Peat Monster

As most of you know, India likes a wee dram of whisky now and then.  Personally, I prefer gin (which in India’s time was the scourge of the masses).  My husband, however, has fallen prey to the siren’s song of the uisge beatha.


He is so smitten by her that he orders whiskies from out of state if he can’t find what he wants locally (although we have a really nice liquor and wine store locally).  He tracks the FedEx delivery on his computer and anxiously awaits the ring of the doorbell on delivery day.


Lately he’s been consumed by whiskies from Islay which are known for their strong peat flavor, in particular those from the Ardbeg Distillery.  Always drunk straight up (perhaps with a tiny splash of spring water), but never over ice or with soda – “God forbid one ruin the purity” I have been informed.  

Whisky lovers use phrases like these to describe their favorite drink:  peat, earth, lamp oil, medicinal, thistle, wood smoke, briny and bonfire.  I ask you, would you drink something that tastes like briny lamp oil? 


Now I am not one to dissuade another from life’s pleasures, unless it also infringes upon my own enjoyment of the same.  I must admit that I experience a sinking feeling when I hear the sound of the cork being removed from the bottle as my husband  begins preparing dinner.  He insists that mis en place and drinking go hand in hand.  I will concede this issue to a point, but I've had more than one dinner fall victim to the Peat Monster.