#whiskies of the world

[the-nation-of-today]

Brothers ✅

Fighters ✅

Bottles living for another round ✅

Lovers ✅

Liars ✅

Throttle speeding towards a blackout ✅

[phasmophobie]

❝  I have  done  bad  things.  I  can't  take  them  back  and  they  are  part  of  who  I  am.  Most  of  the  time  they  seem  like  the  only  thing  I  am. ❞

#𝐏𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐋  𝐙𝐀𝐌Á𝐃𝐈𝐒  ; a skilled  𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐋  𝐈𝐍𝐕𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐆𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑 haunted  by  the  ghosts  of  his  deceased  parents,  navigates  a  withdrawn  and  sleep-deprived  existence.  Despite  excelling  in  his  profession,  his  expertise  fails  to  free  him  from  the  shadows  of  his  past. Sleep  eludes  him  as  the  guilt  gnaws  at  his  soul,  a  constant  reminder  of  the  responsibility  he  feels  for  their  untimely  deaths,  all  while  his  reserved  demeanor  and  avoidance  of  social  interactions  further  isolate  him  from  the  world.

A  STUDY  IN ;  childhood  trauma  ,  rejection  ,  growing  up  in  isolation  ,  the  other  world ,  burdensome  expectations  & fear  of  loss .  married   to   daria  zamádis  and   not   interested   in   anyone  else   !! ⠀(⠀please  check  carrd  for  a  detailed  biography   .⠀board . )  ⠀

INDEPENDENT ; SELECTIVE ; FVZ  BASED & FANDOMLESS PARANORMAL  INVESTIGATOR SPECIALISED IN GHOST  HUNTING  . 

⠀��⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀CURRENTLY  CLOSED  for  plotting

[p-redux]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradjaphe/2023/11/26/the-worlds-best-scotch-whisky-according-to-the-2023-singapore-world-spirits-competition/?sh=56cabda34648

Thanks, Anon! Also got it in DM. Sassenach Whisky wins award for The World's Best Scotch Whisky! Very interesting explanation about whisky making as well. 👇

Congrats to Sam and his team!

[transparentdreamruins]

📷 samheughan IG

[daniiduna86]

Flitwick gives him a cracker, in Rawenclaw colors of course. Sprout and Minerva do the same, but with very big grinning. He takes them, opens the crackers and they are full of brightly colored confetti.

“Haha... Very funny!”, he smiles and shakes off the confetti.

"Happy New Year, Severus!"

“Happy New Year and Slàinte Mhath!”, he says and clinks glasses with his colleagues.

(He drinks a 10 years old Laphroaig. 😉)

[mafaldinablabla]

I need a cigarette

[scotianostra]

On the morning of February 5th 1941 the people of the Outer Hebridean island of Eriskay woke up and thought all their Christmases had come at once.

Part two telling the fate of the S S Politiain, which ran aground off Eriskay on this day in 1941.

At 10.30am on 5th February 1941 one of the ship's lifeboats left with 26 men and was washed ashore at the foot of the cliffs of Rudha Dubh, across the Sound on South Uist. Although the boat was smashed to pieces the crew survived without any injuries, but they returned to the 'Politician' by the Eriskay ferryboat later the same day. At 4.45pm the RNLI lifeboat came from Barra to rescue all of the 50 crew and land them on the Island of Barra. Chief Officer RA Swain recalls how the islanders were "very kind, replenished us with hot drinks laced with good rum, and generally made us very comfortable for the night".

The next morning, 6th February, Captain Worthington and his officers returned to the ship to see if there was any hope of re-floating her, but water had flooded the engine room and several of the ships' holds.

On 8th February the Liverpool and Glasgow Salvage Association tender 'SS Ranger' arrived with a party of salvage experts led by Commander Kay and divers, to survey the damage to the ship. The Ranger also supplied power to the winches to help the Captain and crew remove some of the 500 tons of cargo, which as well as the whisky included cars, bicycles, mail and cotton. The severe gales hampered attempts to remove the cargo and inspect the ship for salvage. It was not until 15th February that divers were able to inspect the ship's hull. Captain Kay, in charge of the salvage operation, decided to make no attempt to save the whisky as its hold (number 5) was flooded with water and fuel oil, and he believed it was contaminated. For this reason he didn't place an armed guard on the ship.

On 18th February the coaster 'Corteen' began loading the salvaged cargo, and four days later sailed for Glasgow fully loaded. The salvors had salvaged as much of the cargo as they could without diving and on 24th February the salvage officer, Commander Kay, signalled "Regret... diver's examinations shows salvage of vessel impracticable". The ship was declared a total loss and it was decided to leave the 'Politician' where she was. That same day, 24th February, the crew left the ship for the last time, and Harrisons gave notice of the abandonment of the ship to the insurers. On 12th March the Liverpool and Glasgow Salvage Association abandoned the salvage project.

Free whisky for all!

