Of the 356 single malts known to noumenal and sublunary beings, none of them attain their peak nosing and tasting qualities without a small infusion of spring water. This is a T claim and few such claims are able to attain the degree of certainty possessed by this one. (Trust me on that.) Should Michael Jackson disagree - not THAT Michael Jackson - I would be willing to debate the matter in open forum with him or any of his disciples - under idealized, counterfactual conditions of discourse - at a venue of his own choosing, at a high noon of his own preference. Na zdarovye, tovarish. Walter O. Glenmorangie Professor of Phenomenological Spirits Department of Transcendental Philosophy University of Edinburgh, Scotland Quoting David Ritchie <ritchierd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>: > > On Nov 30, 2008, at 11:45 AM, wokshevs@xxxxxx wrote: > > Exactly what do you all > > do the toasting WITH? Perchance a touch of the Highlands, dare we > > say? Or arre > > ye all more of the Skye perrsuasion? Surely not the Lo'lands. We're > > not > > Brrritish after all, even if God chose to give us a boundarry with > > them > > people. > > > > Vladsimir Mihailovitch Gavrilov Okshevsky > > First Bagpipe Player > > Soviet and Scots Army Chorus and Band > > > You have touched a raw or sore point. In prior years there have been > whisky tastings associated with the dinner, for FREE, which of course > draws in the Scots. Not so, this year alas. The only hooch I > touched--being in charge of an event does take some of the wildness > out of it--was what they handed me when I toasted the haggis and > that, horror of horrors, though a single malt, had to be dispatched > (or so the piper said) in one gulp and without benefit of water. > > Slan-ge-vah, or as it's written, "slainte." Maybe there'll be > occasion for a drop this evening. > > David Ritchie, > celebrating the many lands which honor St. Andrew, Russia clearly > among the foremost > ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html