Good Spirits

This posting comes a day late because Blogger crashed on me just as I hit the button to publish my post yesterday and I lost it all. I couldn't bear to go through that twice in one day (nor did I have the time). Here's hoping I have better luck today.
On Wednesday night, my husband and I went to the formal launch of the Chivas Regal 18-year-old blend. And it was formal. The event was held at the three-story emporium of a British luxury-goods retailer on Fifth Avenue, complete with $60,000 alligator-skin bar, black-clad models/servers, and an invitation to peruse the store's collection of rare books, which includes a nearly century-old collection of well-preserved Jane Austen books valued at close to $1 million. (Be careful not to spill Scotch on the books!)
Now I don't usually drink Scotch--though this blend, diluted with a splash of water, went down really easily. Nor does Scotch fall under my general reporting beat without a real stretch of the imagination (though I'm sure I've written about alcohol, or mentioned it at least, once or twice). Hell, I didn't even realize covering spirits could be a beat until that night, when a woman I met told me that's all she reports on at CNN. "That's all?" I asked. She assured me it was plenty, with a smile that said "Don't you wish you could get paid to drink for a living?"
And, yeah, after hanging out with people who do for most of the evening, I sort of did. I wondered if drinking booze all the time and writing about it wouldn't get a little old after awhile, but they showed no signs of burn out (if their eyes were red, I knew it wasn't from staring at a computer screen for 10 hours, as mine were).
The booze beat reporters were in the minority at this party, distinguished by pocket scarves on one end of the spectrum (editors) and funky glasses and intentionally shaggy haircuts on the other (writers). Then there was Ted Allen, who looked like he'd just stepped off the set of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," which he probably had. But most of the crowd was made up of men in expensive suits who looked like they'd just taken a car up from Wall Street and women in strappy heels and slinky black dresses dressed as if they were going to a cocktail party (which, I guess, this sort of was). We figured they all work for either Chivas or the British retailer--or one of the Wall Street firms that cover the spirits industry. But there was one man I was certain worked for Chivas: Colin Scott, the master blender who created the 18-year-old batch among others. He was also the only person there in a kilt.