Sunday Musings, F1 and What am I doing

 This week I am in Chicago attending the annual Aerospace Medicine Conference, this is the field of work I am in and my interests outside of what I typically talk about here.  So it will be a ton of space and medicine and human exploration in extreme environments this week.  But before I head off into that world, I wanted to write a little for the blog.

First up recommendations.  As a fan of Top Gear, Grand Tour and the lads behind it I of course have to recommend the latest season of Clarkson's Farm, the first part now out on Amazon Prime.  Yes Jeremy Clarkson acts the baffoon, but at its heart it highlights the stuggle of farmers in the UK, and I think those struggles apply to farmers everywhere.  It's this reason that I think the show is worth tuning into.  Plus its hilarious because Clarkson is of course a buffoon.

Formula One

Another week of the Formula One Season and there are as many fireworks off the track as there are on. The week started with the the shot heard round the F1 world with the news that Car designer savant Adrian Newey is indeed leaving Redbull after this season.  No news on where, or if he will go somewhere else, although rumors are hot and heavy that he will go to Ferrari. I shared my thoughts on the whole situation last week for reference.

As far as on the track news goes, the drivers, were back in the USA for the first of 3 races this season. Kicking it off at the Miami GP.  It was a weird week leading up to the race itself, with some drivers like Daniel Riccardo doing really well in Sprint Qualifying, and then doing horribly in actual qualifying.  

As for the start of the race itself, to the surprise of no on Verstappen won Pole, but the McLaren team started P5 and P6 with both drivers starting on Medium Tires.  The race got off clean with no real issues, and very quickly McLaren driver Oscar Piastri took hold of P2 and did an admirable job of holding off the two drivers from Ferrari.  Norris stayed in P6, but kept pressure on Red Bull driver Perez and then finally passing him when he went to pit during lap 19.

The race stayed clean up until a virtual safety car came out in lap 23 due to a cone that Verstappen had hit.  The virtual safety card initially allowed some drivers to pit, however the leaders had passed the pit stop so they couldn’t take advantage of the cars temporarily slowing down.  

Eventually the leaders started pitting with Verstappen coming in to change tires in Lap 24, which allowed Piastri to take over the lead, and then Russell pitted in Lap 25

Piastri pitted at lap 28 as did P2 driver Sainz which allowed the other McLaren driver Lando Norris to take the lead as he stayed out.  

I feel like it needs to be said that Norris is quickly becoming a tire whisperer.  He seems to be Alonso like, always eeking out more life from his tires than other drivers.  Then the gods shines their light on McLaren and Lando.

A yellow flag came out at Lap 28 due to an incident between the sole US driver Logan Sargent of Williams Racing and Kevin Magnussen of Haas, which allowed Lando to get an easy pit stop during lap 30.  He was able to stay out in the lead even after the pit stop because everyone was driving slower due to the yellow flag.  Once the safety Car came in at Lap 33, Lando was in P1

Verstappen in P2, Norris in P1, Leclerc in P3, Piastri in P4 and Sainz in P5 and then the race was ON!

Sainz and Piastri had a wonderful battle for 4th with Sainz finally coming out on the better end of the battle at lap 40 when the two briefly touched, with Piastri then quickly getting passed by Hamilton.  McLaren quickly made the determination that Oscar's car had been damaged during the collision with Sainz.  Specifically he sustained some damage on the right part of the front wing.  The team called him into the pits to make a quick change of the front end, however by the time he came out of the pits he was behind the rest of the drivers.

With 10 laps left, Norris had opened quite a gap leading the race with Verstappen actually struggling to make anything happen in the Red Bull car, it felt bizarre watching the huge verstappen like gap that Norris had, while Verstappen himself was struggling to make anything happen.

And that was it, Norris held the pack off and won his first race!  you could hear the joy in his voice, and see the teams reaction for how excited they were for Norris.  He just had a dominant race that lead him to his first win after so many races finishing P2.   The entire Papaya team did an outstanding job this weekend and deserve a lot of credit for putting together a great car together for the Englishman.  Great great race.

Other thoughts, Yuki Tsunoda continues to show he is the better VCARB driver over the popular Ricciardo gaining more points for the team.  

Unfortunately Piastri couldn’t get points this week due to the collision he and Sainz had earlier in the race.  Piastri was even told near the end of the race to not do anything to crazy to gain positions as McLaren didn’t want any safety cars to come out with Norris being up front.

It was also really nice to see Team Alpine gain their first points of the season with Icon finishing P10.

