Keep Walking

Last night I went to Johnny Walker tasting at the Henson studios. Wow, was it cold! There was talk about last night setting record lows. Snow fell at 1500 feet. Citrus and strawberries were lost due to frost. It was frigid, and it was only 6pm. We got there early, because the last time I spent over half an hour in line to get in. This time we were the first to arrive. The gate didn't open until 6:30, so we sat in the car to keep warm. I know 45 degreees is pretty warm if you're in the midwest. But here in So. Cal, that's freezing.

We got in line at about 6:15, only because we saw so many people walk past the car. There were about 20 people in front of us. They finally opened the studio gates and we filed into the courtyard, where we paid $5 (it went to charity) and signed in. Signing in took forever - first time attendees had to answer a questionaire on their drinking habits.
Then they made us wait until 7pm to open the door to the soundstage. There was one gas heater. For whatever reason, it was placed in the middle of the courtyard, about 10 feet from everyone. I'm not sure the purpose of it...it was too far away to warm anyone.

The wait was worth it. Inside there was reception area, with a bar (only one drink per person, don't want to be too buzzed before the tasting), and hor d'oerves (spelling?) I was starving and the food was pretty good- ramen noodle wrapped shrimp, grilled cheese w/chutney sandwiches, pomme fritte made of 3 types of potatoes (french fries), this amazingly good deep fried olive w/aoli sauce, and bite-size Kobe beef cheese burgers. We mingled and ate, while waiting for everyone to be signed in.

Then we were seated and introduced to our Johnny Walker Scotch Ambassador. He regaled us with the company history (did you know Johnny Walker started out blending teas?) and was very educational about the scotch we tasted. There was a nice Black label, ice-cold Gold label, Red label mixed w/ginger ale and/or cola, Green label neet, and Blue label in a nice snifter. Most people attend for the Blue (about $180 a bottle), however Gold is my favorite.

It was a nice night.