A Kilt Made of Grass Leaves

I'd wager this is the only bottle of Innis & Gunn on the whole island of Oahu. Well, was the only bottle.

This libation is a little treat I promised myself weeks ago as a reward for hitting the magic 2000 page hits and 100 twitter followers. Unfortunately the following happened:

Teh Interwebs: "You have 100 Followers!"

Self: "Hooray!"

*runs to fridge*

Self (reaching for bottle opener): "Well, I'd really like to thank my Mom, and Jeebus, and.. uh..."

Teh Interwebs: "You have 99 Followers!"

Self: "What!?!?"

Teh Interwebs: "You have 100 Followers!"

Self: "Yes, well. Yeah. That's right. 100, baby! Wooo! Wooo...."

Teh Interwebs: "You have 98 Followers!"

Self: "What!?!? No no no, I didn't mean that vegan thingy!"

Teh Interwebs: "You have 97 Followers!"

Self: "Brrraaaaaaaaaaaghgghghhghhgh!"

After a little Crying Game style shower-sobbing, I returned to the keyboard, determined not to be over-eager again, but to instead maintain a solid lead before claiming victory. It was worth it.

If you'd like to hear a fair-n'-balanced review of Innis & Gunn's Highland Cask, head over to Ian's place for a nice assessment of its honeyed character. For me, I must confess that the delicious oaky overtones so familiar in an I&G offering were also tinged with the tincture of victory. Additionally, I'm on holiday and having just visited the Arizona memorial, I was greeted by a Navy band playing the Hawaii 5-0 theme. As Jim Ribble says, "You can't make this stuff up!"

Truly though, it's not so much a personal accomplishment as a tip o' the hat to thee, noble reader. As a sometime journalist, I'm ever-cognizant that a writer is nothing without an audience. In fact, emblazoned above my keyboard is the motto, "Nobody has to read this crap," a lesson well-learned from Tim Radford.

So to you, who lends legitimacy to my drunken ramblings by actually reading them, a bend of the elbow, and a hearty Sláinte! My original 100th follower, @hilaryipes will be getting a special beery-type present from me.

For those of you numbering between 101-150, I've got good news. Using the hallowed tradition of eenie-meenie-minie, one of you is getting a present too. Stay tuned.

Now, here are a bunch of ducks. One of them looks like the Hamburglar.