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Beer of the Week:

Jennings' "Sneck Lifter" was my preferred cask ale on our winter Lake District excursion - dark brown and viscous, wonderful hazelnut and mocha malt with a clean floral and sherry bitterness on the finish.

Whisky of the Week:

On our trip to the Cairngorms, I enjoyed a Dalwhinnie 15-year (not too far from its source) - a grassy, smooth sweetness transitioning to a more rugged highland smokiness. Very aromatic, with honey, heather, vanilla.

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Beer of the Week:
"Wildcat," a dark amber ESB from Cairngorm brewery at 5.1% ABV. "Wildcat" is heavy with sweet caramel and roasted malts (scotch ale in tendency) with a light bitterness and berries coming through in the finish.

Whisky of the Week:
"Benromach" 12-year, another Speyside Whisky (in the town of Forres), has a bitter-root and floral quality. This smoother, more delicate character lets the herbaceous qualities stand out. The finish is soft and woody.

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Beer of the Week:

"Blackfriar" scotch ale from Inveralmond brewery - at 7.0% ABV - is a smooth, malty ale (though surprisingly light on body and mouthfeel) with roasted, chocolate, and caramel notes balanced with a dried apple and raisin fruitiness. And hoppy for a scotch ale.

Whisky of the Week:

"Singleton" 12-year from Dufftown distillery (Speyside) had decent malt and spice up front, warm and chewy with some smokiness, finishing bitterly and somewhat abruptly with a harsh burn for a whisky at 40% ABV. Imbibed at our local whisky pub, "Uisge Beatha" (ISH ke bah), along with the folk songs of local singers and musicians.

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Beer of the Week:

Now that the winter season is upon us like a wet, black cloak, the b.o.w.'s will be primarily the darker, heavier stouts, scotch ales, and barley wines (as opposed to the crisp blonde summer ales).  "Ca'Canny" is a porter-style ale at 5.2% ABV from the Kelburn brewing company. Outstanding coffee and chocolate richness with a deep fruity aftertaste - just like the label says (and they're not exaggerating)!

Whisky of the Week:

"Bruichladdich" 12-year, another whisky from my favorite region, Islay.  Subtle for an Islay malt since this one is unpeated.  Green fruits (pear/apple) and vanilla are predominant.  Full malty sweetness.

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Beer of the Week: "Bede's Chalice," a barley wine from durham brewery, weighing in at 9.0% ABV, is an amazing and complex beer with the flavors of rich thistle honey, toffee, prune, and (on the finish) orange bitters - sweet and heavy, but not nauseatingly so.

Whisky of the Week: "Ardbeg" 10-year is another smoky, medicinal whisky from Islay (resembling Laphroaig). Combining with the peaty, smoky, earthy qualities is a sweet smooth tobacco that evokes the spirit of grandpa's living room - pipe smoke, dessication, and home remedies.

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Whisky of the Week: There is no beer of the week (b.o.w.) this week as the elements have driven us to whisky night after night. In these cold, dark and damp times, we must focus our attention on whisky. Cragganmore 12-year immediately became one of my favorites - one I will surely return to as the Scottish sun sets at 4:30, then 4:00, then on the solstice - God help us - 3:30! Incredibly smooth and sweet malt with complex floral and honey flavors on the nose and tongue, finishing like a roaring wood stove in the throat and belly.

edit:
Beer of the Week: we have a belated beer of the week after all, "St. Cuthbert" IPA from Durham Brewery. Heavy all around with malt, yeast, hops, taking a quaff trajectory from honey to peach to wee orange citrus, on to a meaty, musty yeasty wit long dry throat puckerin finish. Bottle-conditioned certified real ale. The best IPA I've had in a while.

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Beer of the Week:

An oddity this week, the b.o.w. is a German-style beer, though brewed here in Glasgow - West brewing company's Hefeweizen (their Vienna-style lager, St. Mungo's, deserves honorable mention). This Hefeweizen was as good as any sampled while living and traveling in Germany - floral, spicy, fig and banana. I regret not trying the Dunkelweizen ... next time.

Whisky of the Week:

"Talisker" 10-year, the only single malt from the Isle of Skye, is this week's w.o.w. and this month's nightly sipping whisky (now that the weather is turning colder and the sun is setting at 4:40!). Complex earthy and herbaceous qualities are central - mint and spruce - with a peripheral warm sweet bread.

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Beer of the Week:
"St. Peter's Well" from Houston Brewing Company, consumed at Houston pub post-George Cummings Relay - perfect recovery drink! Served exquisitely from the cask - great temperature, very low carbonation, very fresh. Classic bitter - biscuity, sweet, with strong grassy hops. Champion beer of Scotland (2000, 2001) and champion bitter of Britain (2005).

