Uisge Bheatha

Tha buaidh air an uisge bheatha,
Tha buaidh air 's cha ghabh e cleith;
Tha buaidh air an uisge bhetha,
Dh' òlainn tè is fuar i.
-- William MacVicar

Well, with the exception of a dram of Tobermory (strictly for medicinal purposes) a month ago, it's been a while since I've had any whisky. But it seems like whisky or at least rye and other spirits are showing up in the news a fair amount these days.

First the Distilled Spirits Council and Mount Vernon have teamed up to recreate the rye [Washington Post] [DSC press release] that George Washington's distillery was making in the 1790s. And now workers at the Peabody Institute have uncovered bottles of moonshine made by the late conductor Gustav Strube. The Washington rye is going to be auctioned off, and I'd love to get a taste of it, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the cost will be a bit out of my price range.

The lyric at the opening of this entry is from "Dan Do Shean Ford (Song to an Old Ford)," which is on Mary Jane Lamond's album Bho Thìr Nan Craobh. The translation from Scots Gaelic is: "There's benefit in the whisky, It's good for you, that can't be denied; There's benefit in the whisky, I'd take a drink of it cold."