We were in Connaught Place in the heart of the Capital and had met after years. Talking to him was more like going back in time… the school tales, the after-school jaunts into long conversations that ended up in dreamy resolves, and all the funny and not-so-funny times… they were all coming out one by one and then suddenly we felt we were struggling for words.
I looked at him and he looked at me and we were silent for a while. Then my management training came to my rescue. I knew this wasn’t an issue that needed any other solution but a place where we could sit and stretch our legs for a while. The words would come back on their own then.
So I said, ‘Let’s go this lovely place not far from here. We’ll sit and talk.’
He agreed and so we walked to this place from where one could actually have a bird’s eye view of the past as well as the contemporary architecture of Delhi. Lutyen’s Delhi lay sprawling under our gaze, and so did the towering and not-so-towering creative impulses of the more recent architects.
‘Lovely,’ he murmured, ‘Wish we had something appropriate to go with the view and the moment.’
Without a hesitation, I beckoned and called to be served Black Dog Reserve. I looked at his questioning glance and explained, ‘We’re meeting after 18 years. This scotch too has waited for the same number of years before being shipped out to be tasted!’
The evening began with of a lot of exclamations of delight and a conversation that went on uninterrupted. It was a luxuriously smooth and long evening, almost like the scotch in our glasses and my friend did remark, looking through the deep, golden, glossy, and mahogany drink in his hands, ‘Our meeting is actually a testament to the wonderful years spent together. I’m sure you’ll want to say that the scotch in our hands is also a testament to the malt & grain whiskies which have spent years in oak casks & vats.’
We also talked about the other maturation techniques and one of these was intriguing enough to be mentioned. This was the sherry cask maturation that finally produced the delicately blended Black Dog Triple Gold Reserve.
That evening was one of gliding back and forth into time and about those moments when were literally hurling casks and vats as our attempt to define youthful rapturous fun.
I looked at him and smiled. The power of BD was obvious!!
Travel into time
Black Dog Easy Evenings | Black Dog Scotch | Ginger Claps
Disclaimer: The content of this post is meant only for people above the age of 25.
Arvind Passey
07 May 2014
