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1. Akvavit or aquavit is the staple spirit of Scandinavia, a very pure distillation from grain or potatoes made like gin and usually flavoured with—what?

2. How are you supposed to serve and drink akvavit?

3. What is Linie Aquavit?

4. Swedish Punsch is not a punch in the ordinary sense of an on-the-spot mixture but a ready-bottled blended drink to be served hot or cold. What is the principal ingredient?

5. Pernod and Ricard, respectively brands of anis and pastis, are two very popular French drinks said to resemble the long-exiled absinthe whose drinkers were portrayed by Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec. What are the two (drinks) made from?

6. Both these drinks are traditionally taken with water in the proportion 5:1. Can you say why, from being clear though coloured liquids, they turn cloudy when the water is added?

7. Elsewhere in Europe there is another popular drink with a strong family resemblance to Pernod and Ricard, in that it too clouds with water. Say where and what.

8. Mezcal and tequila are both made in Mexico from the fermented sap of a plant related to the American aloe—not a cactus after all, it seems, in spite of what is often said. What is the relation between the two?

9. The best-known tequila cocktail is the Margarita. I know few more delicious, nor any as productive of aggro. What does it consist of?

10. This quiz is supposed to range widely, so I ask you finally to name the spirit the Tartars of central Asia distil from fermented mare’s milk.

SCOTCH WHISKY I

In about a century Scotch has been transformed from a purely local restorative, designed to get a poorly-fed, badly-housed populace through hard days and cold nights, to a major export of the UK, the most widely distributed of all quality drinks and, at its best, the equal of any spirit in the world. Recently its prosperity has been hindered by economic depression and a trend, in the UK and elsewhere, against strong, dark-coloured drinks, but there is still no competitor in sight.

1. The Finance Act of 1969 embodies a necessarily complicated definition of whisky, but its subsequent definition of Scotch whisky is straightforward enough. What is it?

2. The Act also specifies a minimum time the spirit must spend being “matured in wooden casks in a warehouse” before it is sold. What is that time? Choose from:

Ninety days One year Thirty months

Three years Five years.

3. Give the derivation of the word “whisky.”

4. Most Scotch sold is a blend of malt whisky, made in a pot still, and grain whisky, made in a patent still. In what way is the patent still greatly superior to the pot still?

5. Malt whisky is made from malt, i.e. malted barley. What is grain whisky made from?

6. Some malt whiskies are said to have a peaty taste and aroma. Where do these qualities come from?

7. Many factors influence the character of a malt whisky. Perhaps the best known of these is the water, also important in determining the flavour of beer. Name three others known to affect malt whisky.

8. A malt whisky is often listed and labelled as a single malt. What is the significance of this?

9. Most of the malt whisky distilleries of Scotland are in the Highlands. There are, however, three other named areas producing their own types of malt whisky. Enumerate them.

10. Dr. Johnson said he had only tasted whisky once in his life, “for experiment,” and added: “It was strong but not pungent. What was the process I had no opportunity of inquiring, nor do I wish to improve the art of making poison pleasant.” True or false?

SCOTCH WHISKY II

Professor R. J. S. McDowall, the great authority on Scotch whisky, wrote that whiskies “are almost as numerous and varied as the wines of France,” and the more one explores the truer his remark proves to be. Yet all Scotch has one thing in common—it goes badly with anything but water and more of itself, in short it is a bad mixer, a fact that makes its worldwide success surprising as well as splendid.

1. Name the odd man out:

Chivas Regal Glen Grant Glenfiddich

Glenlivet Glenmorangie.

2. In what important way does the chemical