Earlier tonight, I attended my second whisky tasting in Denver. It was organised by the Johnnie Walker company. In fact, the evening was identical to the previous tasting I went to, only the location had changed.

Last time, it was conveniently held at the Denver Buffalo Company, manufacturers of custom-built buffaloes, to the gentry. Well, OK, maybe it's more of a buffalo-themed bar/restaurant with ideas above its station (I mean, just how posh can you be, eating burgers?). The point is, I could have walked home from there, if I hadn't already got a lift.

I used to get ideas above my station, but that was just because I used to be one of the more creative announcers for British Rail.

The venue this time, was located somewhere along the western spiral arm of a galaxy, far, far away. In fact, to get to it, we had to find the exact location of a wormhole in the space-time continuum, somewhere along Colfax Ave. It took us a few goes, up and down a mile-long stretch of Colfax, with no turning places, to work out where it was (hidden in another dimension, we later discovered).

I think I frightened my buddy Jerry, as I reverted to the British style of driving, in an effort not to be late. At one point, I put my SUV through a U-turn, faster and tighter than you could achieve on a bicycle, which left him (to quote that excellent game, "Sam & Max"), "clawing at the dashboard, and screaming like a cheerleader". This was all in an attempt to slingshot us through to the alternate universe, with a version of Colfax Ave that had the venue on it.

Eventually, my sharp-eyed companion spotted the 'alternative' Colfax Ave (I'm not kidding, there really were two versions of it - no wonder Mapquest got confused), and we then soon worked the location of the wormhole.

The building was a restored industrial building, that's now something to do with the Light Rail. It was a great venue for such an occasion. Much better than the Buffalo place.

We started with 'happy hour', where free (whisky-based) drinks and food were available. We met the presenter of the tasting - Gregor - the same Scottish lad as last time. In fact, he remembered me from the last tasting (last Autumn). This was because of my being English, and having been sat next to a Scotsman at the last tasting.

The tasting itself was fun. In short, there's a quick video, showing the history of the company, followed by a talk about the different distilleries, and their single malts, used to make Johnnie Walker Black Label. Gregor's style is light-hearted and easy-going, and he has a number of good jokes.

In front of each of us, five glasses of whisky. Not full shots/measures, just enough for about three sips of each. The first four are single malts, used to make Black Label, and the fifth is Black Label itself. As the talk reaches a particular distillery, we sample the relevant malt. I was left wondering why university lectures weren't more like this.

Afterwards, more free drinks and food. Gregor came over and chatted some more. On the way out, in return for handing in questionnaires, we each received a small bottle of Black Label as a leaving present. That didn't happen last time. Still, on the way back to reality, it made the jump to hyperspace seem worthwhile.