DrinkedIn Trends

I’m sure many of you will have seen the news item last week that UK residents who drink half a bottle of wine every night, or more than three pints of beer, will be offered a pill to help reduce their alcohol consumption.

According to research this pill, nalmefene, cut drinking by 61% over 6 months when combined with counselling. Apparently it blocks the part of the brain which gives us pleasure from alcohol and hence stops us wanting more than one drink.

Obviously this could be of great help to those that do have problems with drinking. But I have to admit the first thought that sprung to mind is what happens if you combine nalmefene with a pill recently developed by Professor David Nutt.

A number of years ago Professor Nutt was the UK chief drug advisor; however, he has spent the last few years developing a pill that mimics the effects of alcohol in the body, i.e. it makes you drunk. Unfortunately the pill isn’t yet available commercially (as far as I can tell); otherwise I would’ve definitely tried it by now.

What do you think? Could the combination of the two be the perfect solution for those of us that don’t have a drinking problem but do like to get drunk once in a while without having to break the bank? Go out, buy one drink, and then take one of each pill. Would one still enjoy being drunk but lose the urge to drink more (and hence spend more money)?

First of all, I was very relieved to wake up this morning and discover that, at least in the short term, the price of whisky won’t be going up and I can look forward to enjoying many more bottles in the coming years.

Those of you that read this blog regularly will remember I mentioned that a friend of mine, Michael, was due to appear at my flat with a bottle of Islay Mist. He kept his word and last night we sat at my table and worked our way through the bottle.

It was the first time that I’ve drunk Islay Mist and I was eagerly anticipating it as Islay whiskies are easily my favourite. We were drinking the most basic of Islay Mists, the 8 year old blend; they also have a deluxe version, a 12 year old blend and a 17 year old blend.

I’m not sure what whiskies go into the blend, all it said on the bottle was that it was based on Laphroaig and I can’t find any more information about it online. So if anyone knows, please post a comment.

My initial impression was that it tasted like watered down Laphroaig, or at least a much thinner version Laphroaig. But as Michael pointed out it is only 8 years old and you can’t expect too much body from such a young whisky.

Somehow, and I’m not complaining, this week turned into a week of whisky. It started with the Dalmore last Friday night, then on Monday a friend of mine appeared at the door with a bottle of Glenlivet 12 and tonight a different friend said that he’s going to turn up with a bottle (I think of Islay Mist).

I therefore thought it wise that I write about the Glenlivet now before I go on to drink more whisky this evening.

Glenlivet is famous for being the first legal distillery in Speyside. The owner George smith applied for a license to distil after the Excise Act of 1823 and it has been in almost continual operation ever since. I was surprised to find out that Glenlivet 12 is the biggest selling single malt in the United States and the second biggest globally, but after thinking about it, it’s really not that surprising.

First of all it’s a very nice Speyside whisky. It’s very smooth with a well-balanced flavour and it is very easy to drink. I know there’re lots of whiskies that fit this definition, but the main advantage of Glenlivet 12 is the price.

It has to be one of the most reasonably priced single malts out there. I’ve found it for as little as £25 a bottle which basically means it’s far cheaper to share a bottle with a friend than go and have a few drinks in the pub. I found one website which claimed that Glenlivet 12 is actually 31% cheaper than the average whisky; I have no idea if this is true, but it sounds about right.