Cheese review No. 2 - Castello Saga Classic

I was going to do the Norwegian cheddar as my second cheese review to compare it with the Cathedral City, but I couldn't find it in the shop. Castello Saga Classic was on offer so I got that instead. It was 40% off because it goes out of date today, so I'm expecting it to be fully ripe and tasty. I haven't had it before, but I have had a couple of Castello's other cheeses before and generally enjoyed them as far as I can remember. I usually like blue cheeses, but I'm a little wary of ones I haven't tried. There's a certain flavour you sometimes get with them that I find a bit unpleasant. I once had a fairly cheap dolce latte from Tesco and that had the flavour I don't like in it. Kind of a metallic type flavour that burns your mouth. Weird, and for now, quite irrelevant.

Trying to develop my palate a bit No. 2

Well, I'm still waiting on my whisky order from the government bottle shop. It usually only takes a week, but the Easter holidays means a slightly longer wait. I've been doing some research and finding out what I can about Bunnahabhain and whether or not I can get hold of a bottle of Young and Feisty Provenance. It turns out there are a few bottles in the country and I might be able to get one delivered, but it'll be next month. I've already used up this month's whisky budget. In the meantime I thought I'd share some thoughts about developing the palate.

Cheese review No.1 - Cathedral City Extra Mature Cheddar

I'm still waiting for my order of whiskies from Vinmonopolet to arrive. It should only be two more days, but then it'll be a few days of tasting before I'm ready to post another whisky review, so in the mean time I thought I'd have a go at a cheese review. It's the first time I've made cheese tasting notes, so I apologize in advance for wasting your time if it's rubbish. I've been reading up about cheese tasting and watching cheesy youtube videos for a couple of days so it shouldn't be all bad. Hopefully my cheese reviews will improve when I get a bit more experience and some interesting cheeses.

Don't panic

I realized it's been over a week since I last posted, so apologies to the hundreds of people who check regularly for fresh content. There is more to come soon, I promise, I'm just waiting on an order from Vinmonopolet (the government alcohol shop). I've ordered a bottle of Bunnahabhain 12 yo and a small bottle each of Cragganmore, Lagavulin and Glenkinchie to work through the six Classic Malts. (Or classic marketing, take your pick.)

Hot Toddy

Well, it's a whole week until payday, so I can't buy any more whisky to review for a while, and I'm beginning to get a cold. I thought i'd try a hot toddy, the traditional Scottish cold remedy. I was trying to follow Ralfy's recipe which you can watch on youtube, but I couldn't get the right ingredients her in Norway so I had to improvise. I was pretty close though. Have a watch of Ralfy's first, it's probably more authentic. Don't forget to come back after and read the rest of this blog post afterwards.

Whisky review No.4 - Laphroaig 10 yo Scotch

I had an awesome day a week or two ago. I checked my bank account just to see how it was doing and found I'd been paid for some work I did four months ago and had forgotten about. So I went to the government's official booze dispensary to see what I could get. I was hoping for Bunnahabhain 12 yo, which I will be ordering on payday (PigHog from the straightrazorplace.com forum said he'd just got a bottle and since he was my first proper reader I thought I'd do a review of it just for him), but they didn't have it. They did have Bunnahabhain Toiteach but I hadn't heard of that expression, and it doesn't have an age statement. I was a bit reluctant to buy a full 70cl bottle without knowing more about it so I decided on Laphroaig 10 yo.