[MM-MALTS-L] The Big Toast - malts-L's tribute to Michael Jackson

[Harry Pulley]

Wendy sent me the sad news last night and I read JM's eulogy at that time.
I also thought a Lagavulin was appropriate (I am not a Macallan fan and thus
have none on hand) and for me it had to be the 16yo, so I raised a glass to
him.  I was going to write something but was tired after returning from
another camping trip so I thought it best to sleep on the words.

Like so many others, The Malt Whisky Companion was the guide for my initial
forays into scotch but I alas I have never even owned a copy!  I went to
tastings for few years at a local pub before I bought my first interesting
bottles of scotch to have at home (ones that didn't start with Glen...) and
we always referred to a copy of the Companion, reading the notes before we
tried the next whisky.  At the time most of us dreaded the final scotch of
the evening, always an Islay and those with names of Laphroaig and Lagavulin
were particularly fearful with their strong flavors of iodine and peat
smoke.  At first I wondered how Lagavulin 16yo could get a score of 9.5/10
but after a while I grew to love the Islays best and while I disagreed with
him when the 'new' Glenmorangie Ardbeg 10yo came out that it was only an 8.5/10
I still enjoyed reading his notes.  While not always agreeing with him I
think that is something he expects, as he wrote in Whisky Magazine's 'The
Nosing Course', "You may not wholly agree with what I find, but it will have
been the result of thorough nosing and tasting on my part, and a careful
effort to find the right words...my fellow-taster Jim Murray may well
disagree with me on some points, but at least then you will know that we
each have our own prejudices."

Through years later in an An Quaich club, similarly there was always a copy
of the Malt Whisky Companion on hand at all times.  It is strange that I've
referred to a book so many times which I've never owned.

He had a job that most of us would have given anything to have!  It sounds
like all fun and games, flying around the world drinking beverages and
scribbling down something about them but I'm sure it was hard, serious,
work; probably harder than any of us could know.  It is one thing to travel
around and enjoy a drink or a few but to take the time to do it seriously
and write it up so well took a real master.

The first Companion came out in the late eighties and new editions came out
during the nineties, a dark age for whisky in its cycles of boom and bust.
I'm not sure if that pub would have had those tastings without the whisky
writers so I'm very glad they did and many still do their jobs today.
Michael's writings will be missed.

Harry
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