So for my birthday I went up to visit Edinburgh and Flora. Not necessarily in that order.
Within seconds of stepping foot in Flora's place we had snacks - because women must have snacks. Immediately.
And the olives were delicious. I mean superb. Now I'd never seen them before (the product, not the cultivar) - they came in quite a distinctive tin - so I fished the tin out of the bin and took a photo to remind me what they were in case I ever came across them again.
Which happened the very next day when we went to a café for decent coffee, which I only ever get on holiday. For some reason this coffee-and-sandwich shop was selling tins of these fabulous olives. So I bought some.
Only they were the wrong olives!

It turned out that Perelló, the company responsible for the delectable olives and importer of all things Spanish olive, cans several different varieties, all in subtly different shades of green, and I'd bought the wrong colour.
When I checked them against the originals, the olives I'd bought were Gordals (a new variety to me) but the delightful snack olives turned out to have been Manzanillas. So I made a note to myself to buy the correct ones, next time I saw them.
Which was almost immediately in Cockburn's of Leith on Frederick Street (which is, incidentally, nowhere near Leith) where I stopped in to buy some Amontillado sherry.
Which is also quite hard to find around these parts, but makes a terrific floater for quality Bloody Marys.
Anyhow, it turns out that these Perelló olives, which I'd never seen before, are bloody everywhere in Edinburgh. I wouldn't be surprised to find them in the public toilets.

I may have mentioned before, the tragedy of my local (your mileage may vary) Wine 'n' Cheese shop closing down, and turning in an evening-only tasting venue?
The tragic part being that it had become much of the focus of my weekly meat walk and the source of all my cheese 'n' wine. Not necessarily in that order.
Including an authentic brand of Amontillado sherry. You know, for the Bloody Marys.
(Most commercial Amontillados are not produced in the traditional method - they are often a blend of Oloroso sherry and lower-quality sweet sherry with added sweeteners.) They really don't like it when I do it in Tesco 🙄.

Well, I decided I should investigate these sampling sessions, having put so much effort into developing a taste for the stock, so had a word with the owner John about booking tickets.
Or at least a ticket. Since I'm sad and lonely. In the evenings.
During our conversation on all things wine and cheese he happened to mention trying the best olives of his life. His exact words, I swear. Except he didn't refer to himself in the third person - that would have been weird.
Of course he mentioned their name, but I forgot to pay attention and realised later that I'd completely blanked on what they were.
So when I attended the wine tasting I'd booked onto the other night I made sure to get him to write it down before I got too drunk to see. And now I've sobered up I read that the olives he had been raving about were Gordals.
Which I already have in the cupboard because I'd bought them by mistake!

Can't wait to try them out.