When the locals learned from the crew what the ship was carrying, a series of illegal salvage operations took place on the night of the stranding before the customs and excise officials arrived. The whisky was especially welcome because the island's had dried up due to war-time rationing. So the islanders helped themselves to some of the 28,000 cases (264,000 bottles) of whisky, or  usquebaugh, as they knew it in their native laguage, Gaelic,  which had been destined for the American market.

No islander regarded it as stealing because the rules of salvage meant that once it was in the sea, it was theirs to rescue. As word of the 'Polly' whisky spread, people came in small boats from islands closest to Barra, Lewis, Mull and the mainland. Rumours spread that the 'Polly' whisky even had magical qualities and didn't cause hangovers!

Unfortunately for the locals the customs officers, surveyor EI Gledhill and fixed officer Charles McColl based in Lochboisdale, didn't share the view that it was okay to salvage the whisky. Charles McColl, a teetotaler, saw it as theft, made worse by the fact that the whisky had never had any duty paid on it. He did not agree with Captain Kay that the whisky was unsalvageable, and that it was safe to leave it on board unguarded.

A second salvage company which later came to break up the ship, emptied hold number 5 and recovered 13,500 cases of whisky. The major part of this was transferred to storage in a customs warehouse on the mainland but some was drunk by the salvers themselves!

McColl began a battle to rally the local police into taking action to recover the stolen whisky. Village homes and crofts were searched and bottles were found hidden away in lofts, hideaways or just drunk to hide the evidence! Even today caches of 'Polly' whisky still come to light when houses are renovated.

Charles McColl and the local police caught many of the locals looting or hiding whisky when they searched households and hiding places on the islands of Benbecula, South Uist and Eriskay, between 15 March and 30 September 1941. They succeeded in recovering a considerable quantity of the goods stolen, including a wide range of whisky. An Inverness-Shire Constabulary report for the 15 March 1941 records that:

"Alexander O'Henley, crofter, Garryamonie, Lochboisdale, Isle of South Uist, and four others acting in concert were found in the sound of Eriskay in the parish of South Uist in the county of Inverness, in possession of the after mentioned goods suspected of having been stolen from the 'SS Politician' then aground on Calvay Island in the Sound of Eriskay:

15 cases of whisky,

3 bundles of cotton print,

13 packets of 10 capstan cigarettes,

2 cycle mudguards,

1 handrail."

On 26th April a group of Barra men stood trial at Lochmaddy Sheriff Court, where they pleaded guilty to theft and were fined between three to five pounds. Charles McColl was unhappy at the leniency of the sentence, and pursued more men, 19 of whom received harsher sentences of between 20 days and 2 months imprisonment at Inverness and Peterhead. This created resentment amongst the locals which lingers to this day. McColl estimated that the islanders had salvaged 24, 000 bottles of whisky and wanted to make sure they could rescue no more so he obtained official permission in October 1941 to blow up the 'Politician'

In April 1941 the Salvage Association of London came to an arrangement with the British Iron and Steel Corporation (Salvage) Ltd of Glasgow to carry out a second salvage operation prior to the towing of the vessel to the ship breakers. They arrived to find the 'Polly' in a sorry state, everything movable had been looted. Examination by divers showed there was great rock under her engine room, and number 5 hold, the engine room and stoke hole were completely flooded with the water level rising and falling with the tide.

Their first job was to lighten the ship so divers salvaged the bales of cotton and cases of whisky. The strongroom believed to be holding the banknotes was also hidden between decks in the number 5 hold but when it was opened the money wasn't there. Boxes containing £360,000 in banknotes were later found hidden amongst the whisky cases. Why it was hidden there and not in the safe is not known.

In May the salvage vessel 'Assistance' lifted and forwarded more cargo to Glasgow. An attempt was made to re-float the 'Politician' on 20th September 1941, to tow her to Lochboisdale. The attempt failed and she came to rest on another rocky outcrop concealed in a sand bank and broke her back. Customs officers Gledhill and McColl estimated there was still 1,000 cases of whisky in hold number 5 so they obtained permission to dynamite the hold. This was carried out in October 1941, much to the dismay of the islanders, their emotions summed up by Angus John Campbell, who commented;

"Dynamiting whisky! You wouldn't think there'd be men in the world so crazy as that!"

Salvage attempts continued on and off until July 1944. The ship was broken into two halves, with the forward section towed to Glasgow for breaking up and the sunken after section left where she lay. Today the wreck of the 'SS Politician' still lies off the coast of Eriskay, hidden below the waterline now, her deck and cabins long since destroyed by the wild sea.

The stranding of the 'Politician' would have been forgotten as just a minor incident amongst many occurring to the Harrison Line fleet of ships during the Second World War, when they lost 30 of their 46 ships.

During the war the incident was not reported to the public, but the rumours in the highlands and islands of the West of Scotland would have been heard by the author Compton Mackenzie on the neighbouring island of Barra. The story of the 'Politician' became immortalised in his 1947 novel, 'Whiskey Galore', renamed the 'S Cabinet Minister'. When this was made into the Ealing comedy film in 1949, her story became the stuff of national legend, a remake was released in 2016.

