Why, dear children, is this day different from all other days?
Because 78 glorious years ago today, the great and good people of this great nation ratified the lovely, lovely 21st Amendment which repealed the terrible, awful, no-good, very bad 18th Amendment, thus putting an end to Prohibition.
There’s a funny familial story about Prohibition that’s been floating around the Plumcake Family Mythology for nearly 80 years.
Once upon a time, in the faraway land of Yonkers, New York a young Salvation Army officer by the name of Miss Plumcake’s Nana discovered her fun-loving and all-around less stick-in-the-mud younger sister had snuck off to some speakeasy in the city and was dancing the night away. My Nana, who could out-damp even the soggiest of bed coverings, was outraged and her anger was not lessened when she discovered her one good dress –her Confirmation gown– was missing.
Grim but not stupid, Nana did the math, deduced her wicked sister and her heavenly dress were sharing the same airspace.
Nana marched right down to the speakeasy and proceeded to RIP the dress right off of her shameless sister, thus fulfilling her lifelong legacy of ruining everyone’s good time –well, except for the men at the speakeasy I suppose– and adding another chapter to the legend of Miss Plumcake’s family.
The moral of the story is this: Don’t anger a Plumcake woman. Also, if the last words you say to your devoted teenage great-granddaughter are “Have you always been that fat?”, you thereby give up your rights NOT to be talked about publicly and at great length.
Remember, an elephant never forgets.
In honor of the end of Prohibition, and the fact I’m going to have to whittle down my Scotch collection to 3 liters so I can take it across the Mexican border, I thought I’d ask a little booze-themed Big Question.
Today Miss Plumcake wants to know:
What one alcoholic beverage would you be unwilling to go the rest of your life without?
After much thoughtful deliberation, I’ve decided upon the humble yet sublime Talisker 18 year-old single malt Scotch. Talisker is the only Scotch made on the Isle of Skye and has in its golden soul the best of both the smokey peat of the Islay malts and the honeyed heather of a Speyside.
It’s not the most expensive or rarest Scotch I own, a bottle of Talisker 18 will set you back less than a hundred dollars, and there are other Scotches I prefer as specimens of one breed or another, but for pure overarching perfection, the Talisker is hard to beat, and, incidentally, is ridiculous (in the good way) on a hot buttered waffle.
I cannot imagine life without Guinness Stout. Draft, please.
Comment by Jezebella — December 5, 2011 @ 4:50 pm
English Harbour Dark Rum… Grown up candy in a bottle. I could possibly die from not having a drink at least once a week of this lovely stuff!
Comment by cadpig — December 5, 2011 @ 5:18 pm
Bombay Sapphire gin
Comment by Thea — December 5, 2011 @ 6:03 pm
I enjoy spirits, but am not emotionally attached to any of them. If booze were to be banned tomorrow, I think I would miss good dry red wine the most (Masi Campofiorin is a fave), followed by a nice white Trappist ale.
Comment by La Petite Acadienne — December 5, 2011 @ 7:30 pm
Red wine, definitely.
Comment by Leigh Ann — December 5, 2011 @ 7:35 pm
Good white wine. Something crisp and not too fruity. Maybe Austrian, or an Alsace.
I like whisky fine, but I would really miss great wine.
Comment by AnthroK8 — December 5, 2011 @ 8:38 pm
Prosecco! I am not much of a drinker but I do love this stuff, it makes me feel like I am celebrating something and reminds me of dreamy Venice
Comment by bookgirl — December 5, 2011 @ 8:56 pm
I’d miss good wine.
Comment by ChaChaHeels — December 6, 2011 @ 6:46 am
A good dry red, followed by some of Ireland’s best whiskey. Could live without them, don’t wanna…
Comment by Carol — December 6, 2011 @ 8:38 am
Such a difficult choice!! A nice, bright tequila for sipping or mixing with fresh lime juice. Floral gin, ice cold with a twist. Crisp, dry white wine. Beers, ales, lagers, stouts….
It’s a good question, Plummy, and I have decided I don’t want to live in a world where there’s only one thing to drink.
But that’s no fun. I’ve decided for versatility and functionality that I will live out my end of days with vodka. It’s the LBD of booze.
Comment by Leah — December 6, 2011 @ 9:16 am
This lead to a great conversation last night at Casa De Kimks- my hubby and I thought we knew each others answers- and we were wrong. At the end of the night we decided that he would take Jack Daniels and I would take a full bodied Zinfandel…
Comment by Kimks — December 6, 2011 @ 12:58 pm
I don’t drink, partly because I’m not allowed to mix booze with my RA meds so I couldn’t drink even if I wanted to, and partly because I have never, ever cared for the taste of alcohol. Also because I find drunk and even just slightly tipsy people skeevy with all of their word-slurring and glassy eyes and touchy-feeliness, and I don’t want them anywhere near me. So there is not a single alcoholic beverage that I would be unwilling to go the rest of my life without.
Comment by Cat — December 6, 2011 @ 3:43 pm
Champagne! It goes with everything, and makes every occasion a party.
Comment by Linda Mercury — December 6, 2011 @ 6:51 pm
Kim Crawford 2010 Marlborough Savignon Blanc
Comment by Lora — December 6, 2011 @ 8:43 pm
I love Talisker too, even though the expert at the Oban distillery said that it’s was a ‘woman’s whisky’. Soft and gentle and smoky. Presumably men are supposed to be more hellfire and burning…
Comment by Josie — December 7, 2011 @ 11:40 am
Bourbon. Current preference is Eagle Rare.
Comment by Astra — December 7, 2011 @ 12:42 pm
I love a good bourbon, but to be honest the loss of beer would hurt most. To give up Scotch…no problem. To give up Scotch ale? Please don’t make me even contemplate the possibility.
Comment by cedar — December 7, 2011 @ 8:00 pm
I thought, and thought and thought about what I would be willing to give up…If I absolutely had to only have one kind of liquor for the rest of my life it would be vodka, Belvedre if I have to pick a brand. But honestly I think I would sadly have to move to Canada. Not that Canada isn’t perfectly nice, I hear tell it is, but I do like my home…
Comment by Jessica — December 7, 2011 @ 8:43 pm
Ah, my people are from the Isle of Skye but were far to cheap to buy their own product…whatever they could make in the still was fine.
I love Cristal champagne…
Comment by Christine — December 12, 2011 @ 9:47 pm