Alright, Nøgne Ø, how the hell did you get into the beer section (bottom third of the left half) of my brain? Along with your always excellent logo and label design, and your penchant for making fantastic beers (Sunturnbrew, for example), now you’ve gone and aged some of your Winter Ale in Islay whisky barrels? A Norwegian Winter beer aged in smoky Scotch barrels…yeah, that’s pretty much what I’m drinking in my recurring dreams about riding a hybrid bicycle/recliner along a soaring mountain road, high above a crystalline lake where rainbow colored ibex graze on pork shoulder sandwiches and look up nonchalantly as I cruise by.

Luckily for me, there’s a stash of the stuff right around the corner at Bi Rite Market (thanks Sarah!).  Unluckily for me, it’s $20 a bottle which makes it pretty much impossible to drink for breakfast every morning. Luckily for me, it’s only $20 a bottle which makes it pretty affordable for a holiday treat. Unluckily for me, I have to wait for my beautiful wife (let’s call her Sherry Butts) to deliver the wee one (let’s call him the Quarter Cask) before drinking, because she’s just about as excited about the stuff as I am…

In any case, Nøgne Ø Winter Ale -Islay Edition, a pretty cool stocking-stuffer for the whisky fiend on your list.