This is a very satifsying comment. I saw the hit in Google, but I almost never see the hittee.

You mention sake, where the grain is not malted but infected with an imperfect fungus which achieves the same effect. Amasake is the sweet rice pudding made if yeast is not added.

Spit is used by many out-of-the-way alewives. Human spit contains amylase, the enzyme that splits long starches into short sugars. I have seen references to this used on starchy roots such as cassava and sweet potato mash that would be impossible to malt.

I love your writing style, please forgive my persiflage, it is late.

Man, that 50-year-old Glenfiddich is wild. And only £5,000.00 a bottle (a little more than I paid for my last car).

Perhaps the best analogy which follows the received wisdom of the grandparents paradigm (or lack thereof) above is my grandfather’s taste for horehound candy.

Better to start people out on butterscotches, then graduate them to peppermints, and .

My personal favorite scotch right now is Glenfiddich Solara Reserve which is is matured in three types of oak cask: sherry, bourbon and new oak, according to their website.

I first tried it out because I can’t spell, and know it. I was writing an email to a friend and knew I couldn’t spell ‘glenfiddich’. I therefore used my googleictionary – that is – I typed my best guess on the spelling into Google, and accepted what it gave when it came back with “Do you Mean ___ ?”

In this case, I decided to go to the Glenfiddich site for just to be sure (those damn’d Scots can’t spell either (Lagavulin,Laphroaig,glenfiddich) and discovered a little contest going on. The question: What do you think of when you drink our whiskey? The prize? A bottle of Solara Reserve, thank you.

I whipped out something about sitting in the garden remembering where I was 15 years ago and where I’d be 15 years later, and getting sloshed to the gills over the depressing prospects of both my future and my past.

Well, nobody else over the age of 21 entered, I guess, because a bottle showed up in the mail. I was quite proud.
The bad news was that the letter they sent praising my entry had the name of the previous month’s winner in it. Ah, what price fame? Still the whiskey was very good, and I’ve run through a couple of bottles of it since. I prefer it with just a few drops of water and no ice, and I prefer it from my silver christening cup I was given as a child. Prossibly the wrongness of it all is what makes it taste so good, but it’s probably the hint of silver polish that you can never get out of a silver cup.

I don’t drink it exclusively though – I keep a variety of bottles around to drink depending on my mood. What I usually serve to people who aren’t deep into the nuances of impact of different locations in Scotland on the taste is Chivas. Chivas is very nice with ice and can survive soda as well.

For the few who claim to appreciate the distinctions between types of yeast pee, I have a bottle of Johnny Green single malt, and the special few who won’t drink it all I have a bottle of Johnny Blue. I wish I could say that I’ve tried Lagavulin, but I’m going to have to buy sandy claudette some nice jewelry to persuade her I need more expensive liquor.

My grandma swabbed my mouth out with iodine when I was ill once. Painful memories. But if there’s booze in it, I’d probably like it.

My cousin waxed eloquent about the iodine….”delicious”.

I shall make a note for Sandy Claws.