After the race there was some tightening up in both the racers championship and constructors cup.  For the top 5 in the drivers championship:

Verstappen - 136

Perez - 103

LeClerc - 98

Norris - 88

It really is very close between P2 and P5.

For the constructors the top 5 look like:

Red Bull - 239

Ferrari - 187

McLaren - 124

Mercedes - 64

Aston Martin - 42

There seems to be some spacing occurring, although I still feel like McLaren can catch Ferrari if they keep making improvements to their car and Norris continues his season.

 

Whiskey, Cigars, and Shocks

 

A midweek step down, to sit, sip, smoke, and relax.  There isn't much better than that.  This week we've got a little Texas flare, an amazing smoke, and to finish something shocking.  First up let's talk Whiskey.

Milam and Greene is a Hill Country based distillery that has been around for a few years now and is incredibly well respected.  One of the really cool things they do is take pride in blending whiskey, something that is too often under appreciated in the US, and looked down upon.  It's not a bad word if you are doing it well, and are open and honest.  They are up there with one of my favorite Texas Distilleries.  In a state where many Texas 'craft' distilleries cut corners, or bring in out of state products and try to brand it as Texas Made, Milan and Greene are doing things differently.  They are also one of the few women owned and with a woman head distiller.  This particular expression, their Triple Cask is one of those aforementioned blends.  Taking whiskey distilled at their Blanco headquarters, along with whiskey distilled in Bardstown, KY, they blend the product and age it all in TX. The malt bill is the same for the both; 70% Corn, 22% malted Rye, and 8% barley and it comes in at 94 proof. It's got notes of vanilla and spice, and oak.  It's not too hot which is a common problem with younger Texas whiskies.  It's smooth, but has a some body.  Not overly big, or tannic, but enough of a bite that lets you know you're drinking.  Good mouthfeel, if just a little light bodied.  While its not my favorite M&G expression (I love their rye, and some of their reserve series more) this is seriously good, and for under $50, well priced and worth a pick up.

Avo cigars is a sister brand to Davidoff which I've spoken about before.  These are a little lower priced, but are still incredibly good cigars.  They make a handful of cigars, but this one was recommended to by my local smoke shop.  Comes in a beautiful orange capsule, the AVO XO is a beautiful smoke, and may become one of my go to's.  This XO is their Intermezzo 5x50 with an Ecuador wrapper and other tobaccos from Dominican.  This hits my preferred sweet spot of being medium bodied, big and bold enough to let you know that you are smoking a cigar without being overpowering and killing your palate.  It's incredibly smooth with oaky notes, vanilla, spice, and dried fruits, with just a hint of sweetness.  The flavor profile is incredibly similar to that of the whiskey. So a more complimentary pairing, vs a pairing that plays off of the notes in the whiskey.  It works for a nice midweek sit down.  I've smoked a couple of these recently, and will definitely be picking up some more in the future. 

Now our shocking finale. OK, OK, enough with the puns, it's time to talk about the Casio G-Shock.  The watch collectors GO-TO for a rugged every day, digital watch.  These are next to indestructible and have been designed that way since the 1980's.  This particular G-Shock is their GAB2100GC-3A and is a gorgeous monotone olive green with splashes of color around the octagonal bezel.  It's very light weight as well.  This is a solar powered model, which means while there is a battery it gets its power from the sun (or other light sources) helping it last for a very long time.  You won't need to replace the batter like you do in standard quartz watches.  Additionally it has what's called a Smartphone link that allows it to receive data like timezone, day and date making it very easy to set.  It has multiple function to track lap times, timer, count downtimer, world timer, full scale calendar year to 2099, and a slew of others.  My wife got me this watch for Christmas and it has become my GO-TO weekend watch.  I can go out and grab some coffee, or I can go do some yard work.  It's made for both.  It is a big watch with a case size of 41mm and a lug to lug of 48mm.  But it wears fairly well on my 6.75 inch wrist.  If I had one complaint it's that the screen that has date and seconds on it can be a little hard to read.  But the lume on the watch is amazing.  For under $200 I think this is a no-brainer watch to add to the collection, or start your collection.  

Sunday Musing not a lot going on, but still there's news.

 

My Sunday morning cup comes from another Texas Roaster, Zelie Beans out of Sugarland.  This particular batch is their Guatemala single origin.  It makes a fine cup, some milky chocolate notes along with some roasted nuttiness.  The flavors are a little muted, there is nothing vibrant going on, the cup likes a certain acidity that I tend to enjoy.  So a good cup, not a great cup in my mind.

