My Apologies to the Irish

Well, Saint Patrick's Day has come...and gone.  Holidays are a time to eat wonderful ethnic foods you usually can not get at other times of the year.  Saint Patrick's Day is no exception.  Irish Soda Bread is--- well, what can one say.  They say the American version is sweeter and more cake-like with raisins than the true Irish soda bread.  I will have to visit Ireland one day to check it out.  I toasted the day with my soda bread and my  Famous Grouse on the rocks.  Thus my apologies to the Irish.  The article in "Cooking Light, March, 2010" says that Saint Patrick taught the Irish to distill wine, they then moved on to grains.  Prohibition cut exports and the industry declined, but there is now a revival under way.  Irish whiskey is light and smooth, according to the ad.  A middle ground between intense bourbon and peaty Scotch.  Bushmills Black Bush is to have a slightly sweet, caramel flavor (you will also taste floral notes and vanilla), so I will soon pick up an Irish whiskey and see what the difference is between that and Famous Grouse.  Who comes up with these ads?  Jameson 18 Year Limited Reserve is lightly smoky with a hint of leather, this outstanding whiskey has a complex buttery flavor with hints of citrus and spice.  As for my love affair with Old Grouse, I can drink it straight now, but I prefer it on the rocks, so my thirty days to drink Scotch worked really well.  How many old broads can throw down a shot of Scotch straight?  Well, I can think of one, and my whimpy Old Grouch-Famous Grouse wouldn't hold a candle to the single malts.