Monday, February 27, 2006

Two Spoonfuls Of Whiskey...

In his 1695 travel book, The Western Islands of Scotland, the redundantly named Mr. Martin Martin refers to a quadruple-distilled whisky known as usquebaugh-baul . Usual whiskeys are distilled only twice. Quad distilling yields a drink that is 92% alcohol, while a typical whisky would be about 40% alcohol.

Martin wrote: The first taste affects all the members of the body: two spoonfuls of this last liquor is a sufficient dose; and if any man should exceed this, it would presently stop his breath and endanger his life.

Now it seems that the fine folks at the Bruichladdich distillery are attempting to recreate the recipe on the Isle of Islay, ultimately producing 5,000 bottles of the potentially hazardous libation which they are calling Perilous Whisky.

You can see some images from the distillation here, if, as a Bruichladdich spokesman says, the distillery doesn't explode during the process.

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