Looking after your health ain’t cheap. My credit card took a $900 hit yesterday after two procedures – an ultrasound of my neck and a CT scan of my heart.
And I’m back to the radiology centre next week for a mammogram and ultrasound. That will be pricey too. Sadly, I don’t qualify for the free checks because of previous issues.
The neck ultrasound was to check if I have plaque in my arteries. And the CT was to make sure everything is flowing correctly in my heart. I have no reason to think things are not OK, but it will be good to have it confirmed. My aunty died from a heart attack, while my dad was lucky to survive one.
The ultrasound was easy peasy, but the preparation for my CT scan was a pain. I had to take beta blockers to slow down my heart rate and have a canula inserted so they could inject dye into my veins.
I hate canulas. They hurt. And every time I looked at it embedded in my arm I would retch slightly.
The dye is weird too. When they injected it through the canula, it made my ears and nethers feel warm. Not in a sexy way, sadly, but in a it-feels-like-I’ve-wet-my-pants way.
Then I dashed to the office for my annual flu injection.
I felt like a pin cushion.
But that’s enough about my medical appointments.
I forgot to tell you about a cool whisky masterclass I attended recently. I was reminded about it when I appeared in a photo (above) in a LinkedIn post about the event.
The masterclass was for Morris Whisky, which hails from Rutherglen – a region that is close to my heart. I spent many happy afternoons there during my 24-year relationship with my ex-husband, whose parents live in nearby Albury.
Morris whiskies are made from 100% local ingredients then finished in award-winning Morris of Rutherglen fortified wine barrels.
I need to waffle on for a bit with some back story, as it fascinates me …
The Morris family have been making wine since 1859 and are regarded as one the best fortified wine producers in the world.
In the 1970s, the winery was sold to Pernod Ricard, but the Morris family continued to work at the site and make wine for the brand.
In 2016, Pernod Ricard decided to break up the vineyard and sell it off to multiple buyers. The Casella family offered to buy the whole operation, but were turned down. So a plan was hatched. Managing Director John Casella secretly loaned David Morris the money to buy back his vineyard.
I was working at Drinks Trade at the time and Pernod Ricard sent out a media release saying “the Morris Winery, vineyards, brand and cellar door has been acquired and will continue to operate under the leadership of David Morris”.
Then Morris swiftly sold the vineyard to Casella and another media release came out.
“I’m delighted to welcome Morris Wines into the Casella family, particularly due to our longstanding relationship with the Morris family, which goes back 50 years to when my father supplied grapes to their former Griffith winery,” John Casella announced.
The intrigue those two media releases caused were quite something.
Soon afterwards, an idea was born to use Morris’ barrels to create whisky. And they did it using the original still installed at the Morris site in the early 1930s, when it was used for producing base spirits for Morris fortified wines.
Morris released its first whiskies in June 2021, which were an instant hit with whisky lovers and awards programs around the world.
Fast forward to my masterclass, which was hosted by Morris distiller Darren Peck and kicked off with one of my favourite spritzy cocktails, a highball.
Then Darren ran us through six excellent whiskies and a Morris Cellar Reserve Grand Muscat (yuuuuuuum).
The tasting concluded with a cocktail created by Lucila Calichio and Lucía Miguez from Tres Monos in Buenos Aires, Argentina, who were in town for the Maybe Cocktail Festival. Their bar came in at number 10 on the World’s 50 Best Bars list for 2025 and scooped Best Bar in South America 2025.
They served up a fabulous “Australian” Manhattan, with 36 SOUTH Double Grain Whisky, DOM Bénédictine and Morris of Rutherglen Pale Flor Apera, topped off with an orange coin. I absolutely LOVED it.
Some crackers and cheese might have been handy to soak up the whisky, but aside from that it was a fun way to spend an afternoon.
Have a great weekend. Mine promises to be eventful. I will give you the lowdown next week.
Song of the day: The Stranglers “Golden Brown”
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