While I don' have any recommendations this week, nor was there a Formula One race this weekend (have to wait one more week for the Miami GP) there is plenty to talk about in both EPL and F1.

Formula One

The biggest news this week by far has been the rumors that car designer extraordinaire and Red Bull Chief Technology Officer Adrian Newey may be leaving the team.  Newey is widely regarded as the greatest designer of F1 cars of the last 30 years.  He has won trophies with McLaren and Williams back in the 90's and has been with Red Bull since their inception in the 2000's, helping them win trophies under two different drivers.  So him leaving would be HUGE news, if and I'll throw my two cents in and say it's a big IF, he moves on.  The reason I think it is unlikely that he leaves for another team is two fold:

1) if he leaves he would have to sit out for 2 years due to his contract not being up for another year and there is a stipulation in his contract that adds another year. So if he left, the earliest you would see him at another team is 2026 when the new car designs are put into place under the differing F1 regulations.  This would mean he would have no input into a new designed car and I just can't see that happening.

2) Secondly Newey is 67, and has just purchased a massive new yacht that is being build (look up the YouTube video of him at Oyster Yachts).  He wants to sail, all over the place.  Additionally he has left England for a team before, and quit that team because he didn't want to be away from his family.  So those folks that think he is going to move to Italy and work for Ferrari are kidding themselves I think.  So while he may be frustrated with all that is going on at Redbull behind the scenes lately with the Horner situation, he mostly likely could just retire, or move into a consultant role for another team, or even for F1 or the FIA, vs going to a new team.  

If he did go to a new team, an interesting one would be Aston Martin.  That would allow him to stay in England, and Daddy Stroll has a ton of money to throw around.  I don' know how likely any of this is since no one has officially confirmed anything, but when the BBC picks up certain rumors they tend to have a bit more credibility than the random you tubers or bloggers (myself included) which I why I wanted to put down my thoughts. How likely will he leave RB?  I put it at 50/50.  How likely will he go to another team?  Less than that I think.

Liverpool

While the Reds continue their incredible slide into 3rd and even 4th place of the EPL Table there is some positive news.  The Reds have looked absolutely pathetic lately, and the last match yesterday against West Ham didn't help with Mo Salah and Klopp getting into a little sideline tiff.  But as I said before there is good news.  It looks like the Reds have found their new team leader to replace (if one can ever do that) the departing Jurgen Klopp.

It seems as if the Reds will be adding Dutchman Arne Slot, currently managing Feyenoord to a win in the Dutch Cup this season and an opportunity to seal a spot in the Champions League.  The 45 year old is incredibly well respected amongst the Football community and it seems like Liverpool has already sealed a deal with his current employers to make the transfer to Liverpool occur.  He is an aggressive manager, his team always playing on the front foot driving the ball forward in play.  He seems to get compared to Pep Guardiola a lot, to be clear I am not equating their coaching ability, just their strategy.  I like having a younger coach come in and not brining in an old retread.  I trust the Liverpool leadership to make the right decision here.  It will also help Slot transition is that he won't be depended to make as many of the transfer moves as Klopp has recently since Slot will report to the new Sporting Director which could allow him to focus on strategy and building team unity. There is a good chance next year will be rebuilding as I think Salah leaves in the offseason to the Saudi league (with Liverpool receiving a large transfer fee) and there could be others leaving as well (Nunez hopefully as he has looked positively dreadful this season).   We could be able to rebuild while maintaining a certain level of talent that allows us to compete in the EPL and Champions league next season, so while things currently look bad, I am hopeful that things will get better.

Whiskey and Cigar Friday!

 

A couple of days later, but better than never, I bring to you another cigar and whiskey pairing.  It's an unusual paring today that I am excited to share!

The Scotch

It's really unfortunate that in many instances blended Scotch gets a bad rap compared with the classic Single Malts that everyone, including myself tend to reach for.  Maybe that mentality goes back a few decades when many blended scotch's were unrefined and not nearly as good as their single malt counterparts.  But these days if you never try a blended malt, you truly are missing out and there is not a better maker of blends than Compass Box.  Exclusively bottling blended scotch since 2000 they take single malts from all over Scotland, blending them together, sometimes aging them again and bottling them into something that in many cases is a sum far greater than its parts.  What I also love about Compass Box is they are totally transparent.  While you may not be able to find all the details of what's in the bottle on the bottle (many times this is because the law prohibits transparency as crazy as that sounds), if you go to their website you can find all you want to know and more.  Take for example the expression I tried for today's paring, The Circle No.2, there isn't a lot of info on the bottle, but the website dedicated to it there is a ton.  This is a usual expression dedicated to the color of coral, which seems pretty unique to me.  This is a blend of 5 different distilleries scotch including Ardmore, Speyburn, and Glen Elgin.  Naturally colored and not chil-filtered, it does have a beautiful unique color.  Its ABV is 46% so this isn't a beast or a scotch, and not a lot of peat on the nose.  There are flavors of pineapples, vanilla, honey, raisins.  A very enjoyable dram that is smooth, and sweet without being cloying.  I do enjoy this quite a bit.  It holds up to the cigar well, the sweetness partnering well.

