Whisky Friday - Bourbon time?

So it's been a little slow on the whisky front, the last little while. Between the 9-5 job, my energy-sapping 1 year old and the never-ending house maintenance and weekend activities, it so happens that I don't get to indulge as often as I would like.

True "first world" problem to be having, right? Right.

Anyway - I'm in a bit of a whisky mood tonight, after my customs duty run-in (stay tuned), a long day at work and thinking about sending and receiving samples for the first time to a "whisky friend", making sure I have enough "empties" etc.

To that end, I consumed half a 50ml sample bottle of Wild Turkey bourbon whilst making dinner - my first bourbon in years, over a decade, in fact (long story short - bad experience with a certain Jim Beam in my mid-teenage years put me off the stuff for the next.. what is it now.. some 14 years later).

Surprisingly good! Nothing like the horrible, standard J.B. of yore although the nose had just a little of that unmistakable, sickly sweet edge to it that I had associated with Jim Beam all those years ago. Perhaps my maturing taste buds and ability to handle spirits have helped somewhat in yielding tonight's pleasant Wild Turkey dram experience - I guess I'll never know - but at least the overriding feeling at the moment is one of satisfaction and optimism for a future that includes bourbon whiskey in my tasting repertoire, and maybe even in my whisk(e)y cabinet!

Of course no sooner was the Wild Turkey downed, when my trusty whisky calendar (on two devices, no less) informs me that I ought to be doing a 3 month follow-up on the Dalmore 12 I've reviewed previously - so it's currently "breathing" while I write this and I'll be posting an addendum to that review shortly.

As I mentioned earlier - I had my first customs run-in on merely my second importation of whisky from the U.K. and ended up paying the duty this morning to "free" my precious aqua vitae from the clutches of Australia's finest Border Control and Revenue Raising department. It wasn't pretty. But an error in calculation on their part saw me save at least AU $30 so a minor victory to me, shall we say? I could understand slugging a shipment of dutiable alcohol for an alcohol re-seller but 2 bottles for private consumption? Really? Seems you just can't win because if you buy local, you pay through the nose with all the taxes and duties and local excises passed on, and if you dare import (the cheaper option even with 70 GBP shipping!) - it's still a game of Russian Roulette when it reaches the border.

End rant. Sorry. At least I'm not Candian though, eh? Those poor guys can only get what their Government allows them to have, and not for a fair price either - I do feel very sorry for whisk(e)y lovers in Canada. To you my fellow ex-colonials, I raise my glass in defiance and hope for the future! Slainte!