Whisky of the Week:
Of the two whiskys sampled recently, neither the Isle of Jura 10 year nor the Auchentoschen 10 year rated very favorably; however, if I had to choose one for a subdued "w.o.w.", it would be the Isle of Jura - slightly sweet and fresh sea air, but a wee thin and short on the palate.

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Beer of the Week:
Schiehallion, from our friends at Harviestoun brewery, is a crisp, hoppy lager that would have certainly ranked near the top of last week's special edition on Scotland's summer ales...if it were an ale. Imagine your favorite continental lager fused with a brisk wind off the heather and the citrus twist we'd expect from the makers of Bitter & Twisted. Then you'll have Schiehallion.

Whisky of the Week:
Balvenie 21 year - toffee, oaky, with hints of port and vanilla - a long dry finish. I believe this is the oldest whisky I've sampled to date (courtesy of Athole - Slainte Mhathe!).

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Beer of the Week: This week's B.O.W. is a special feature of Scotland's summery blonde and gold ales.

Arran "Blonde," Harviestoun "Bitter & Twisted," Atlas "Nimbus," Broughton "Border Gold," Inveralmond "Ossians," Orkney "Northern Light," Heather Ale "Fraoch" (from L to R)

My personal taste would rank Bitter & Twisted (previously discussed on B.O.W.) and Fraoch in first position. I was hesitant to try Heather Ale as they turn away from hops and towards the more indigenous brewing ingredients like fresh heather flowers (and in other styles: sprigs of pine, elderberries, gooseberries, and even seaweed). I was pleasantly surprised - not only did it taste like beer, it balanced a classic sweetness and bitterness better than most traditional beers (with a nice floral touch of course).

Second position belongs to "Nimbus" from Atlas brewery in Kinlochleven. Perhaps the best beer on the list (when removing my personal bias for a light, floral, and citrusy brew), Nimbus brings a much fuller malt and hop profile. The yeast is also more clearly in play, adding elements of the meaty, earthy, and acetic.

Third position goes to Broughton's "Border Gold" (organic). Not very adventurous in style but clean-tasting and higher on the alcohol content at ABV %6 (without seeming so), which I do appreciate.

Fourth position finds "Ossian's" and "Northern Light" - both light and refreshing, yet full of hop and yeast character.

Last position, though certainly a well-made and drinkable beer, is Arran Blonde (previously discussed on B.O.W.).


Whisky of the Week: Highland Park 12-year, the best of both worlds - a mild sweet-clover on the palate with a slightly peaty and smokey finish.

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Beer of the Week:
B.O.W. may become beer of the month, or da B.O.M., or bomb out altogether if I continue this trend of missing multiple weeks. In an attempt to make up for my inexcusable delinquency, I retroactively deem "Ptarmigan" ale from Harviestoun brewery the beer of a fortnight ago. Served from the cask at Oran Mor here in Glasgow, the Ptarmigan fit well with the season (as ptarmigans - the bird now - always do, seasonally camouflaged as they are) - golden, crisp hops, floral, spicy, smooth...

Beer of last week also comes from Harviestoun brewery, which has quickly become one of my favorites here in Scotland (alongside Cairngorm brewery). "Bitter and Twisted," consumed from cask at numerous pubs here in Glasgow, was one of the first brews I tried upon arrival in January, and it immediately became my go-to beer. Like most of the beers that have been showing up on B.O.W. this summer, Bitter and Twisted is a light, fresh yeasty, and hopped up ale with an emphasis on citrus and tart. At first it reminded me of "Gumball Head" - a must-drink beer from Three Floyd's. Very drinkable.

Finally, the beer of this week is "Arran Blonde" from the Isle of Arran brewery. Though there was talk of visiting a local pub on Arran to sample some on cask, we had to rush to catch the ferry back to the mainland, and I had to settle for enjoying, back home at the flat, the few bottles I won for the Arran relay race. Like the other ales in this entry, Arran Blonde is light, clean-tasting, with very sweet and floral (and again with the citrus!) hops.

Whisky of the Week: no data :(

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Beer of the Week: a good summer hiking ale - "Stirling Summer" from the Bridge of Allan brewery - served real ale at the Strathyre Inn. Mild and sweet with hops like a summer breeze to take the malty weight off. Though this week's beer was consumed in Strathyre after a day of munro bagging, the unofficial and extemporaneous category of 'pub of the week' would go to the Drover's Inn in the wee WHW stopping point of Inverarnen (just north of Loch Lomond). If you ever find yourself driving up into the highlands in the west of Scotland, do not pass this place by - an ancient stony mass of a building, roughly hewn with an interior blackened from the large fire that the kilt-clad staff continues to stoke with shovels of coal ... and enough clan weaponry and dead animal heads to conjure Mel Gibson's battle cry. Decent food too.


