Sortilège (Canadian Whisky & Maple Syrup Liqueur)

Without wanting to sound like I have a problem with the 'drink', having back to back posts relating to alcohol, I cannot delay posting about this.  An absolute gem.  Something, as a Canadian, I never knew existed. 

Produced exclusively in Quebec, as a Toronto native, born and raised, it never crossed the border.  Absolutely delicious if it's kept in the freezer and served, well, frozen.  By doing this, you loose about 1/3 of the liquid as it all congeals .. and when you pour it out, it's almost like a thick sludge.  However, when you taste it, incredible.  

I went to the LCBO at Summerhill and inquired if they had this.  "Excuse me, do you have any Whisky from Quebec?", I asked...  

"We only sell Canadian whisky.", was the response I received.

Too bad.  If you have an opportunity to try it, you will not be disappointed.  

Celebrating with an old friend...

A few years ago, while enjoying a somewhat entertaining lifestyle, I took it upon myself to make a tiny investment.  I purchased a bottle of Cristal.  It is the second one I've ever purchased and this one would sit in a cold dark cave until I had such opportunity to celebrate.  

Small interesting fact:  I don't like Cristal.  Out of the various champagnes that the region has to offer, I find this one above all others, gives me heart burn.  It comes down to the bubbles and how dry it is. 

So, off it went, into a cave, until I had something to celebrate...

1. Cristal put into storage (October 2007)
2. Met Lucy (March 2008)
3. Parted ways with Nestle (February 2009)
4. Moved from Montreux, Switzerland to London, England (April 2009) and left the Cristal in the care of a very good and more importantly, trusted friend.
5. Married Lucy on July 01, 2009.  
6. Lucy and I moved to Doha, Qatar for August 2009

I've not finished.  4 or 5 of the above could very well justify opening the bottle and having a drink. 

1. Jack Dolgy was born, October 24, 2009.  
2. Lucy, Jack and I left Doha, Qatar permanently September, 2010
3. We all moved to Zurich, Switzerland, October, 2010
4. Started a fantastic new job at Swiss Re.  October 2010

Still, these are fantastic things to celebrate, but not quite there....

1. January 01, 2011, we all move to our new and permanent home in Thalwil, Switzerland

Yes, this is the one.  We will not open it for new year's eve.  Will not even open it on new year's day.  We will enjoy it on January 4 / 5 when we can finally sit down with Jack in our home and celebrate the 10 milestones that are mentioned above...

Here are some photographs outlining the swank that is Cristal.  Happy new years and this old friend will soon celebrate with us a very interesting and dynamic 3 1/2 years.

some new hardware

We've moved quite a bit over the past few years.  As such, everything that is non-essential was gifted, sold or donated to the trash.  Of this, I haven't had a personal computer in a while.  Would explain why my blog is suffering, as are all of my web assets (i use this term loosely).

1. Had the Samsung Galaxy S fixed.  It still is a beautiful phone with a lot of problems.  http://www.mingwireless.ca/ managed to sort me out when I was in Toronto a few weeks ago.  
2. Purchased a Lenovo Edge 13".  You can read the engaget review here:  http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/03/lenovo-thinkpad-edge-13-review/
3. Purchased a nice little Western Digital 2TB drive.  Turns out 500MB wasn't enough for all the Jack videos.  Still creates for me a problem in what I'll do with all the photos and videos.  Really not happy with all the different solutions out there today.  Some are good, but none are perfect.  

The past weekend was Christmas.  Jack, Lucy & I travelled back to the UK from Zurich to celebrate with her family.  Jack still has no idea what's going on, so it was nice and relaxing.  Some photographs:

Christmas 2010

I've also posted lots of new videos on youtube of Jack:  http://www.youtube.com/sdolgy

There's an update!