Rain falls as I sip A dram of Islay whisky Dusky Cardiff skies

I just read Scott Nesbitt's latest Weekly Musing, and it definitely struck a chord with me. He was writing about embracing your inner geek but in a way that feels right for you. My career in academia has given me the opportunity to research specialist subjects to the edge of current knowledge and beyond, which in many ways is making the inner geek an outer geek. However, what is really fun is indulging my inner geek in an amateur rather than professional fashion. There is a heady freedom in this, as it allows me to pursue an interest flexibly, or drop it when my focus changes.

It's been a year and a half now since my last trip to Islay and my whisky stocks are starting to run low. Well, the no-guilt bottles anyway! Those are the ones I can drink without needing to consult The Canadian first! This time I've decided to buy something not distilled on that wonderful Scottish island – shock, horror! My aim with these bottles is to have some undemanding but interesting bottles for more regular consumption. OK, let's go then!

A few nights ago I had my first glass of whisky in 8 weeks. And it tasted good! When my daughter was born, I celebrated with a dram of 16 year old Lagavulin (naturally), a favourite of mine as well as Ron Swanson from Parks & Rec. Then came the whirlwind of 8 weeks of newborn during which I pretty much scaled back to low abv beer to survive. Finally, with my wife and daughter asleep I turned the lights down low, put on some chill-out music (Air) and poured myself a finger of Kilchoman matured in a Red Wine Cask (Douro Valley, Portugal) that I picked up from the distillery on Islay when we visited in 2018.

Not listened to this CD in years but sometimes an album just feels right. “Come away with me” on in the background, a glass of whisky near to hand (Lossit, a most welcome gift from a friend!), and typing away a few thoughts in Typora, the stresses of the day leaving as the last remnants of daylight fade to darkness.

I may add a search bar at some point but for now, you can also navigate posts according to hashtags, grouped below in a way that makes sense to me and evolving as I post more. Expect a mixed bag. Some of the posts will feature the tagged topic as the central focus of the post, others will merely touch on it. If you'd prefer to scroll through a timeline of posts, head to my Archive.