Star of the Evening

Star of the Evening, a photo by Rollofunk on Flickr.

Not your average Whisky, that's for sure. Someone mentioned a bottle like this goes for around 800€, if one can be found somewhere. Way too much for a layman like me to comprehend, but then again people spend a lot more on some other hobbies (guilty as charged).

Whisky Tasting @Punavuoren Ahven

Whisky Tasting @Punavuoren Ahven, a photo by Rollofunk on Flickr.

The classic before shot.

A hard fought battle at the end between numbers 2 and 5: Buichladdich 1988/2003 and Ardbeg SC 1378 1975/2006. The Bruichladdich is an old favourite from previous tastings, and still held it's own, but in the end the sheer depth and complexity of the Ardbeg's taste range led me to pick it as my number one tonight. Hints of chocolate, gingerbread and perhaps some liquorice combined with the characteristic peatines of Ardbeg, and smoothened and lengthened by 31 years in a sherry cask just made it a fantastic Whisky. A privilege to taste.

A slight disappointment was the Caol Ila 25 yo, which didn't live up to the expectation of how good a +20 year old Whisky can be. Part of it might be due to the diluting to 43% from cask strength, which inevitably evens out the taste a bit.

The Menu

The Menu, a photo by Rollofunk on Flickr.

A rather old and distinguished lineup at tonight's whisky tasting:

Bruichladdich Infinity [3] Edition 3_10

Bruichladdich 1988/2003 Gordon&MacPhail Bottling

Caol Ila 25 yo

Laphroaig 25 yo 2009 Edition

Ardbeg SC 1378, 1975/2006

GF1 At Work

GF1 At Work, a photo by Rollofunk on Flickr.

As the GF1 is a pretty capable video tool as well, especially when using the 20mm and 45mm lenses, I decided trying it out a bit. Result:

First Frost from Mikael Leppä on Vimeo.

Locked Up

Locked Up, a photo by Rollofunk on Flickr.

First they build a really nice shelter, stock it with firewood for anyone to use, provide a fire extinguisher for when things get too hot, and lock up the aforementioned so that nobody can steal it. That's some nice design philosophy for public use right there.

B&W

B&W, a photo by Rollofunk on Flickr.

Nice sunny day, and still being able to get a moody black & white shot.

Best of Autumn

Best of Autumn, a photo by Rollofunk on Flickr.

Straws on Ice

Straws on Ice, a photo by Rollofunk on Flickr.

The new 45mm lens doing one of the things it does best.

Ice Patterns

Ice Patterns, a photo by Rollofunk on Flickr.

The lakes had received their first coating. Not there to last yet perhaps, but making a good show while it lasts.

First Frost

First Frost, a photo by Rollofunk on Flickr.

Today might have been the best day of the rest of the year for taking the camera out for a daytrip in Nuuksio National Park, so that's what I did. Felt good.

Wacom Cintiq 24HD

Wacom Cintiq 24HD, a photo by Rollofunk on Flickr.

Our new office toy. Whenever I feel that the 12" screen of my Lenovo tablet PC is too small for current sketching needs, I can plug it into this to get double the screen size to doodle on. Nice!

Boombox

Boombox, a photo by Rollofunk on Flickr.

As far as cool audio gear goes, Hi-fi Expo was full of it. Spreading out around several hotel floors might have been good for quiet listening experiences, but didn't help finding stuff at all for novices such as us. Exhibition layouts can be slightly intimidating and confusing, depending in expertise level in the exhibited subject.

Archipictor @Skiexpo

Archipictor @Skiexpo, a photo by Rollofunk on Flickr.

Skiexpo time again. Not really there for the exhibits anymore; Got a solid pair of planks to slide downhill on, and little to no knowledge of possible holiday time in winter, so not much of interest this year either. The event is more for catching up with some old friends who manage to spend a lot more time in the mountains than me. And since they've combined it with camera-heavy Digiexpo I managed to pick up a 16GB SDCH card for the camera cheaply as well.

Ossi's fine magazine illustration was all over the place as well, of course, which was nice.