Bucking Pumpkin Spice
BY ALEX HENDRY
As fall continues to swirl later into the year, Alex has a bone to pick about the trendy and sometimes, as touchy as cilantro subject, pumpkin spice madness that seems to take hold until the first snow falls...
We look ahead to every “top ten BOLD whiskies to drink this autumn” lists and quickly leave behind the great “check out these summer whisky cocktails to drink at the beach” articles. And don’t look now, but right around the corner is WINTER... Remember that comes with power outages, ice scraping, snow shovelling, and seasonal affective disorder. I’m not saying that certain flavours shouldn’t be associated with times of the year or how we are feeling, hell I wouldn’t have my brilliant personality if that was the case. I’m just bringing to (our very short days of) light - Mix it up a little bit gang. Who’s with me: I vote we cling to summer for as long as possible! Keep drinking whatever you like and don’t let temperature dictate the booze in your glass. The lighter stuff, the Kentucky Bucks, the Toki Sodas and the whisky sours (without the mulled red wine float) can keep us feeling as warm and toasty as that Hot Toddy or Pumpkin Spice Old Fashioned (gagging profusely as I type) that suddenly appears on every cocktail list in the country the morning after labour day. Drink things that remind us of summer, like when you have a cold Corona and it transports you to a beach somewhere, or a mint Julep that carries you away to a night at the cottage where I, errr, you had a big plate of BBQ ribs next to the campfire. And... By the way, cinnamon and nutmeg are in a lot of summer drinks too, folks. Maybe if we do it this way, we can better appreciate the good stuff of winter instead of getting sick of it by November 22nd. Cling to the campfires, avoid the fireplaces. Cling to the patio drinks, avoid the dens. And yes, I know we love a cozy drink too but slow down, there’s plenty of time to sit in a wingback chair and melt come January but autumn has a finite time to cheer and hit a concert, walk to your favourite restaurant, hang with your friends under a big tree in the park.
Maybe if we practice the transportation method I’m suggesting here, putting on a floral shirt and drinking a Glenmorangie will save us some money in February when we get the “if I don’t get the hell out of this arctic shithole I’m going to bucking lose it” feeling. And, maybe you disagree, that’s ok too so do whatever you want. Put on the flannel, the semi puffy vests, and the toques. Go apple picking. Carve pumpkins. Drink all the bucking pumpkin spice old fashioneds that you make yourself believe are really good. Me and my gang, well we will spend these short fall days - Sipping cheap whiskies and coke, bourbon and sweet tea or maybe even a Powers Three Swallows Irish Whiskey. Oh and just so you know we also dummy a sherry bomb or peaty blast of a dram in the summer too, if we feel like it. I’ll be here, drinking whatever I want, when I want, for any reason including clinging on to my favourite summer cocktails or teleportation to a warmer place avoiding anything bucking pumpkin spice. It’s the worst, in case I didn’t stress that enough.
Say it with me: Flannel. Apple picking. Cozy hats. Anything that comes with gravy. Some trends I can truly get behind. Then... there’s bucking pumpkin spice. God damn TERRIBLE. Do the people who get excited about it, slamming down everything bucking pumpkin spice for 6 weeks, collectively forget it exists for another 11 months? I mean come on, it’s just not good. Also, why, why are you wishing summer away??! Where does it say we can’t we do summer things in the fall? As soon as we get a cooler night, whisky fans everywhere reach for the heavy bourbons, the viscous drams full of baking spice and dark fruits and retire to any room that looks like it might have a fireplace in it. Gone are the lighter, more floral sips and out come the hip flasks and rolled up fisherman beanies (toques, guys, toques). In my very humble opinion, it’s a grass is always greener situation. We are quick to look ahead but just as swift to dismiss where we are. We get exuberant for all things fall: the Instagram gourd and fruit picking opportunities, and the gravy – why do we forget there’s gravy in the summer too?
Sincerely, Alex, Bucking pumpkin spice hater
17
16
the whisky explorer magazine
the whisky explorer magazine
FALL 2024
FALL 2024
Made with FlippingBook Digital Proposal Creator