Free The Whisky Affair (Raymond Armstrong Series) by Michael J Gill Page B

company to a new level and Gordon always wanted to be hands on. Still, he would never stay late… But come to think about it,” he paused. “He came in late that afternoon. Yes, he was still here when I left that evening.”
    “Is there any of the Millennium Edition single malt left?” he asked, getting to the main reason for his visit with Willy.
    Willy laughed sarcastically. “We sold it all and could have doubled the price. The Japanese wanted all of it but we distributed fairly around the world. Our regular buyers took their allocations so we sold out.”
    “Any in the building at all?”
    Willy pondered on that for a moment. “One in all three offices, I believe. James’, Louisa’s, and Gordon’s. I have a half bottle salted away in warehouse three and I have some youngsters – a similar expression – maturing.”
    “Could I have a taste with you?”
    “Absolutely, I was going in there next anyway. I need to check their progress. We had a hot summer and a mild winter last year. They seem to be maturing faster than normal.”
    They had walked through the yard and past the first two large warehouses when Raymond heard a series of loud thuds. He looked at Willy.
    “That would be Lorne in the cooperage. We just had a new batch of casks arrive and quite a few need repair. New staves to be installed and plenty of rejuvenation with this batch.”
    “Where do you get them?” asked Raymond.
    “Italy, although they are originally from Croatia. Slavonian and Slovenian casks are all we use for our regular expressions.”
    “Good job I know my new geography, Willy. I know Slovenia became its own country not that many years ago and I visited Yugoslavia quite a bit in the 80s and Slavonia is a region in Croatia.”
    “Aye, you are good. They are the only types of casks we use – that directive came from Gordon and Louisa.”
    “I hate to ask why, since I know it will be too technical but anyway...”
    “I can make the explanation easy.” Willy sighed. “The grain is quite tight, the tannins medium, and not too soft. A sweet Muscat has quite a powerful taste, with all the exotic fruit influences developing in the original cask. We don’t want it to dominate the whisky flavours and always strive to have a perfect marriage of both liquids.”
    Croatia, Raymond thought. Nasty times there. And it had been a shame, back then, when I was a regular on government business. It was such a beautiful country but so poor. The unrest and violence at that time had made him feel sick on more than one occasion. Thank goodness there was now peace there and tourists had returned in the millions, bringing a level of economic relief.
    After a nasty assignment in Zagreb, his orders were to take a week off in Pula. His employer knew this would be a hard time for Raymond who had killed a person there, in the line of duty. For the first time. The rescue, had gone all wrong. The field operatives needed help, even from an analyst. They had some women and children to evacuate and they were on the helicopter. There were more to come, until a sniper opened fire. Raymond turned and fired back. Pure instinct and probably a lucky shot but the man’s death haunted him ever since.
    Pula had been a good idea to get his mind moving in a different direction. The resort overlooked the Adriatic Sea with a view of Brioni Island and it was one of the best breaks he’d ever taken. While there he saw Roman ruins in the town of Pula that he swore outshone those in Rome.
    The loud banging started back up again, startling Raymond from his thoughts.
    They stopped at a door with a cooperage sign above it. Through the doorway, Raymond saw a young man and could not get over the size of the lad, named Lorne. He looked like a short, stocky rugby player as he manhandled a huge cask. He had all the staves in place using his entire body – arms and legs – keeping everything in position, while with hammer in his other hand he attached them to the barrel