Victorian Rum Diary

It has been a historic, and eventful, trip to British Columbia's sleepy capitol Victoria for this half of the Whisky and Wings team (the other busy depleting Puerto Vallarta's tequila supply).

To kick off this adventure we ignited our BBQ experience with some of the finest limestone water filtered bourbon from Kentucky: 12 year old Elijah Craig. This fierce firewater came from none other than Rael Katz, another whisky enthusiast who knows a how to separate the drams from the dregs.

In Rael's words: "

I found the bottle of 12yr old Elijah Craig in Seattle several weeks ago. I am well aware of the limited selection of Bourbons we have in Canada and knew I should take advantage of my stay in Seattle.

Initially what attracted me to the Bourbon was the bottle and it's eloquent look. I also wanted a bottle that was fairly reasonably priced and Elijah Craig was just this. At approximately $30USD (which is a great price for a Canadian!) EC was a smooth and very flavourful glass of Bourbon.

Call it personal biases or not but the drink went down mch better with a few rocks in the bottom of the glass. But even neat, this is a fine drink.
As most drinks go, the 18yr old batch is said to be slightly better than their 12yr old batch, but this claim is still to be tested by our team of experts. Until then, stick with the 12yr old bottle and you won't regret it!"

China and India: Culinary Forces for the Wing Win!

An absolutely delicious chicken wing is the product of careful culinary calculation. When the taste is as good as it gets, the wing experience is enhanced when an interesting story feeds the mind while the crispy flavor explosion seduces your taste buds.

The story? Two of the worlds most populated cultures (widely covered on our blog) colliding and colluding to produce a delicious chicken wing.

This is the case with the incredible Garlic Chili wings at the Green Lettuce Indian Style Chinese Restaurant in Vancouver.

The Theory of Verges states that: creativity is unleashed at points where multiple cultures converge. Creativity, in the sense of culinary brilliance, is unleashed at this Indian Chinese fusion restaurant in the same capacity as the energy released at the of a Saturn V rocket's initial earth-rattling blast off.

Located at Victoria and Kingsway in the heartland of delicious and competitive Vietnamese Restaurants, Green Lettuce has stood out since 1999. Where else can you eat General Tao Chicken while snacking on the perfect pakora?

These wings are adorned with just enough chili to wake up your tastebuds without completely unloading a full Bombay of napalm. They come swimming in a Yellow Sea of diced garlic that makes this dish so tasty, you will be left eating the savory morsels of garlic and chili as you await your main dish-we HIGHLY recommend the tangerine beef!

The three thumbs up on the menu represent our three senses that were wowed as we sampled these heavenly wings: taste, smell and feel as we crunched our way their fantastic finale.

$5.75 for a half dozen, and just as the menu proclaims: the taste will have us coming back!

How To Drink Your Own Whisky On A Plane

In this life there will always be hidden secrets and myths. There are stories from Native American Indians, the Aboriginal Dreamtime, Korea, India and many other countries. Explore such things, and you will find out how the Kangaroo got his tail, how Coyote created the human being and what happened to the ungrateful tiger.

Today we delve into the profound and elusive world of in-flight drinking culture; a culture that is veiled in myth and mystery. Not even a word, a paragraph or even a book could encompass all there is to know about the human fascination with high altitude alcohol consumption. What is certain is that information is the key to maximizing your in-flight drinking experience.

Many of you who are reading this may have heard of the infamous "mile high" club and other crude and often vulgar stunts humans have attempted in-flight. We are not in the business of promoting such behaviour. The following paragraph explains a proven, little known and unadvertised procedure on how to drink your own alcohol on a plane in a civilized manner.

The procedure is simple. Buy a bottle of any whisky you wish duty free. Upon boarding the plane take a survey of the stewards/stewardesses working. Find the one that looks most amicable and easy going. Confidently take them aside and tell them you would like him/her to open the bottle of whisky and serve it to you with ice at your behest. They will assert that that the consumption must be kept to a respectable level. Oblige them. Be cooperative. Prove yourself as the harmless lush looking to make the best of their in-flight experience.