The Cigar

A few weeks back I mentioned a cigar with a Texas connection, well here is another.  This cigar comes from North Texas's Ezra Zion Cigar Co.  They are a direct to consumer brand with no real brick and mortar retail presence as far as I can tell.  I have been smoking them off and on for a couple of years.  Never the same stick as they seem to release new blends on a weekly basis. They all have fun names that are inspired by the season, Dallas, Texas, or something completely unrelated.  This particular stick is the Spicy Chicken and Waffles, inspired by north Texas institution Babes Fried Chicken. The cigar is a 6.25x48 Toro size and made with Corojo leaf wrapper.  It's a medium bodied cigar with notes of cinnamon, milk chocolate and maple syrup.  The longer you smoke it brings some spicier notes that balance the earlier sweetness and play well with the sweetness of the Scotch.  There are notes of licorice and dark chocolate in their as well.  It's a decent length of smoke to lasting well over an hour as I sit and enjoy my cigar.  It's well balanced, coats the mouth, blending with the sweetness of the scotch that's also swishing around.  Great pairing that makes for a great evening.

Sunday Musings, Texas Coffee Edition

Happy Sunday, another week, and I missed my midweek post, so apologies, but already have something lined up for this week so should be good to go and back on track.  I hope everyone is enjoying a nice weekend.  Kicking today off with some coffee, which got me to thinking about Texas Coffee roasters, something that I have mentioned in previous posts.  For today, I am enjoying another cup of beans from Dallas based Ascension Coffee.  This particular bag is a blend of central and South America beans.  Made my traditional pour over and it produced an outstanding cup of coffee, full of notes of milk chocolate covered almonds, some fruity notes, slightly sweet, medium bodied, but does a good job of coating the mouth.  A good cup to wake up with and love the new cup from Bark And Jack, the same place I pick up most of my watch straps (that icy blue on my Hamilton is amazing looking).  Love that type of cup, and it goes well with my other enamel cups that I have.  Getting quite a selection.  

I don't have any recommendations this week, but we did have a Formula 1 race this week, and as always we have Liverpool to chat about. But before we get to that let's talk Texas coffee.  While there are states that get more love for their home grown roasters.  States like California, Washington, Oregon, and Illinois (due to the coffee culture in Chicago), I think Texas Roasters are holding their own.  Yes there may not be a ton of small roasters here, but the quality of what that small group produces is as good as any in other states.  Here are my top 5 roasters in the state, in no particular order:

1. Greenway

2. Amaya

3. Greater Good

4. Tenfold

5. Ascension

What are some of your favorite Coffee Roasters in Texas?

EPL 

I can't explain how frustrated I am right now as a Liverpool fan.  The last couple of weeks they have completely fallen apart.  And I don't even understand why.  They are actually getting healthier with players like Salah and their star keeper Allison coming back and they still are playing like crap.  2 weeks ago they had an opportunity for 4 trophies, 3 to add to the earlier Carabou cup.  Now?  They may end up with only 1.  The have been knocked out of the FA Cup, and the Europa League, and are third in the EPL after being first since before the New Year.  It's been frustrating matches to watch because it's not like other teams are playing lights out.  The Reds have just looked lack luster and uninspired.  When they should be playing lights out for Klopp it seems they just don't have any more heart and Klopp has lost the ability to inspire them.  Maybe it's true, that Klopp realized he was losing the team and knew that it was time for him to leave.  It sure looks like this team has left Klopp behind.  Now we may see City once again win the League which is incredibly disappointing.  The reds could still step up as they have a relatively easy end of the season, but there are so few matches left, I don't think it matters if they win out or not.  I would love to see them end the season playing some inspired football, but the team outside of the always amazing Salah has been bad.  TAA is just not stepping up and Captain VVD isn't the same player he was a few years ago.  Our midfield is lifeless as well.  OK OK that's enough venting.  Let's see the reds step up and beat on Fulham today!

