BUCKFAST: Buckfast tonic wine, a sweet, fortified wine made in Buckfast Abbey (somewhere in the southwest of England),
3 miles away from the noble Town of Totnes, in Devon, where I grew up and where my parents still live.
80% of whose output goes to the west of Scotland. Beloved of the poor and under-aged, its popularity led a deputation from Glasgow City Council to go to the Abbey and ask them to stop producing this corrupting drink. The monks replied that if the Glasgow neds weren't on Buckie, they'd just use something else: the rationale of the heroin dealer. It is arguable that the popularity of Buckie is due not only to its alcoholic strength and its large amounts of sugar and caffeine, but also the fact that the bottle is an ideal shape for a weapon.
A friend's father sings in the choir at Buckfast Abbey on occasion. From what I hear the good monks of Buckfast are not averse to a drop of the stuff themselves. However I am not aware of any anti-social incidents involving Benedictines and Buckfast Tonic Wine, suggesting that the problem may be more properly attributed to social conditions in Glasgow rather than a small monastic cottage industry. (I've yet to hear of any municipal authority having a pop at Messrs Tennants and Carlsberg).
Ob B7: The stuff tastes absolutely vile but I'm sure Vila wouldn't have been fussy.
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