I was informed of this procedure by an Israeli whisky guru who I had the pleasure of meeting while flying into an Arab country (Jordan). I have successfully done this on many international flights since.

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YAMAZAKI: The Worlds Best Single Malt Whisky?

When one thinks of Single malt whisky, Japan is often the last country that comes to mind. Or is it? Japan is actually the second biggest producer of single malt whisky in the world. And according to Whisky Magazine, Japanese whisky continued its dominance of World Whiskies Awards this 2012; with Suntory scooping one of the top titles and Nikka securing the blended malt title for the fourth year running. Who knew?

The Japanese have excelled at not only distilling whisky, but also putting it on the map as a global front runner along side countries such as Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, India, Ireland, Japan, Scotland, South Africa, Sweden, USA and Wales. The World Whiskies Awards is open to proprietary bottlings and exists to inform and educate consumers throughout the world about whisky.


Some have rated it from superb to mediocre. In terms of price, between 2009 and 2012 the price of each bottle has ranged from 700 to 1100 dollars a bottle! Chris Bunting, author of the book Drinking Japan: A Guide to Japan's Best Drinks and Drinking Establishments gave the following review:

 Nose: like a nice breakfast with a hangover - rich jams and Weetabix, with the heavy wines and ports from the night before still on the breath. In the mouth, you are immediately manhandled by dark jams, red wines and tannins. There is a lot of vanilla and wood in there with a delicious memory of quietly opening my mother's kitchen cupboard for a twisted spoonful of Lyle's black treacle. Later on, it dries in the mouth. Some very good judges of whisky have been underwhelmed by this Yamazaki. I enjoyed it.

Yamazaki, the name makes the decision for you!

Exclusive ! The Best Wings in Mexico

Upon entering Wings Army in Guadalajara Mexico, one is hit with possibly the best atmospheric fusion a wing lover could want: army decorations, imported beer and psychedelic music from the 60's. Heck, the decor seems so authentic that it doesn't take much imagination to think that perhaps Martin Sheen and Marlon Brando would have shaken hands here if it were downtown Saigon.

Beginning with the decor, the lamps are made of army helmets while the ceiling is essentially a very large parachute stretched above them. Full-size army figures stand menacingly with their loaded guns amidst camouflage netting and real army equipment.




The wings are delicious. They have a variety that will meet the taste of nearly anyone. We ordered three flavours on our particular expedition: Bomba, Xplosion and Barbecue Hot. These wings were amazing! They were extra crispy and perfectly sauced.

There was an impressive selection of imported beers ranging from Cuba to Belgium. For those of you who want to eat the best wings in Mexico along side amazing imported beer and the best tracks of The Doors, this place is for you! For more reviews follow our blog @ whiskyandwings.blogspot.ca

Risky Whisky: Can YOU Stomach this $250,000 Dalmore '62 ?

In a very informative article highlighting nearly everything one needs to know about unopened bottles of whisky and their values, Darcy O'Neil distills in the reader some interesting points. Later we discuss the momentous sale of the Dalmore '62 bottle!

Arab Dictators - Totalitarian Whisky

Because of its position as a status symbol, whisky holds a strange but special place for dictators and totalitarians. Johnnie Walker is one of the most accessible whiskies in some of the most inaccessible places in the world.

Whisky is the favourite drink of the late Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian authority. Saddam Hussein, also known as the butcher of Baghdad, had a fondness for whisky and cigars despite praying and reading the Koran. Colonel Gaddafi’s favourite tipple was the old Johnnie Walk, when he was not being toppled.



The leaked cables by wiki-leaks expressed King Saleh Abdullah of Saudi Arabia as have having concerns about drugs and weapons smuggled from nearby Djibouti. Then he was joking that he is not concerned about whisky being brought into the Islamic republic, “provided it’s good whisky.”