Strange Life Form

13 August 2013

At the exit to Lake Uist where in the immediate photo above you can see the shallow overflow over the man-made crib work - which seems to be an old dam barrier probably from sometime in the late 1800s or the early 1900s - we were amazed at the strange life forms shown in the first three photos.  Our guess was brown algae co-operating to form funnel-like filters to concentrate nutrients in the water rushing by.  In all three photos I am standing 'up-stream' and focusing on the funnel opening into the water current. As we walked with the canoe farther down the rocky stream we spotted many more colonies of these intriguing fragile brown algae clusters.  By my estimate the 'funnels' were from six to twelve inches (60 to 120cm) long and perhaps one and one half to two inches across at the funnel opening (15 to 20cm).  

If you know what these colonies are please leave a comment

 

Lake Uist, Cape Breton

13 August 2013

This view is looking back across approximately 2 1/2 miles (a bit more than 4 km) of Lake Uist to our launch point on MacVicar road as we ready to do the walking portage-lovely canoeing-somewhat marshy venture (See posting of 13 August - Day Lake Canoe Paddle) to and thru three small bodies of water - Morrison Lake, Cemetery Lake and an un-named lake-like body of water which seems to be part of Loch Lomond on the Google maps.  At any rate my son's eagle eye spotted the somewhat obscure exit to the side through a long narrow but clear and deep channel after I had confidently started  leading us straight ahead toward the far dead-end of Unnamed pond.  We paddled through the gorgeous flowing channel into the north Loch Lomond proper and started on the last leg of our journey.

Talisker Single Malt - The Distillers Edition - 12 Year Old

This particular bottle that I recently purchased was distilled in 2001 and after being "Double Matured In Amoroso Cask Wood For A Richer Rounder Flavor" for 12 years was bottled in 2012. 

Below I have as usual displayed the tasting notes from Michael Jackson's 'Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch' to enable a continuity of comparison - although it is quite possible that if Mr. Jackson were alive today that his take on the above 2012 bottling (versus his 1996 bottling review) would be different in tasting details.

Even though I have now sampled this fine whisky several times I have not quite settled in on a good description of my own.   It is however distinctly different from my favorite Talisker 10 year old especially on the opening although it finishes nicely with that Talisker house style of 'volcanic, winter warmer' awakening of your senses.  It is growing on me with each successive sampling but it will have to go a long ways to convince to spend the premium above that of the fabulous 10 year old on another bottle. 

TALISKER Distiller’s Edition 12 year old 1996,    45.8% Alc/Vhol

    finished in an amorosa sherry cask

 On Skye, the island home of Talisker, there are dramatic rocky hills called The Cullins which has led to some tasters calling Talisker "The lava of the Cuillins" 

Michael Jackson's Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch comments:

HOUSE STYLE -  Volcanic.  A winter warmer.

COLOUR   -   Rich orange.

NOSE -  Distinctly unlike Talisker (in general).  Savory fruit sauce. Soft peach.  Smokey

and perfumed like a hussy’s handbag.  Tingling pepper

BODY -  Oily, sharp. Intense.

PALATE - Far better than the nose.  A mix of peaty earth, tangy seaside notes and a rich and oily fruitiness

FINISH -   Big.  Rich. Spicy. Fruit liqueur.

                                                                                        

score

85

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