New Year Whisky!

My first thought for Old Year's Night is to head north to Edinburgh, rather than have an Irish whiskey, so to Johnnie Walker (website) it was, and their 40.0% Black Label. This is a blended whisky of single malt and grain whiskies that is aged in sherry casks for 12 years before bottling. Many years ago, during a visit to my brother when he lived full-time in Brussels, we tried to find seats at a favourite bar there La Terrasse (website), which I talked about last year (blog), however, it was packed! So we went to another nearby bar, many years ago that is, where, in addition to drinking whichever Belgian beer we were drinking (circa 25 years ago, sorry I don't remember which beer 😉), a young lad was trying to get people to sample 3 different types of Johnnie Walker whisky, I'm guessing Red, Black and Green Labels. Anyway, my brother doesn't drink whisky, so I had double helpings, and I think the lad was just happy someone was accepting drinks from him. 😁 I remember enjoying myself...

Now, despite reviewers these days suggesting that Diageo owning Johnnie Walker has led to it being less of a whisky, adding colour and blandness, I was still impressed at being able to buy a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label for just £22, so I went for it. And I'm not a tightwad, it's just difficult to buy a decent variety of whisky/whiskey where I live (most of my more interesting whiskey drinking is of whiskeys bought online), there's my defence!

So what did I think of it? I found it a wee bit sweet, with butterscotch a dominant flavour, and hints of vanilla, dried fruits, spices, and smokiness too. The colour is deep golden, apparently colouring is added, as well as the ageing in cask process. Quite frankly, I found this a very easy to drink whisky, and at the price decent value,  but it won't win any awards from me, slainte!

Happy New Year... again! 👌

A Day in Brussels

I did have a couple of drinks on Eurostar, sadly they no longer sell Duvel in their buffet bars, but they do sell Leffe Blonde (website), which is very nice too, but drinking on a train isn't drinking in Brussels, so... I stayed nearby at my sister-in-law and brother's flat, on the other side of the Parc du Cinquantenaire to our first bar on the day, and the first bar I ever drank in on my first visit to Belgium many many years ago (apparently changed ownership since my last visit), that is the 120 years old La Terrasse, Avenue des Celtes 1, Etterbeek, 1040 Brussels (website).

I've already been questioned by a friend about my drinking lager here, as I'm more of an ale drinker, but for me the 5.2% Jupiler pils (website) is the best pilsner there is, indeed it is the highest selling beer in Belgium with 40% of the market share! It has flavour but is refreshing and very easy to drink, and okay, it is a pilsner style lager... 😉

We wandered through the Parc du Cinquantenaire (visitbrussels) and on to Chez Bernard at the Cafe L'Espérance, in the small square at Pl. Jourdan 47, Etterbeek, Brussels 1040, with my brother diving in ahead of me in the photograph above!

It was very quiet inside, much busier outside, but we sat down with this view of the bar (above) and Dan ordered the ever-good 8.5% Duvel (website), and I drank a trappist ale, the 9.5% Westmalle Tripel (website), my favourite Belgian ale indeed.👍Indeed, I wrote about both of these beers in my blog a couple of years ago.

We ate with my sister-in-law, after she got away from work, at Restaurant Volle Gas, Pl. Fernand Cocq 21, 1050 Ixelles (website). To the right of where I took this photograph from (above) is the Ixelles' Municipal Hall, where my youngest niece's birth was registered. If you visit, don't be surprised by how far back the restaurant goes, even if it does look quite small, there's much room downstairs, not to mention upstairs. I drank Westmalle Tripel again, as did Dan, it so goes with food, and I ate a hearty... I'll not say what, I don't want to upset any vegetarians reading this, but excellent food, and many thanks to my 'sis' Shirin for treating me, cheers m'dear!

Next stop Bruges! 🍺