Category: Certainties

Buffalo Trace

BuffaloTraceBuffalo Trace. Deep amber. Explodes in the mouth like a caterwaul of everything you’re supposed to know about this bourbon, but didn’t. 90 proof.  Meaning?  45% alcohol by volume (ABV).  Of course it is. Half a second later it’s the robust welcoming experience of a great bourbon you’d yet to try. The wait is over.  Buffalo Trace

This is a bourbon whiskey to treat with respect. We don’t want to wake up in Kentucky here. You know, when the first question is, “How did I get here?” After all this tribulation? And the police are here?

Read the label. Apparently some buffalos broke into the country before Chuck got here and were roaming and stuff and chomping too much grass. But they left their “Traces”, their paths or Route 60, or whatever it was, and got lost. Wait.

‘The ancient paths of countless buffalo led America westward. Legendary explorers followed these trails, known as traces, through rugged wildernesses to new lands and new-found freedom. One such trace was called the Great Buffalo Trace. Early pioneers who followed this trace settled along the banks of the Kentucky River, with plentiful pure limestone water and fertile bottom land, it was no wonder a rich distilling heritage was born on the site of the Buffalo Trace Distillery.’

IMAG1287My first thought on reading this is, “What a bunch of bull”. Buffalo bull. It’s like when I read the label on “Zubrowska Bison Grass” vodka saying there’s supposed to be buffalo that are native to Europe. Turns out it’s true.  European Bison  Shock value.  I think I’m so smart and I didn’t even know that. It’s the trouble with expertise, I guess.

And then just one more half shot of Buffalo Trace seems like it might not be a bad idea.  Hallelujah.

Southern Belle 2013

DSCN0202 That’s right. ‘Pastoral scene of the gallant south/ the bulging eyes and the twisted mouth’.  I remember that one.  It’s funny the associations you make with some of these McLaren Vale stand-outs.  McLaren Vale

I’ve no idea, but the name for this brilliant shiraz may have something to do with it’s being placed in oak barrels previously containing Kentucky bourbon. Just sort of sleeping in there for a bit.  I like bourbon.  So it nailed it with me.

“Fruitatious” is a word I’ve just invented.  I like it better than “Fruit forward”, which is just the beginning of what this blast of Aussie joy-juice can do for you.  And it’s a whopping 16% alcohol by volume.  Bejeezus, mate.  Stand clear. DSCN0203This James Jean guy is terrific.  James Jean  Talk about designer labeling.  This is a well-capitalized wine.  The Belle Dame carries in her raiment the skulls of her defeated suitors.  As they used to say in the south, and still do, “It is a fine day, sir.”

These images are a bit out of focus and that’s good to remember.  They got that way honestly.  The bottle is empty.  I’ve been to Mclaren Vale and it’s a nice little Vale.  No.  I haven’t been there.  I meant to say it sure would be cool to get down to the hot south and visit Mclaren Vale in old Australia.

‘Strange Fruit’, the work from which the above quotation is taken, was originally a poem written by Allan Lewis, whose real name was, apparently, Abel Meeropol.  Billie Holiday recorded it in song on April 20, 1939.  It was a hit.

It still is.  Thanks for stopping by.

Peromyscus maniculatus saturatus

Suspect No. 1
Suspect No. 1

It’s tough. It’s hard when you know nothing yet are yearning to understand how it can be.  How it can be that one little island can have it’s own one, irreducible, unique, small, fur-bearing creature.  Mouse fur.

They’re wily, as you can see.  They don’t kid around.  If night falls and there’s something in the offing then these rodents will be in that offing. What d’ya mean rodent?  I’m a mouse. M-O-U-S-E.  And some will say, “Eek, it’s just a mouse.”  And those some will be wrong.

Peromyscus maniculatus saturatus.  100 per-cent Saturna Island, wherever that is.  Sure.  It’s a deer mouse.  But it’s not just any deer mouse.  It’s a sub-species deer mouse.  It was first recognized as a distinct sub-species by some guy named Bangs back around 1894 or somewhere.  A lot of thought has gone into this so let’s not screw it up. The pressure’s on.

Searching for their burrows, their mouse holes, during the day is time consuming but it’s vital work and has to be done. They’re out there somewhere. We have to get to know the Saturna Mouse.  It’s important. There’s a plan.  Little reddish flanks and white bellies.  Take me to your leader.DSC_5883Well, it’s the end of another long day on the trail of Peromyscus maniculatus saturatus.  Here’s a shot of me returning to the compound.  Nothing to hide, nothing left to lose, everything to gain and just keep on searching and looking and snooping around.  Pick up the trail in the morning.

He’s close.  He’s real close.  Got to be around here somewhere.  Convinced of it.