Winning Poem

Last month I entered a poem in a contest on Richard Paterson’s facebook page. Richard is the Master Blender for Whyte & Mackay, The Dalmore and Jura whiskies. He’s known as “The Nose”. He has a blog called The Master Blender and you can follow him on twitter at http://twitter.com/the_nose.

The idea was to write a poem in thirteen lines about whisky and Whyte & Mackay (rhymes with “eye”) to celebrate the release Whyte & Mackay’s The Thriteen blended whisky. Voting was open to the public. Here’s my winning entry:

An Ode to Whyte & Mackay

Raining down on Scottish plains
growing malted barley grains.
Harvest and sprout then dry and grind.
Mash it in tun then ferment in kind.
Distill it twice (in Lowlands times three)
low wines middle cut; foreshots debris.
Casked and matured the new make awaits
one among many possible fates.
Bottled in vat or bottled in blend,
Bottled as O.B. or in the end
bought by the cask and sold by a friend.
But only the finest juice in supply
will make it’s way into Whyte & Mackay.

The bottle is going into the library at the Hamilton Whisky Society.

Read more for the other poems.

Thomas Widter

Thomas Widter

Old and new combined to glory
Let me tell you this true story
Of a blender who did well
And a whisky which would sell

By the thirteen thousand pounds
Those who loved it drank in rounds
Those who preferred beer were drafted
By the whisky’s taste and craft

Now I’m curious myself
The 13 was on my shelf
Pouring myself the first dram
This is one moment of fame

About the 13, there’s no shame!

Stijn Hiers

How 13 completes 12.

Twelve sons had Odin, old chief of the Norse lot
Twelve participants the Last Supper, if you dont count Iscariot.
Twelve names had Surya, the old Hindu God.

Twelve years in darkness, a mariage with the wood
Twelve years growing stronger, distinct excellent from good
Sharing with the Angels, to get them in the mood.

But no twelve is ever perfect
The circle never round
For 13 attributes of mercy, the God of Jews has found
And 13 years of age one needs, for as young man to be count

It was Loki, Odins 13th God, who renewed the day
And Caesars 13th Legion that showed him the way.
Like 13 from now on completes our beloved Whyte & Mackay.

Danny Cush

Standing at the bar,
I looked behind the waiting barman and pointed to a bottle I had never seen before.
What’s that like, I asked him,
He shrugged his reply.
“Good enough for me, I’ll have one of those.”
He poured me a measure and gave me the glass
I took a nose then a taste while he got me my change.
“So what was it like?” he asked handing over the coins and I paused for a second to word my reply.
“Its like a warm summers day“ I began
“and you lift your half closed eyes to the sky, to feel the warmth of the sun on your face “
“ Just in time to have a pigeon crap in your open mouth!“
The smile on his face was his only reply
I pushed back the glass and said “Bring me a Whyte and Mackay”.

Maltstock

M M M !
(that’s 4 lines per M and one for the exclamation mark, makes 13 lines!)

Bernhard Schäfer

thirteen lines

This is the first
That rhymes with thirst
The mighty Glasgow Lion
Captured in his glassware den
You have to be quite
Hearing him roaring
Release him carefully
Turning his cap<
Or pulling the plug
Nose his breath
Hitting you gently
Don’t be shy
Drink Whyte&Mackay