Ice-Proof Scotch

Double issue last week: no puzzle this week (no Word Salad either).  So today I'm tackling "Code Format," one of Stephen Sondheim's original puzzles for New York Magazine.

I noted this along the way, as I was looking through old magazines.  It's a 1975 ad for Famous Grouse scotch whisky, making the somewhat scientific case that since it was bottled at 90 proof instead of 86 or  80 proof, it wouldn't be diluted as much when you drank it on the rocks.  Looks like a fun experiment to replicate.

I enjoy a wee dram once in a while: Glenmorangie in particular (a wine-drinker's malt).  Since my grad school days, I've ordered my whisky with one ice cube.  Order your whisky neat, and it's served in a shot glass.  Order it on the rocks, and you get more ice than whisky.  Ordering it with one ice cube meant you got the most whisky for your money, a key concern when I was living on a grad student salary.

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