Formula 1

After a 5 year hiatus the teams were back in China.  Having had to skip the Shanghai GP due to Covid restrictions since 2019, the teams were able to go back, very differently than they were in 2019 when Hamilton and Mercedes were at the top of the grid.  They are no longer a top team instead being replaced by Red Bull.  Another early morning start that I honestly didn't stay up for, but I as always do have thoughts on the race.  

Firstly it seems that McLaren may have figured some things out. After a decent, but not great start to the season after the first two races, the last couple they are doing very well. Norris was at the top of the grid for the Sprint Race start, and finished P2 in the actual GP.  He continues to be the bridesmaid and not bride, having his 8th (I think) 2nd place finish with never a top finish.  

Time may be undefeated, but Aston Martins Alonso is doing one heck of a job of holding it off.  His racing today was absolutely lights out.  His passing in the turns had me holding my breath.  It was just tremendous.  Unfortunately for the team they don' have a great second driver, which will be what ends up hurting them in the constructors cup.  Lance Stroll finished a very dissapointing 15th.  While I know that Papa Stroll won't fire his son, part of me wonders if sponsors will start making noise now that it is evident that if they had a better second driver they could finish higher in the constructors championship.

Ferrari continues to be a strong second contender to Red Bull.  Both Ferrari drivers finished in the top 5 with LeClerc finally finished ahead of Sainz.   But both drives overall looked good.

Haas continues to surprise by gaining some points and being one of two (along with VISA Cash APP RB) other teams beyond the big 5 to score points this season.

Overall, while it is unfortunately evident that Max is going to run away with the top spot this season and Red Bull is going to win the Constrcutors cup, I don't think its a 100% garauntee that Perez finishes second and spots 2-5 in constructors is fairly wide open which does make for some exciting watching.

We have a week off before the Miami GP on 5 May.  Racing and Cinco De Mayo?  Sounds like a winning combination to me.

Sunday Musing, Recommendations and Japanese GP

Happy Sunday!  It's a great Sunday when there is Formula 1, Liverpool on the TV, and a great coffee to drink.  Today I decided to make a pot of French Press, using a classical Bodum press.  There is no crazy technique, just time.  Seems perfect for a semi lazy Sunday.  Today's coffee comes from Dallas roaster Ascension Coffee Roasters.  I've been going to their original spot in the Dallas Design District for close to 15 years, every time I go back home to visit family.  They are probably my favorite Dallas area roaster, and one of my favorite in Texas. Which makes me think that at some point I need to do my list of top Texas Coffee Roasters.  Maybe in a few weeks I'll put that together, whether it's a separate post or part of a Sunday musings will be TBD.  

Anyways back to this particular coffee.  Is a light roasted Ethiopian that went through a natural processing.  The cup is incredibly fruity. Honestly the first taste brought back Saturday morning memories of eating a bowl of Fruity Pebbles.  There is a juiciness to it as well, but it's the fruitiness that is the focal point here.  Well rounded, not a lot of acidity here, coats the tongue (that may be an effect of using a French Press).  Overall I really enjoy this, it has a tone of character here but nothing is overpowering or hitting you in the face.  

Before I get into sports talk, I do have another weekly recommendation.  This time from a show on Apple TV+.  A little over a week ago they released a two part documentary on the great comedian Steve Martin and I must say it is tremendous.  Part 1 really focuses on his early days growing up and doing stand up, discussing the struggles he went through as he was really ahead of his time with what he was doing on stage.  The second part focuses mostly on where he is now with being a dad late in life and doing stand up with Martin Short.  While it touches on his movie career and talks about some of the highs and lows over the course of his films, that is definitely not the focus.  It's very much about his life now.  Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the doc, and really love the insight it gives into his long friendship with Short.  I do wish they had talked about some of his films more, but I would still recommend this to anyone that is a Martin fan, or standup comedy.

F1

Before I get into Liverpool, I figured I'd discuss the latest GP race first.  Full disclosure, I did not stay up this time to catch the race live.  The start time for me was after midnight and I just couldn't make it that late this weekend.  But watched the replay this morning and I must say it was a great race.  To recap things that happened during qualifying and leading up to the race, Williams Driver and American Racer Sargent has been given Albon's old chassis for the rest of the year (or at least until Miami when Williams could get a 3rd chassis).  You may remember that Alton wrecked his chassis a few weeks back during a practice session.  McLaren did very well during qualifying with Landon starting in P3.  Unsurprisingly Red Bull finished P1 and P2 in qualifying to start the race at the front of the grid. 

