Tag Archives: Whiskey

Oct9

An Irish Whiskey Society whiskey tasting

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Thursday, 11-June-2026

Andrea’s been a part of the Irish Whiskey Society for a while now – I can’t quite remember how and when she joined, but I’ve gotten to hear about the tastings that they put on every so often.

It’s neat – Not quite my cup of whiskey, for one reason of another, but it’s cool and fun and I was quite excited to be invited along to a special tasting… a tasting for “airport exclusives”, alongside a few other rare bottles from the society’s private stores.

…

Yeah, I’m not saying no to tasting rare and unique whiskeys. Come on, now.

“So? How was it, Ben? Get to the point!”

Alright, alright – in short, it was lovely… but I’ll be honest with myself (and you, dear reader) that I’m not a particularly skilled or loquacious whiskey taster. I enjoyed many of them, was underwhelmed by some of them, and was thankful to be walked through the whole process.

I took photos of the ones that I could, and made a point to stay in the moment, appreciating the chance to try bottles that there’s pretty much no chance I’d pay for myself (not due to quality, but due to the sheer cost of the bottles).

Good times, had by all.

Apr24

A breather in Bulgaria – Sofia!

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Tuesday, 26-August-2025 through Sunday, 31-August-2025


Bulgaria.

I haven’t been to this part of the world, before. I knew that I had the best tour guide I could ask for in Andrea, and had done the base background research on the history and culture (and had obviously absorbed some myself, such as Banitsa), but the adventure was a first foray into a new world, regardless.

It was glorious.


I can’t overstate how great of a guide Andrea was / is – I lovingly call her “The queen of Sofia”, and that title was well earned the whole time we were in town. Everywhere we went, people recognized her. Every restaurant saw the owner, chef, or someone similar come out to visit and catch up… alongside consistent extras unexpectedly appearing. Each bite was excellent, and each drink was special. I was in incredibly good hands.


Now, what did we do, specifically? Quite a bit:
– We visited Andrea’s Grandma for her birthday!
– We had amazing food – Italian, Turkish, pastries, and BBQ
– We met fun and interesting people – tons of folks from Andrea’s previous life, all interesting and enjoyable
– We explored. Walking around the city, I even had an afternoon of solo exploration where I got to recollect the fun of my Grand Adventure, exploring a city where I don’t know the language.


It really was an excellent start to an excellent vacation.

May14

A final dinner and drink in Wilsonville

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Thursday, 25-April-2024


All my bags are packed, I’m ready to go…

But I’m not quite gone yet. One last evening in Wilsonville, staying in my now-empty apartment with a few piles of last-step belongings to take away, my travelling gear, and my mattress. The mattress was the last step – too big to throw out in the dumpster, and too old for me to reasonably donate… The disposal folks would be coming on Friday to pick it up and give it the proper burial that a 9 year-old mattress deserves.

My kitchen was bare, the fridge empty… that meant one last meal out in town!

Originally I was going to go to Juan Colorado, a nice Mexican spot nearby that serves fried ice cream… but I arrived a few minutes too late, finding the door locked and the restaurant closing up.

Instead, I went for what may well have been the first restaurant that I hit up when I first moved to Wilsonville – Wanker’s Tavern, an Australian-style bar that’s open late and serves staggeringly amazing nachos and has deliciously strong drinks.

Nachos and a Moscow Mule, not a bad ending to my culinary experiences in Wilsonville.

And at home, a final glass of whiskey. I’d been saving it for this specific occasion – a final dram of the distillers edition whiskey from Jameson, only available at the distillery in Ireland. From one home, to another!