Wednesday 23 March 2022

THE ANGELS' SHARE


 His name was Sandy, and he’d worked at the Inverlochan Distillery man and boy. The day after he’d left school, he’d gone straight into the whisky-making business and had never left. He didn’t need to. He was content as anyone had a right to be.

He’d met his future wife, Sadie there – she’d worked in payroll – and on the day they’d got married, the distillery donated a barrel of whisky to the party. After a few years, they had four kids, one a doctor, and the other three worked at Inverlochan. Sandy and Sadie had an extremely happy life.

Sandy used to show visitors around the workplace. He’d tell them about the barrels and the fact that whisky was a clear liquid when it went in. Then he’d tell them about the amount of the spirit which would evaporate every year from the said barrel. It would just disappear, not a great percentage but a loss all the same. The whisky folks called this ‘The Angels’ Share’.

It was his youngest granddaughter who noticed that Granddad Sandy was beginning to forget things. They had gone to the shops, and he had forgotten where the car was. And so it began, the illness. Sometimes he would get concerned about the location of his wife. Sometimes he even forgot her name.

And that was when Sadie would step in. She would tell folks that a little bit of his thoughts evaporated every year. “A small part of my lovely husband is lost. We like to call it in the family, ‘The Angels’ Share’”.

bobby stevenson 2022

Thanks to the movie for the inspiration.


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