The Race started with a bang, shortly after lights out, Albon and Ricciardo touched going through the turns and crashed out of the race.  Ricciardo's no good very bad season continues and it kicked off a Red Flag not even a lap into the race.  No shenanigans at the restart occurred and we were off to the races so to speak.  Overall the race was fun.  The track has a ton of turns and is quite narrow in certain places, but that didn't stop passing from occurring.  Some drivers like McLaren driver Land Norris, and the Ferrari drivers just went for it, making their move in the middle of turns and narrow tracks.  It was fun to watch.  Unfortunately the streak of Red Bull not winning only lasted one race as they were back on top in P1 and P2.  Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz continues to prove to everyone that Ferrari is making a HUGE mistake letting him go for the struggling Hamilton.  Sainz finished third, Hamilton finished 9th (for comparison his Mercedes team mate finished 7th).  McLaren drivers finished P5 (Norris) and P8 (Pastry) and Sainz teammate Charles LeClerc finished P4.  The finish of this race continues to provide some separation for Red Bull and Ferrari from the rest of the pack.  With McLaren increasing the gap between 3rd and 4th where Mercedes sits followed immediately by Aston Martin.

Other quick thoughts from the race:

• RB Driver Yuki Tsunoda finished in the points recieving the hometown cheers.  Which, as much as I love the honey badger Yuki is showing that Ricciardo just may not have it anymore.  Yuki has pretty much beat him in qualifying every race and finished ahead in all but one race.  
• Lance Stroll continues to show that the only reason he in the Aston Martin car is his daddy.  While Alonso continues to carry the British team on his back, Lance doesn't finish in the top 10.  Where would Aston Martin be without the spaniard? They would be Haas if they were depending on Stroll.  That's how bad it is.
• I truly feel bad for Williams.  They have made so many bad decisions in the past decade and now the whole team is paying the price.  They have had some back luck this season for sure with bad wrecks that could damage both the chassis of both their cars.  The fact that they don't have a spare is just absurd and shows how poorly they have been mismanaged.  I think team principal Vowles can bring them out of where they are, if they are given the time they need, but with where the money is at in F1, I am not sure they will given the time they need.
• The rest of the F1 drivers better hope that the Red Bull car has more mechanical issues like they did in Australia or this season is going to look a lot like last season did.  The only positive thing is that the next 5 spots are up for grabs and the racing from McLaren and Ferrari is outstanding.
• Prediction time:  In the next 3 weeks it will be announced that Sainz is going to Mercedes which will mean that if he races next season Alonso will do so for Aston Martin.  With all the open spots, we may not see as much shuffling as we anticipated, at least from the top clubs.  Assuming of course that Checo stays at Red Bull (anyone that thinks Verstappen is leaving is not being serious).

Liverpool

Liverpool had a mid week Premiere League match against Sheffield United that they won keeping them safely atop the table.  However today, as I am writing they are facing the hated Manchester United.  While ManU is not any good this season, at least not up to their standards, this isn't a gimme match.  ManU showed that a couple of weeks ago when they knocked the Reds out of the FA Cup competition.  So far as we hit half time the Reds look good.  It's a dreary rainy day in Manchester but Liverpool is up 1-0.  If that lead holds they win and stay atop the table ahead of Arsenal and Man City.  Liverpool hold the championship in their hands.  They are the masters of their destiny at this point with 6 more matches to play. Can they pull out another premiere league title for Klopp before he leaves?  I say yes!

Whiskey and Cigar Wednesday

A week away from posting due to work trip and some personal life stuff, I hadn't time to sit down and post until today.  And what a fun enjoyable post it will be.  A scotch from my favorite Scottish distillery and a a cigar that I had never had before.  What is better than that?

The Scotch

As I have mentioned, The Balvenie is not only my favorite non-seated whisky, it is my favorite whisky period.  I love every expression they put out (well at least every one I have tried).  This expression is a 16 year old scotch.  It is aged primarily in first use American Oak casks (think old bourbon barrels).  Then after 16 years of aging and gaining color and flavors from these old bourbon barrels the master distiller finishes this nectar in casks that held French Pineau. Pineua is a fortified aperitif wine based in Western France.  This combination of casks create a complex character that I really enjoyed.  This Scotch is sweeter than other Balvenie expressions, full of honey, vanilla, balanced with notes of grapefruit and ginger.  It's got sweetness up front, but balanced with some bitterness and spice notes that I think are outstanding.  As I have it I wonder if this would work in a cocktail, maybe something like a Boulevardier with Campari?  I don't typically have scotch in cocktails, but may need to try this out.  I'll report back soon!

