Things I Loved this Month

March Edition

1. The Beverage: A Tiny Cocktail for Your Fridge

That’s Daddy with his hand on my head when I was three and he was fifty-three. He’d enjoy a scotch on the rocks every night, and many a Marlboro, too. When I became a grownup myself I ventured in the direction of whiskey. And my first recommendation for you today is about some delicious little pre-made cocktails you can keep in your fridge.

But first, a bit more on booze, me, and Daddy.

Daddy died when I was twenty-seven, and before I learned that there was much better stuff than the blended scotch whiskey that he drank. It was my dear friend Jim who taught me all about single malt scotch, and who helped me figure out whether I liked the “peat” or the “sweet” ones. (I like sweet.) I tried many, and finally settled on Macallan as my drink. I always have it on the rocks. And I think of Daddy as I sip it.

One night maybe five years back, after giving a talk in Louisville, Kentucky, I’m in my hotel bar and I order my usual. It tends to surprise bartenders when a person like me orders a drink like that, and I’ll admit that I enjoy getting those reactions – which feel like respect. But this time the bartender just stares at me.

“Don’t you know where you are?” He asks in a tone that is more command than question. I look around. I feel out of place here, particularly with this line of inquiry, yet I try to assume the best of this white dude.