Whisky of the Week: cask strength Laphroaig 10 year: not subtle or smooth by any means - strong, peaty, medicinal - the prescription for a June-July stuck in 50 degree temps.

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Beer of the Week: our apologies to Scotland, but this week's winner comes from its enervated neighbor to the south - "Pitchfork" from the Royal Clarence Hotel brewery (served at the Three Judges pub) - a pale ale with a hop profile that comes at you from every direction, aggressively, as if with a pitchfork, only not as scary, unpleasant, or harmful seeming.

Whisky of the Week: slow week for whisky-drinking, so we will take this time to honor our favorite from Islay (pronounced EYE-luh) - Caol Ila (pronounced CULL EE-luh), a taste of fresh sea air and smoky, earthy peat that lingers without overwhelming. Slainte Mhath! (pronounced SLAWN juh VAH, gaelic for "good health," but we sometimes like to say "slanty math" just to humor the locals)!

West Highland Way Race

Two of my new mates, Marco and Debbie, competed in the WHW race this past weekend, and my mind has continually wandered to, and wondered at, this absolutely daunting task - all the more so after my experience of running just 23 miles along the mountainous, rocky trail (with an hours long break in between sections even), which left me broken, wasted, dizzy, and confused, thinking that the white spots floating around my field of vision were magically levitating and laughing sheep... or perhaps they were?

But Marco and Debbie were out there, in the rain, through the dark, all day, and possibly into the next nightfall, running not a measly 23 miles, or even 53 miles, but a discombobulating 95 miles! I am anxiously awaiting their results and full race report.

If your interest in the WHW race is also piqued, I encourage you to visit the race website and recommend in particular the short film featuring an ordinary bloke, Mark Hamilton, and his epic struggle to complete the race. Just click the link below and follow the "race community" and "runners videos" tabs:

http://www.westhighlandwayrace.org/

And see last week's post "My Heart was in the Highlands..." for some pictures from the WHW trail.
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Beer of the Week (B.O.W.): sadly, I only sampled one cask ale this week, at the Three Judges pub here in Glasgow - "Independence" from Inveralmond brewery (makers of "Lia Fail" and "Ossians Ale"). Although this pale seemed more suited for fall or winter - with its fuller mouth-feel and caramel notes, accompanied by a hop profile that was not floral but dried grass, not citrusy but resinous - it was a well-made beer. Pairing it with the West End Festival, Glasgow's great summer celebration (a Scottish flavored Mardis Gras), left me wishing I had ordered a "Bitter and Twisted" or "Tradewinds," but this was simply a matter of poor timing.

Whisky of the Week (W.O.W.): a tie between the "Oban" 14 year and the "Bunnahabhain" 12 year, sampled at our new favorite pub on Byres road - the Aragon - a warm mix of good beer & whisky, football fans watching the teles, and quality, live, acoustic music on Sundays. Now that's what the Germans call "Geborgenheit." The "Oban" was sweet and smooth with a burnt fruit and toffee flavor most prominent. The "Bunnahabhain" started out spicy and finished well with a warm vanilla sweetness.

My Heart was in the Highlands, Now my Foot's in Disrepair

Unfortunately, the denouement to last weekend's run on the West Highland Way (a 95 mile trail from Glasgow to Ben Nevis) was the inability to walk, let alone run. A week of full rest, ice, and ibuprofen has subdued the inflammation of tendons and tissues enough for me to plan a full return later today (and per usual, I suspect this return will exceed the boundaries of moderation and wisdom). Looking forward, the Loch Ness Marathon is 16 weeks away. Looking backward, here are some pics from my amazing and inspiring run through the highlands with some of my fellow running club mates in the Garscube Harriers (click pics to enlarge!):

The bonnie banks of Loch Lomond as seen from Conic Hill (on the Highland fault). Garscube, Moira Young pictured.

The pastoral gloom of Glen Coe

Garscube, Toby Messenger amidst the wilds, ruins, and spirits of highland drovers pastThe road to broken foot (man, was it beautiful though)
Sheep, lots of sheep

Beer of the Week: "Tradewinds" from Cairngorm brewery; from cask at Inchtree Inn in Fort William and at Three Judges in Glasgow; smoky hint to the malt up front and pulls off an amazing, seemless transition to grapefruit; beer of the week and beer of the year thus far! Disappointed with the "Red Cuillin" from Skye Brewery served at Inchtree, not clean-tasting or -looking, just an out of control estery and buttery yeast cloud (couldn't even finish the pint, fault of brewery or pub?).

Whisky of the Week: "Glengoyne" 12 year, toured the lovely distillery at the foot of Dumgoyne hill in the Campsie Fells with Britt and her uncle Roger. Quite a change from our usual imbibing of the smoky, peaty, edgy Islay whiskies like Laphroaig, Caol Ila, and Bowmore; mildness revealed the softer floral, spice, and woody qualities.