The Cigar

This is an interesting one to me.  This Lancero style cigar comes from Tatuaje Cigars.  This cigar shape is quickly becoming one of my favorites.  It looks incredibly elegant and usually produces a longer concentrated smoke that I enjoy.  Tatuaje is owned and operated by Pete Johnson out of California.  It is one of 6 cigar brands he owns and operates.  This particular expression from Tatuaje, is Escasos is made out of Miami, with Ecuadorian wrappers and Nicaraguan filler.  There is a sweetness, a nuttiness up front at the first part of the smoke. Follows with pepper, toast, woody.  The nutty notes persist and combine with peppery toasty notes.  A smooth smoke that holds it form for the duration.  It lasts a bit over an hour of consistent smoking while I sit with my scotch in the other hand.  Its a good smoke, and one that I would reach for again.

Sunday Musings, Australian GP

It was late night last night staying up to watch what turned out to be a fantastic Australian GP Formula One race.  But, more on that later.  No new coffee for me this week and Liverpool is off this weekend (sadly after a horrible loss to Manchester United last week in the FA Cup tournament) so we'll jump straight to some recommendations before I give my thoughts on the race.

Two recommendations this week. First up is another TV show. I'll fight anyone that says this is a kids show, but on Disney+ this week they released the animated X-Men '97 that takes off right after the excellent 90's cartoon ended.  This past week they released the first two episodes and they are outstanding.  Slightly updated the animation, but the stories are tremendous, timely, and absolutely in-line with historical X-men comics.  Through two episodes I couldn't be happier with what Disney has done with this release and hope that the series continues it impressive start with more amazing episodes.

My second recommendation is a podcast.  Not just any podcast but one from Top Gear/Grand Tour star Richard Hamilton.  Surprisingly though this podcast has absolutely nothing to do with cars.  Instead it is him, his daughter and a guest discussing men's mental health called Who We are Now.  I can't tell you how good this series is, and how imprortant it is to get blokes (as Hammond says) to talk about their mental health and not just go all blokey about it.  They are a few episodes into it, but I would encourage anyone to go back and listen to them all as they are excellent.

Australia GP ReCap and thoughts

As I stated before it was a late night watching the Australian GP with lights not occurring until about 11pm Central time, but it was definitely worth it. First a recap of what happened during qualifying.  There were only 19 cars on the starting grid because Williams was down a car due to Albon crashing out during a practice session. Williams made the tough decision to sit American driver Sargent and put Albon in his car instead hoping he could get the British team a point.

McLaren had the best starting positions of the season with McLaren with Norris P3 and Pastry P5 thanks to a 3 grid penalty for Perez.  Shocking no one Verstappen continued his streak of sitting on Pole position.  I think the biggest question at the start of the race was how the warm track temperatures would affect the tires and if there would be any crashing at the start of the race, something the Aussie GP is notorious for.  However once we hit lights out there were no shenanigans and Verstappen got a way with a clean start, or so we thought.  

Very quickly Sainz, two weeks after an appendectomy, passed the leading Red Bull and went into first place.  Verstappen initially complained of his back end being loose, but his car started smoking at the back thanks to what turned out to be a stuck brake, and shockingly the dutchman had to retire ending a 43 race streak of finishing.  So only a few laps in, we knew we would have a different winner for this race, but who would it be?  Could Ferrari hang on and would Sainz be able to complete an incredible comeback after his surgery?

By lap 10 McLaren was already pitting, with Piastri coming in and switching from Medium tires to Hard hoping to undercut LeClerc, and then Norris pitting shortly afterwards in lap 14 again going from Medium to Hard and coming out behind his teammate. Just when everyone though we were getting into a fairly standard race, more surprises came with Hamilton’s Mercedes experiencing engine failure and retiring at lap 17.  He pulled over to the side of the track which caused a virtual safety card, slowing the race down and allowing Alonso to pit his Aston Martin who was leading at the team and desperately needed to change his tires.  Due to the cars having to slow down he was able to get in and out without losing to many positions.

By lap 29 McLaren made the call to swap the drivers position moving Norris up to P3 and Piastri fell to P4.  The move was smart as Norris had the pace, but the Aussie crowd was surely disappointed that their hometown driver was asked to move back.

