Michael jackson's dead

Pure pretentiousness. I still recall some bint on TV a good few years
back, describing a red wine thus: 'I'm getting "pencil boxes" ...'

D.

 

The scent of a particular wood is quite appropriate when describing some
wines. Cigar box is another term often used.

Perhaps you were educated in an environment with plastic cases and solvent
ridden writing implements?

In infants school c1968 I had a wooden pencil case with a sliding lid. A
distinct smell emerged as you opened it, partly from the friction of the
lid and partly from the pencil/crayon contents.

--
wessie at tesco dot net

BMW R1150GS

"Wessie is a lovely man with many wonderful qualities" TM Blaney

 

In secondary school I made one as my first ever woodwork project.
Still got it.

 

Only if you spell it correctly, which you'll notice I made a point of
not doing (unless you are scottish, and I did it twice for good measure)

You should know that there's an internet law which states that you must
make a mistake when making a pedantic reply, which you have
conspicuously failed to comply with

 

Maybe he has past experience of the effects of said wee dram?


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

Okay, he's describing it in terms that don't mean anything to you - that
doesn't mean that his perceptions are invalid. Do you recall which whisky
he was talking about? English doesn't have the precise words, necessarily,
to explain emotion and perception (which makes it a great language for
novels, en passant), so you have to invoke images and references that will
bring your audience to an understanding of what you're striving to describe.
Not everyone will get this, and in the case of more subtle, fugitive
perceptions, most people won't. This doesn't mean you shouldn't try.
Almost by definition, if you have a part of your audience that doesn't get
it, you've made the effort, above and beyond the basic reporting of what it
tastes like.

When you get right down to the nitty-gritty, whisky is art. What other
purpose does it have? If only to intoxicate, Tesco Value is your man. If
we go beyond the functional, then it's to delight the palate, intoxicate the
senses (more than mere drunkenness), invoke reminiscence , memory, emotion.
If it does this, it's art. And it does - which it why I take issue with
your characterisation of his description as "utter tripe": you're
approaching this from the point of view of not understanding, not connecting
with what he means, not from the position of "understanding but
disagreeing."

What he says is - in my opinion - valid (as I don't know which whisky he's
describing, I can't say whether or not I agree with him), because it's an
honest attempt to explain his reaction to the whisky (let's not lose
sight...) even though it may be obscure, recondite, only finding resonance
with a few, whereas your position is more proletarian, speak-as-I-find,
know-what-I-like, and is, really, the enemy of artistic candour.

This is emphatically not an elitist position - art is open to anyone. I was
brought up on a farm in Ulster, and have one 'A' level, in Technical
Drawing, and if I can get it, anyone can.

You're dismissing him on grounds that you don't understand. You are the
Sunday Sport reader of whisky pundits.

 

Pencils often come packed in cedar boxes.

 

I had one of those pencil cases, but don't remember which wood. A pale
wood. Pine? Whatever. As a fan of red wine for most of my adult life, I
can say that I've never had one that reminded me of pencil boxes and that
if I had, it'd have gone down the lavvy.

Maybe my palate isn't developed enough..

D.

 

If you haven't sensed woody smells in red wine then you must have a very
parochial taste. Fruit woods such as apple; evergreens such as cedar and
pine plus of course oak are common.

There is a problem using the word pine to describe wine. Pine is one of the
most popular fragrances for lavatory cleaner and bubble bath. Therefore, I
can understand a reviewer using a simile to avoid invoking a negative image
in the mind of the audience.

--
wessie at tesco dot net

BMW R1150GS

"Wessie is a lovely man with many wonderful qualities" TM Blaney

 

I'm sure he knew his stuff but he did talk kak at times. I remembersnip beautiful description of the art of whisky

It really wouldn't matter what whisky he was tasting, would it? Unless
you could relate to his experience of distant thunder he could be
describing Lagavulin, Glenkinchie, Little Mill or paint thinners.

OK, I really love whisky and am not "know what I like" in the sense of
not being open to new flavours and styles. However, I take the point
in that I really cannot detect all the nuances that many authors
describe and will often resort to "mmm, I like that" without being
able to say exactly why. I do believe, though, that a whisky reviewer,
while being caught up in the artistic wondour of the water of life,
ought to give us simple folk something to go at. How would you
describe any work of art to a reader who has no idea what it looks
like, feels like, etc? You might involve some of the ways it affects
you personally but surely there'd be something more fundamental in
there of a descriptive nature that is a little less personal and to
which the reader could relate.

Well I was brought up in a council estate in Teesside and have
probably got no chance of getting it.

Cheers, although I don't recall saying that a whisky reminded me of
the exhilaration I felt when I first realised that there was a bomber
on the moon or even that it tastes like knockers. If you mean I'm not
a pretentious pseud I'll take it as a compliment. I'm not really sure
how you would clasify a Sunday Sport reader - I've only ever looked at
the pictures.