Raise a glass to beautiful drams in beautiful places!
Raise a glass to beautiful drams in beautiful places!
Any hikers, climbers, or wanderers here? Where's the most exotic place you've had a glass of whiskey?
'Exotic' to me is the Suntory Hakushu distillery in Japan. It was a simply gorgeous day for a tour in the mountains.
Exciting! Does Japan have an equivalent to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail or is it more spread out? There are several Japanese distilleries I wouldn't mind visiting.
Not that I'm aware of. It was a bit of a trek to get to it from where I was in Tokyo metro area (hour+ train ride and a taxi ride). The bigger ones are definitely spread out a bit. You might be able to find a group of small ones, but I honestly haven't looked. I only had a few days to spare at I was there for work.
Unrelated: if anyone knows why my image uploads keep turning up sideways let me know.
I believe you had fallen over at the time the pic was taken.
j/k, has something to do with camera autorotation in phones, I think.
Where’s the most exotic place you’ve had a glass of whiskey?
- in La Suverana, one of Julius II's villas. Had my first experience of grappa there, too, shared by a workman on the premises. He also shared a tosca, a rustic dry cigar like Clint Eastwood smoked in the movies. Both were a little rough but I was grateful for the hospitality. It gave me a tiny window into his culture (the workman, not the pope).
- The little terrace atop the Duomo after a long climb <--nip from a flask, not a glass.
The morning of the duomo climb I'd stood in freezing weather with some old men around a pushcart next to the Baptristry. We ate trippa sandwiches and drank warmed red for breakfast. Also had my first Cuban cigar that day, an R&J Churchill tubo from a local tobacconist.
I was dirt poor at the time (bedroll-and-hostel traveler) but got adopted by a group who was touring on the Italian tourism board's dime. Best food and drink of my life, and cost me nothing (I paid for the pushcart trippa mentioned above since I was solo on that part of the mission). Also roamed the Vatican complex with the former manservant of John XXIII, IIRC. The Swiss Guards were not amused, and I was surprised to see they carried HK MP5 in private rather than halberds...
Great stories! I once stepped out of a restroom in narrow hallway somewhere in the Vatican just in time to collide with a cardinal in Bennedict's procession. The Guards had me spun around and pushed out of the way before I really even processed what had happened. I've only been to Italy the one time but the while trip was filled with incredible little moments like that.
Pictured: my friends place in the Rocky Mountains. Most exotic: probably a sundowner on wildlife safari in the Okavango Delta of Botswana.
Not very exotic, but we love going to Garrison in Texas hill country...fire pit, rocking chairs, and a glass of deliciousness.