The next few laps had the Ferraris and McLarens pitting which shuffled the line up some but near the end of the race you had Ferrari in P1 and P2 and Norris and Piastri breathing down LeClerc’s neck in P3 and P4 respectively.  They wouldn’t have caught him, but it became a moot point because during the last lap Mercedes driver Russell crashed into the wall causing the race to end under a yellow.  So Ferrari finished in the top two slots with a well deserved and quite frankly unbelievable win by Carlos Sainz.  I am not a Ferrari fan (team papaya all the way!), but I have to admit that was fun to see him win with everything going on. His race continues to push my point that Ferrari will end up regretting dropping him and replacing him with Hamilton.  Hamilton was great, one of the best, but he is not the same driver, and Ferrari will be worse team next year.

Some other thoughts from the race: 

Mercedes continues to struggle.  I have to think at some point some significant changes are going to have to occur at the team.  They are already losing Hamilton, and they are wasting some of the best years of Russells career as they struggle trying to find the right design of their car.  When will enough be enough and they have to admit they need to make some changes to their engineering team.

Best race McLaren has looked honestly.  Even though they didn’t get P1 they had a very fast car.  Is this a sign of things to come?  I am hopeful that even when Verstappen finishes, that team papaya can keep up and continue to finish in the top 5.  If they do that they will have a season where they compete for 2nd place in Constructors and that would be HUGE.

Perez just didn’t have the pace and couldn’t help RB after Verstappen dropped out.  Does that continue to paint a picture that Perez could be out at the end of the season>

Haas continues to run well surprisingly with another race getting some points.

After three races the top four positions in the drivers championship table are Red Bull and Ferrari drivers, followed by the two McLaren drivers.

Verstappen	51
LeClerc	47
Perez	46
Sainz	40
Piastri	28
Norris	27
Russell	18
Alonso	16
Stroll	9
Hamilton	8

The Constructors Championship is looking pretty nice for McLaren as well, especially as I am hopeful they will continue to show improvements throughout this season.  

Red Bull	97
Ferrari	93
McLaren	26
Mercedes	26
Aston Martin	25
RB	6
Haas	4

Watch! A Negroni

 

Anyone that knows me knows that my favorite cocktail has always been, and will always be a Negroni.  Ahhhh just saying the word Negroni makes me smile.  This isn't a complicated cocktail that needs a ton of ingredients and special equipment to make.  It's simple, and often times I make it directly in the drinking glass.  A simple mix of 3 ingredients and a twist to orange is all it takes to make this beautiful and wonderful drink.  Gin, Campari, Sweet Vermouth, an ounce of each, mix, and you to can enjoy this lovely sweet, bitter, boozy drink.  

Typically, when I make a Negroni, I keep my ingredients as simple as the drink itself and use a nice dry London Gin like Beefeaters, however from time to time I like to mix it up and try an unusual gin which is what I did here.  I grabbed James Gin, made by petrolhead James May of Top Gear and Grand Tour fame, specifically his London Drizzle expression (although they are all wonderful, pro tip, try the American Ramstud in a dirty martini, pure bliss).  The London Drizzle is an incredibly unique gin made with beetroot, lovage, bay, orange, and ginger.  This is a much earthier gin that a traditional one is, but it comes together with the Campari for a unique take on a Negroni.

As an unabashed lover of all things Campari and Negroni you can imagine my joy at finding a watched that expressed it better than I could.  A couple of years ago Japanese watchmaker released a series of watches under their Presage Line called 'Cocktail' watches.  Each watch had a different colored dial that represented a cocktail, they had a champagne cocktail, and a green mojito dial, and of course a red Negroni inspired dial, which I of course picked up recently from online shop Teddy Baldassare.  It's a gorgeous watch, with a steel case housing the gorgeous dial on a calfskin strap.  It shimmers in the light and has a texture to it that keeps you staring at it to see the different shades of red.  A perfect watch to wear out on a date, or for a cocktail hour.  It also doesn't break the bank as it comes in well under $500.  Its a good size, not to big, nor too small at around 39MM in diameter.  While the crystal isn't sapphire it is Seiko's proprietary Hardlex which feels nice and strong.  Also has an open case back, although the movement isn't anything special to look at.  If you love to switch straps, you can do so easily as the lug to lug on this is 20mm which allows for any number of straps to be used. More stats below along with a more indepth video review of the watch if you are so inclined.

Movement	4R35 Automatic
Case Diameter	38.5 mm
Lug to Lug	45 mm
Lug Width	20mm
Thickness	12.22 mm
Crystal	Hardlex
Water Resistance	50M
Strap	Calfskin with quick release