Chilly out isn't it? I must say, I love that feeling of the cold creeping into the air in the late Autumn.
One of the wonders of modern living is that the lucky amongst us can pop on the heating and for those of us that are partial, maybe have a wee dram to keep the cold out. Unfortunately, neither the heating nor the dram are getting any cheaper.
Just like they and all their compatriots have been doing for the last few years, SSE have announced their latest hike in energy prices, and it's pretty monstrous. An average of 8.2% for dual fuels, which equates to £106 annually per household serviced. Ouch. It's so bad that SSE actually apologised as part of the announcement (however, given the circumstances, I'd question the sincerity of that apology). Now that SSE have broken the duck, there'll be more bad news to follow, no doubt.
For those of us with a fondness for malt whisky as a method of 'central heating', the news isn't great either. Not only is it constantly subject to rises in duty, VAT, inflation and the machinations of shareholders, but this is another type of fuel in limited global supply!
I don't know if it's my tongue or my heart speaking (I suspect both), but Scotland makes the best whisky in the world, bar none. We can only make so much, but the big global powers are fighting for all they can get, and the export markets are booming. So, unless the cost of whisky in Scotland stays high, all the good stuff will be exported to somewhere where they'll pay more! It's just not fair.
While whisky is and always has been a pretty expensive hobby, adjusted for inflation and duty rises over the past ten years - and these are considerable - your average bottle of 'standard age' whisky isn't really any more expensive than should be expected. Where the profiteering comes in is with aged whiskies and special editions.
Ten years ago, you might buy a thirty year old whisky for a special occasion, but nowadays, you 'invest' in one. In fact, if you wanted to 'invest' in a good thirty year old now, you wouldn't even be able to manage it with that £106 that SSE just took from you! It's sickening, really.
However, despite what some (usually very wealthy and ill-informed) people might tell you, age is not a guarantor of quality. Some very old whiskies can be utterly brilliant, but they can also be flat, tired and flabby. With whisky, age is solely a guarantor of price - and often an indicator of crassness!
I'd go so far as to say you could get three excellent whiskies for, shall we say, £106? (Are you listening, SSE?)
You could start with a bottle of anCnoc 12 y.o. (£29.75, Oddbins)- a little-known, but incredibly soft, gentle and sweet malt from Aberdeenshire. Officially, it's a Highland malt, but it has a lot of the nearby Speyside's style, with its honeyed aromas of shortcake and beeswax, and a palate that would make you think there was honey in your toddy. You could drink it all day (but probably shouldn't). If you want to sound in the know, pronounce it 'a-nock'; the big C is silent.
Only £76.25 left, so lets' be canny with the next couple. Next, go for Aberlour A'bunadh(£33.50, down from £41.50, Waitrose). Believe me when I say this is an absolute steal at this price. It's a batch-produced (and numbered - batch #45 is on the shelves just now, but #46 was recently released), cask-strength (varies, but normally around 60%) blend of different ages of Aberlour malt whiskies (between 5 and 25 years), all heavily sherried. Got all that? The point is that this rich, raisiny beast of a whisky is the definition of limited, unique and special - but it's dirt cheap.
I have £42.75 left. Tell you what, if you don't put that last 25p in the meter, we can stretch to a bottle of Balvenie Caribbean Cask 14 y.o. (£43, Sainsbury's). A delicious experiment; some sumptuous fourteen year old Balvenie spirit was left in American oak casks that had previously been guarding some Caribbean rum. The result? It's a girl - sugar and spice and all things nice. It has a nose of vanilla, banana, and tropical fruit, with a lip-smacking palate of cinnamon, orange and toffee. Weird, but in a very good way!
Okay, so I went over and spent £106.25… But not by 8.2%...
So, if your energy supplier ever makes a sincere apology, and for once, doesn't put up the prices - you know what to spend it on!
Reading Between the Wines: a guide to beer festivals and autumnal ales
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