entry in the guestbook.

The Cragganmore, by the way, was smooth and flavorful without being overpowering.  Good, that!

Thank you, Sandi!

-- Mitchell Hegman