Saturday 27 September 2003

Whisky and Freedom

Well, you can't be too careful these days.

The US Defence Threat Reduction Agency is spying on the Bruichladdich distillery on the Isle of Islay.

This seems perfectly understandable given that:

"The United States is part of the Chemical Weapons Convention. That includes monitoring and visiting commercial facilities where they would be able to make chemical weapons."
And:
The US admitted watching the distilling process because it is similar to the manufacture of chemical weapons.
I wonder though if the US authorities realise that Bruichladdich isn't the only distillery on Islay. There are many others and what's more I have been to several of them. As far as I recall, I didn't see all that many inebriated Muslim fundamentalists in the bar of the Bowmore Hotel or in the Harbour Inn, although perhaps I couldn't tell them apart from the locals after I had sampled a modest quantity of the local product.