Whiskey and soda

This evening I was looking for something to drink and neat scotch at 5:30 seemed a little premature. As I was reaching in the fridge for the water, I happened upon a bottle of San Pellegrino. Diluting a single shot of a reasonably good single malt with five times the volume of sparking water seemed mildly sacrilegious, but on dropping in a couple of ice cubes and taking a sip I was transported back to my childhood; that was my mother's drink of choice when we had guests, and I could see her sitting in her favorite chair in the living room and even, albeit faintly, remember the smell of her cigarette smoke. 

Vat 69, soda and ice; that was Steyning in the 1960s.  Later there was a spell where Dimple had pride of place in the corner shelf that held the drinks. In Storrington the shelves gave way to a more modest display on the trolley in the dining room where Grants was the preferred brand. How times change.