In early times, a test for telling whether the Scotch was ready for drinking was when the distiller added a pinch of gunpowder to the spirit. This took a brave man to ignite the mixture because if the brew exploded you not only risked life and limb, but you ended up with a whisky even the most hardened would find difficult to drink. Today, we have different means to tell whether the whisky is suited for drinking. If you can look the dram in the whites of its ayes – you know bloody well when the nose reconnoitres with the glass and the lips take refuge like a well in search of a leak – that its ready… and so are you.
Bottoms up!