Christmas in Chicago

December 25, 2023

With Liz and I both positive with Covid, our Christmas was celebrated in Chicago this year. Just the two of us.

An early joint gift: a sampler of “sherry bombs.” I figured this was something we could try out together. Funny enough, we were already familiar with a few of these: Arran as well as Auchentoshan.

A little Christmas tree, set up in the corner of our bedroom.

A few of the gifts I got to Liz: Balvenie 16, French Oak; Glendronach 21 (Parliament). And a bottler we hadn’t tried – the Vintage Malt Whisky Company, with a line called Cooper’s Choice.

The bottle I got was a peated sherry, but I’m afraid I missed the fact that it was “heavily” peated. Liz has gotten a taste for some slight peat lately, and I took a gamble on this one. Well, it was Bunnahabhain – so not that much of a gamble.

For me, Liz got a variety of things: a standalone record player, as I’ve been wanting something… but have been lost in trying to study up and research the various options. I talked about wanting to listen to vinyl, but have mostly spent a lot of time spinning my wheels, researching and delaying.

Liz took it upon herself to get me a good intro player (built-in speakers), and it will satisfy the desire to listen to music… until I actually pull the trigger and figure out what I want to get.

I love that Liz knows me well enough that she understood I wanted a thing, but couldn’t decide on a thing, and decided to get me a thing while I was making up my mind.

And also for me: two bottles from Bunnahabhain! Both are nine year olds. The Oloroso is closer to what Liz got when we were there, and a bit sweeter than my selection at the time. And I don’t think either of us has tried a Canasta cask before. Very exciting.

And she also got me a few records. Of particular interest for me (and what started out the desire to listen to vinyl)… two albums from Darlingside.

I recall listening to their songs on Spotify, and thinking to myself how lovely it would be to hear their music on vinyl. I remember seeing they had their albums available on vinyl at their shows, but held off buying anything because… well, I didn’t have anything to play the records with. I guess that’s now changed.

First song: “Every Breath You Take,” by the Police.

Our annual tradition: a dinner of pasta carbonara.

Some unfortunate news: I tested positive for Covid yesterday. And it wasn’t until we tried out the sherry bombs that I realized: I’d lost my sense of smell.

So the whisky I had, along with the pasta dinner I had… was good. Or at least, I’m told was good. For all the lovely things I received for Christmas, it’s unfortunate I also lost something as well.