Time to gather for the Victoria Whisky Festival

An early experience with whisky:

I had a boyfriend once who attended med school, and around about the time he embarked on his studies, he decided that – as a proper future physician – he should cultivate a taste for Scotch. I found the whole exercise ridiculously pretentious, but in a classic case of transference, I placed the blame on the sauce and the profession rather than where it belonged.

I caught on eventually, and he went off to live his life, presumably joining a country club and ordering custom shirts with his initials tastefully monogrammed on the cuff. And I continued down my less calculated path, never getting past my aversion to his beverage of choice.

Now, however, a remedial crash course at the Hotel Grand Pacific in Victoria, B.C., offers to catch me up with the rest of whiskey’s devoted fans – which includes a good percentage of the men I know, physicians and nonphysicians alike.

If you’re in with that crowd, the second annual Victoria Whisky Festival, on Jan. 26 and 27, might be just the thing to kick off a suave 2007.

It promises to be a “premier gathering of the clan of whisky aficionados,” whether you’re a single malt, blended, Scotch, Irish, Canadian or bourbon enthusiast ready to “wax poetic about ‘cracking a wee dram’ of the lustrous amber liquid.”

More than 90 of the world’s 2,500 different brands will be available for you to sample. The weekend gets under way with a tasting led by Richard Paterson, the master blender for Whyte & Mackay Ltd.

Paterson, in the booze business since he was 17, is the third generation of his family involved in the industry. According to event organizers, he’s regarded as one of the foremost whiskey experts in the world – which may explain why his tasting has already sold out.

Fret not, though. A series of master classes on Saturday, featuring Bruichladdich, Lagavulin, Glenmorangie, Dalwhinnie and other distilleries, are almost full, but the hotel has held on to a few of the $25 Canadian tickets just for Here & There readers who book a room at the Whisky Festival rate of $109 Canadian per night.

You also have a limited window to get in on the Consumer Tasting on Saturday night in the hotel’s ballrooms. For $85 Canadian, you’ll get an etched Glencairn whiskey nosing and tasting glass from which to sample whiskies from around the world.

(I have no idea what whiskey nosing is, but if you run into my former boyfriend he might be able to help you out.)

And don’t you dare miss the “chef’s popular haggis tarts” – an ingenious appetizer created especially for the event. Excuse me, but yuck.

To get your hands on the fast-disappearing tickets, contact the Hotel Grand Pacific at (800) 663-7550. You’ll find more information about the festival at www.victoriawhisky festival.com.

Magical mystery tourists

Who among us hasn’t stayed up way past our bedtime, engrossed in a good book, turning page after page to unlock a cryptic plot?

That impulse – and if you’ve never had it, you’re missing out – is just what the fourth annual Midwinter Mystery Weekend celebrates from Jan. 26 to 28.

The Cannon Beach, Ore., event features guest speaker Ann Rule, the Seattle-based author of 20 books and instructor of crime seminars on such optics as “Sadistic Sociopaths” and “High Profile Offenders.”

She sounds like a lot of fun. See for yourself at the $65.95-per-person dinner on Saturday.

In addition to Rule, you’ll find authors Donna Anders, Deborah Donnelly, Robert Dugoni, Carola Dunn, Ron Lovell, Bob Ray, Jack Remick and Leslie Rule all in attendance.

The “Get-Together Cocktail Party” starts things off on Friday evening at The Ocean Lodge.

Saturday’s all-day workshop, taught by Remick and Ray (who co-wrote “The Weekend Novelist Writes a Mystery”), covers “Mystery and Its Structure” in the morning and “Understanding the Structure” in the afternoon, along with writing techniques, tips and shortcuts. The workshop fee comes in at $150 per person.

“The Mystery Quilt Workshop” runs both Saturday and Sunday.

“Everyone makes their own quilt. People are given a supply list, but they don’t know what they’re making until they get here,” explains Julie Walker, owner of Center Diamond Quilt Shop and organizer of the workshop.

“They get instructions once they arrive and toward the end of the weekend, they see what they’re making.”

If that doesn’t seem like your cup of tea, you can also work your way around town on Saturday to a number of book signings. And on Sunday, writers and guests gather for an “Author RoundUp,” with readings, remarks and a Q & A session.

For more information about the weekend’s events, visit www.cannonbeachbooks.com

Regional events

“Wedding Fair, Jan. 28, Seattle. Get ready for the Most Special Day of Your Life at the Washington Athletic Club. ( www.wac.net/206-464-3050)

“28th Annual Southeastern Montana Juried Exhibit, Jan. 28-March 11, Miles City, Mont. Professional and amateur artists from Montana and the adjoining states submit their paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures and more. ( www.visitmt.com/ 406-234-0635)