The 'Politican' continues to rouse interest with stories of whisky still being discovered on the Islands. In 1987 eight bottles found by Donald MacPhee from South Uist sold at Christies for £4,000, and in 2003 Bonhams sold a single lid from a Ballantine's whisky crate for £1,500. As recently as August 2010 one single Ballantine's bottle of whisky sold for £4,200!

In 1988 the island of Eriskay got its first 'legitimate' pub, named Am Politician, 'The Politician' in Gaelic.

In 1989 a salvage company, SS Politician plc, was founded to salvage whisky and other cargo. After moving hundreds of tons of sand they only recovered 24 more bottles.

As I touched upon earlier the Polly was carrying another valable cargo, Bank Notes! 

Conspiracy theories prevail, mostly surrounding the reason she was carrying almost 290,000 ten shilling notes (£145,000), the equivalent of several million pounds today. Why was this amount of money being sent to Jamaica? Was it in case the government and royal family were preparing to evacuate the UK?

The Crown Agents for Overseas Governments report from 1973 describes how the government hoped that they would not get into circulation but they started turning up on the shore. Local children were seen playing with them on the beach at Benbecula but;

"the locals, most of whom are known to be incriminated in the looting, are too wily to give anything away"

An empty cash case was also found abandoned in the hold of the ship. By June the bank notes from the 'SS Politician' were turning up in bank branches in Liverpool and as far away as Jamaica, Switzerland and the USA. By 1958 the Crown Agents reported that 211,267 (£360,000) of the 290,000 notes had been recovered by the salvage company and a further 2,329 had been presented in banks in England and all over the world. There are still about 75,000 banknotes which have never been accounted for, their whereabouts remain a mystery.

The mystery is fuelled by the fact that government papers concerning the 'Politician' are still the subject of a 75 year old closure rule, which means we may not know the answer until 2016.

Perhaps the greatest mystery of all is how the 'Politician' came to be grounded in the first place? Why was she sailing full steam ahead up a narrow shallow rocky channel? The weather and black-out conditions of wartime certainly contributed and there is some evidence to suggest that she had changed direction to avoid a south bound convoy, which forced her west off her projected course. The locals have a simpler answer - it was the islanders calling for their whisky!

[subby-sab]

Today is 18th of May.

Today is World Whisky Day, World Fiddle Day, International Museum Day, International Astronomy Day.

[dichenlachmandaily]

Dichen Lachman appeared as a special guest on The CW’s “World’s Funniest Animals” on February 4th 2023, alongisde her dog Whisky.

[thesongthesoulsings]

Tempora Mutantur | Times Change |

Summary:

- 29 Drabbles for 29 Prompts - Sharpuary 2024 has arrived The theme of the Drabbles change from prompt to prompt but all have something in common: They show how times change.

Link to Ao3

Surrender

Fire burned his throat, seducing his tongue with sharp smoky distant sweetness. Firewhisky. The arising courage spread through him in a tingling wave. Fire was his weapon against the lump in his throat - the consequence of being faced with a decision that most likely would change his life. If he remained stubborn, did not change his path, he would have to bow to intellectual dishonesty. If he took on faith, facing the risk of being ridiculed, he could find serenity in following the road laid out before him. He had prayed for a sign and received. Now he had to surrender.

Prompt: Firewhisky

[vodkaandsnakes]

On this day, March 19, in Type O Negative history:

Type O Negative play The Sports Palace in New Britain, CT (1993)

Type O Negative play The Whisky A Go Go with Life of Agony in West Hollywood, CA. The show was recorded and broadcast on FM radio stations belonging to the Westwood One radio network during the week of June 6, 1994 (1994)

Type O Negative play The Wet Bar in Shreveport, LA (1995)

Type O Negative play The 328 Performance Hall with Drain STH and Stuck Mojo in Nashville, TN (1997)

Type O Negative play The Nation with Coal Chamber, Full Devil Jacket, and The Deadlights in Washington, DC (2000)

[phasmophobie]

”  listen,  princess,  nothing  in  life  is  given  to  you.  you  either  take  it  or  watch  someone  else  do  it.  i've  wasted  enough  time  on  missed  opportunities,  what  about  you?  “

[maltrunners]

Karuizawa 8 Year Pure Malt

Review by: TOModera Hey, have you gone to the The Dam Pub yet? Why not? 700 different whiskies. And it’s in Thornbury, a quaint town with a Cheese shop and loads to do. Not to mention, you can visit Collingwood for their annual, massive Elvis festival. Seriously, what more do you people need? Alright, I know what you need: Something that’s been mentioned as a “Dram you must have if you find…

[perfectlullabies]

SOMEONE BAN ME FROM WATCHING GOODBYE AGAIN (1961) ALL THE TIME I CRY EVERYDAY BC OF THIS MOVIE UGHHHH

[theblackwomb]

And me, baby!

[pookamhura]

The Pook may have indulged in one too many Exotic Whiskies.