Don’t leave the house without your whiskey glass in hand. That’s the advice of the newest spirit drinking pensioner internet sensation.
“I’ve had a shot of whiskey in my coffee every morning for 100 years,” Mariano Rotelli told Georgia’s Newnan Times-Herald at his 107th birthday party. “I went to the doctor three times in 100 years. He’s dead. I’m still living.”
It doesn’t even matter which whiskey it is. Rotelli said he’ll drink whatever, but his personal favourite is Jim Bean’s Black Bourbon.
Rotelli also advised to make every day a holiday (starting off the morning right helps) and to never worry (again, the whiskey coffee doesn’t hurt here). Rotelli was born in Pennsylvania to immigrant parents from Italy. He had four brothers that he went into the produce distribution business with, and he’s outlived them all.
Rotelli is far from the only 100-plus-year-old to live and not die by booze. Let us not forget Antonio Docampo García, who lived to 107 after drinking two bottles of wine for lunch and two bottles of wine for dinner most days of the year. Pro tip: García also took his breakfast with a shot of Brandy.
Then there’s the 103-year-old Mildred Bowers, who advised everyone to “have a beer, doctor’s orders.” Not enough examples? Well, don’t leave out Nancy Lamperti, who made it to 101 thanks to wine.
It definitely doesn’t work for everyone. Genetics can be a crazy thing and moderation is key (García’s an outlier here). But who’s really complaining about a health anecdote that encourages a daily morning dose of Irish coffee?