A special treat awaits tonight. Xander found 4 bottles of aged Madeira in his cellar and invited me to put dibs on one of them. I chose the 1978 Malmsey by Blandy’s. The bottle has now been transferred to my safe keeping and is resting to allow it to settle. Tonight there is a reception for The Next Generation of the Adam Smith Institute, with a 10-minute speech from David Davis MP on how to protect our liberties.
Afterwards I will adjourn to my nearby flat with Xander and maybe two close and trusted friends, there to sample this undoubtedly delicious and prestigious specimen. I really like aged Madeira’s. In Alex Liddell’s classic text, “Madeira,” he opens by describing the time when he sampled a 1789 pre-French-Revolution solera. What he does not say is that I was there at the time and enjoyed a glass of it. Since then I have sampled a bottle of the 1815 “Waterloo” Madeira, and four bottles of the 1824, one of which I took to the States and consumed on a balcony in Alexandria, overlooking the US Capitol, and reflecting that Jefferson was still alive in 1824. I bought a bottle of the 1900 a few years back, and shared it with friends in Cambridge. Not surprisingly, I am looking forward to this one…
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Madsen Pirie 
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