I found myself chatting with Crawford on a subject that he is truly passionate about. It is a lesson that I will benefit and enjoy for the rest of my life. To truly learn the lesson, I must invest a large sum of money and, more importantly, years of personal time. But every penny will be worth it and every minute savored.

What? Managerial wisdom? Heck no. Scottish single-malt whiskeys.

There are about 150 of them and Crawford has tasted pretty much all. He said there is one suited for every occassion. He talked about high lands, low lands, Campbelttown, and islands areas. But I was busy figuring out what are the tastes of peat and salt. There were second-hand barrels that used to store sherry involved in the process. Salt? Yes, salt.

The amazing part was the "angel's share." Since alcohol evaporates faster, the longer the whiskey stays in the barrel, the less achoholic it becomes. To ship those liquor legally, the distillers add water to dilute the younger whiskey down to around 40%. Obviously, the older, the scarcer. But the flavor has less to do with the price than the inventory costs. Older whiskey gets more inflence from the barrel that gives more wood or smoke flavors — not necessarily more appreciated.

"If I am to stock only few from those 150 whiskeys, which ones?" I asked. The answer came swiftly and decisively. "Macallan 18, Highland Park, Springbank, and Lagavulin," Crawford said. He has to spell out the last one for me.

"But why Macallan 18, why not 25, or even older?" I was not that drunk to let it pass. Crawford smiled and almost called me grasshopper, but that will be too American, "Honestly, the difference of taste is not worth it. 18-year is the best price/performance ratio."

I hit the net after and found that Crawford was more gracious than I thought. He asked me how would I drink Scotch and I said, without much thinking, "on ice." He nodded and did the same. It turns out it is as much an assault to whiskey as adding ice to fine wine or beer.

Next time, Crawford, I will do "straight with a glass of water on the side."