It's the most wonderful time of the year! I'm talking, of course, about the time of the office holiday party. Of course, the office holiday party isn't quite what it once was. Early in my career, the office would rent a boat and sail up and down the Delaware River for three hours while inside we imbibed and threw down, had a dance off, talked shit, you know, what you do at office parties. Somewhere around the mid-2010s, our company stopped throwing money at the event. The last in-person party was in a Union Hall in South Philly, and not like, any bustling part of South Philly, but the warehouse district that became desolate around Sunday. Walking there, I thought, I hope I can get a ride back from someone, and when I arrived and someone asked me what I thought of the venue, I told them: this looks like the kind of place the mob brings people to wack them. But as long as the booze flows freely, I'm not complaining too much. We're not talking anything top shelf here, naturally, but most blended whiskies with ice taste similar and are acceptable, and I generally would rock the Dewar's over the course of an evening. Heading into this year, we had a last minute makeshift office party on a hotel rooftop, and while there were two beers and three wines on the menu, it wasn't open bar, but I still might have gone if it weren't for the announcement of Omicron. That said, to get there, I'd either have to take public transit both ways or drive, and as neither was an option, I sat this year out. As a consolation, our branch decided to do a virtual happy hour today, with a trivia game and raffle prizes, where we were encouraged to drink. Now in case the mention of Dewar's on the rocks didn't clue you in, I tend to play it safe when drinking around coworkers, especially online where there's a record of exchanges in chat, so I stick to the 80 proof, which will generally keep you mellow throughout the night and allow you to avoid saying anything that will have you questioning going back in and facing your coworkers on Monday morning until you're at least around your fifth drink. And since I was buying my own this year, I decided to go with Jura 10, which aside from being the perfect juxtaposition between price and quality, is also oddly similar in flavor profile to Dewar's. Now, having said that, Jura 10 is a lot better than Dewar's. Similar does not mean "the same." And while no one's going to do cartwheels about Dewar's, it has a honeyed smoky vanilla profile that I won't complain about either. Sure, it's a little watery and faint, but it's also priced accordingly. But enough about Dewar's, how's the Jura? Delicious, thanks. I mean, at $40 a bottle, you can't really go wrong with this. The nose has just the faintest trace of peat smoke. I mean, really light. Like so light you almost might not noticed it's there. I imagine there are heavy peat fans who won't like this because it's not peaty enough, and people who don't like peat at all who will be turned off by even the faintest trace, but on the nose this is reminiscent of Highland Park 12. Following that light smoke there are also hints of honey, apple and maybe the slightest zest of citrus underlying it all. It won't rock your world, but it's pleasant enough that you could drink it all evening. On the palate, you get honey again with vanilla and a butter/shortbread cookie flavor. Like I said, it reminds me a little of Dewar's but even though the two are the same proof, this has stronger flavors and feels less watery. It's overall not terribly dissimilar to the Dewar's Double Double 21, and I'm also getting what tastes like a little marmalade on the tongue as the full palate transitions into the finish. The finish doesn't last terribly long, but what's there is a candied ginger that hits the spot with that slight edge of spiciness. It's odd because three years ago, the stores around here had this on clearance and I picked it up and I didn't particularly like it then. I remember thinking the flavor profile in the bottle I got was muddled. Has the brand changed in recent years? Or have I? Ah, that age-old philosophical question. Maybe it's a little bit of both, with the two of us meeting at exactly the right time to rekindle the relationship. This is one I'm likely to pick up whenever it's on sale. A good daily drink. I thoroughly approve.