What's It All About, eh?

Cape Breton evokes deep memories and strong emotions for me as well as a deep appreciation for the beauty of my adopted island. My hopes are that you too might find the photos evocative - maybe a view you've not enjoyed before, or an 'Oh I've been there', or if from away that you may be encouraged to visit this fair isle so that you might come to love and breathe Cape Breton as I do. One word about place names that I use - some are completely local usage while others are from maps of Cape Breton that I've purchased over the years. I frequently post travel and other photos that are of interest to me - and hopefully you.

On the right hand side bar find my take on Single Malt whiskey - from how to best enjoy this noble drink to reviews (in a most non-professional manner) of ones that I have tried and liked - or not. Also musings, mine and others, on life in general.

Photographs are roughly 98%+ my own and copy-righted. For the occasional photo that is borrowed, credit is given where possible - recently I have started posting unusual net photographs that seem unique. Feel free to borrow any of my photos for non-commercial use, otherwise contact me. Starting late in 2013 I have tried to be consistent in identifying my photographs using ©smck on all out of camera photos I personally captured - (I often do minor computer changes such as 'crop' or 'shadow' etc but usually nothing major), and using
©norvellhimself on all photos that I have played around with in case it might not be obvious. Lately I have dropped the ©smck and have watermarked them with the blog name.

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Monkey Shoulder - Very Good Scotch - Blended Malt - Whisky


"This is blended malt Scotch, a mix of the well-known Balvenie and Glenfiddich, and the relatively unknown Kininvie, to be exact. Batch 27 is a reference to the number of casks they mix for each vatting. The whole operation is overseen by William Grant & Sons’ David Stewart, the man who pioneered two-cask maturation of single malts in the 1980’s working on new ideas for Balvenie." (from the internet)

MY TAKE
all the sites I’ve checked so far kept saying 40% and my bottle kept saying 43 % (and so did my tongue) – after about ten years of finding single malt to be an intriguing hobby and that I have yet to find a ‘bad’ single malt, I finally tumbled to blended malt (Monkey Shoulder at an affordable price did the trick) and am well pleased – I often wonder where wine and whisky tasters come up with the descriptions of the tasting experience but I liked your (web site reviewing Monkey Shoulder)” but after spending some time with it the Balvenie really comes out and it becomes charming” and I figure no-shit that’s a real description – here’s my go at it as a duffer:

 “Beautiful colour, attractive bottle with the three monkeys appealing to the eye rather than the detraction that Dalmore’s deer head has turned into, enough alcohol to add a burr to your tongue without dulling the senses, and a flavour that builds with every setting. I have read the negative reviews of a few and wonder if they are just boring snobs or if the world really does contain such people that cannot enjoy such a fine tipple. A slight oily composition (maybe more figuratively than literally) that glides across my tongue carrying secrets to be sought like the allure of that attractive face across the bar – nice smooth malt and to digress into the mundane a slight hint of chocolate – if you’re used to Lagavulan and laphroaig the lack of deep smoke and peat will be a small burden but the flavour as I said before is there building a home in your mind. At least an 85

Michael Jackson (Dominic Roskrow writing)
William Grant and sons   40 vol (my bottle is 43)
Colour   Honey Gold
Nose   Apples, Fresh and zesty. Grapefruit. Young
Body  Light, soft and rounded
Palate    Green apples, Citrus fruit, Refreshing ,with clean barley.
Very rouded and balanced.
Finish   Medium and fruity with some late fruit
Score 88


The name 'Monkey Shoulder' had put me off - then I found out that it was a term applied to a condition that old time labour intensive production had caused in the men turning the malted barley as it was aged in the warehouse and suddenly the name became closely bound to the idea of Scotch Whisky

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