2016 Whisky Wind-down, 26: Day Job

Today’s dram: Macallan 10-Year-Old, Fine Oak

Today’s tasting notes: Tastes like Scotch whisky, a single malt from the Highlands.* Which is what it is. Good whisky. Warm whisky. Comparable to The Glenlivet 12? Kinda. I feel like this goes down a bit easier, but it’s really a push between the two for me. It’s easy whisky. Workday whisky.

Today’s thoughts: I once worked for a man who kept a bar in his office. It was one of those globe bars, the kind that looks like it’s just a swanky wooden model of the Earth — nothing to see here, merely the fancy of a geography aficionado —  but then swings open to reveal a half-dozen bottles and glassware.

Not that this guy was trying to hide his bar; he just liked the look of the thing. He wasn’t shy about being a drinker, and on a good evening, when he was particularly pleased — with himself or, rarer, with something an employee had done — he might just offer a drink, possibly paired with a cigar from his office humidor.

Did I mention this was a man who owned his own business? Yeah. Perks of ownership.

I haven’t worked in a place like that before or since, but I do imagine one day having that sort of set-up myself. Not as a boss or business owner. I have zero interest in either. But an office with a bar appeals. Nice desk. Good view. Maybe of the mountains. Yes, I’m describing retirement.

Day job retirement, anyway.

For now — and, let’s be honest, likely the next couple of decades — that’s a necessity.

I’m not going to discuss my current work, but suffice to say it’s not an open bar environment.

On the plus side, it’s rarely so stressful that I feel like heading straight to my own bar afterwards, either.

That’ll do for now.

Today’s note on balance: I’m not going to say balance is essential, either in whisky or life, but there are areas where I prefer it. Day job is one. Happy to have that.

Today’s toast: To the working stiffs: It may not feel like it, but 5 o’clock is coming.

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* — I know. Speyside. Look, if the distillery doesn’t go to the trouble of labeling its own sub-region, who am I to go chasing after it? But, yes. Speyside.