Kevin's Watch

Harbinger wrote:Vraith, very appropriate-ish post. Thank you. Def gonna make some of those dishes.

Having tried many whiskeys, I prefer bourbon. Some scotches are pretty good. Irish whiskeys are the worst and lowest class of this family with Canadian rye a close second.

Many serious whiskey drinkers consider Crown a drink for pussies. Ignore them, they have esteem issues. Crown is not one of my faves, in fact, I never buy it, but there is nothing wrong with it- it's very smooth- weak finish- which is what I suppose people dislike- and many people do like.

Crown is smooth to the point of being devoid of character. On the rocks it tastes like icewater. It also has some rotgut characteristics where hangovers are concerned. Obviously the stuff should not even be mentioned in the same sentence with any credible scotch.

Lol. I never drank enough of it to get a hangover. And that is a hell of a thing for me to say...

Yea, I had a friend who drank pretty much nothing except Crown. Didn't understand it.
Upthread, though, the Japanese stuff came up. Seems any Scotch folk, including me, needs to go a bit deeper into them.

Because:

So, when Japanese whisky Yamazaki Single Malt Sherry Cask recently snagged the top spot in the 2015 edition of Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible, beating out some of the most beloved Scottish and American varieties, it came as quite a shock. Mostly because no one had heard of it.

www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/11/ ... -rise.html

Orlion wrote:Vodka is an extremely good mixer... and you don't have to shell out a wad of cash to get something "good" (i.e. passable).

What's a good tequila? I've never had one which didn't make Pabst Blue Ribbon seem like the best drink ever in comparison.

I like gin, but I haven't had any since the Gin War. There were no winners in the Gin War.

I used to drink Absolut, now I drink Stoli. as far as Tequila... I usually just drink whatever shots are being handed out.

Jose Cuervo is popular. but there is a lot of tequila here in Texas and I have many Mexican friends that I have had shots with.

I even had an occasion to enjoy Lonestar beer, a grainy beer that is easily avoided. I took some on the e-fest trip this year. drank it at the cabin on our back through New Mexico from the Grand Canyon.

You know, Doc, speaking of rotgut characteristics, Woodford has been cut from my list of acceptable bourbon. Fifteen years ago, before it was popular, (and when it was left over barrels from the acquisition of the distillery) it was a damn fine bourbon.

I quit drinking Woodford around 2008-9 due to inconsistency in the flavor. Recently, I was at an airport bar and the only legitimate drink choice was Woodford. i hadn't had it years and I really enjoyed it. The same thing happened at a restaurant shortly after. So I picked up a bottle. Really enjoyed it to sip, but terrible headache and rotgut in the am afterwards. Gave it a second try on a different bottle. Same thing. Fuck Woodford, they have really gone downhill.

That reminds me of a guy who came into the shop one day. We sell 'Rattler' cider [about 7%] and he picked up a bottle and shook his head. "I like this stuff but it just doesn't agree with me. They sell it on tap in 'Bunters' [a local bar] and every time I have fifteen or so pints of it I wake up the following day with a terrible headache!"

Harbinger wrote:You know, Doc, speaking of rotgut characteristics, Woodford has been cut from my list of acceptable bourbon. Fifteen years ago, before it was popular, (and when it was left over barrels from the acquisition of the distillery) it was a damn fine bourbon.

I quit drinking Woodford around 2008-9 due to inconsistency in the flavor. Recently, I was at an airport bar and the only legitimate drink choice was Woodford. i hadn't had it years and I really enjoyed it. The same thing happened at a restaurant shortly after. So I picked up a bottle. Really enjoyed it to sip, but terrible headache and rotgut in the am afterwards. Gave it a second try on a different bottle. Same thing. Fuck Woodford, they have really gone downhill.

That comes with mass production and being beholden to investors. If your batch just sucks, then you are compelled to bottle and sell it anyway to keep your investors happy.

Basil Hayden's and Old Medley are excellent bourbons.

It's been Weller's and Three Roses Single Barrel for us lately. Delicious bourbons. I prefer the 12 year Weller, but the 7 year is an amazing value.

I tried the Four Roses single barrel and was blown away. I was gifted a bottle of single barrel Evan Williams which was surprisingly good.

I always come back to Eagle Rare. It's just such a smooth-drinking bourbon.

I've got a bunch of great Scotches too, but I can't drink them when it's warm out. I've got about a month left of Scotch drinking.

What Scotch's have you got [or do you like] Cail? It'll be interesting to see if they find their way onto english shelves or go straight over the water from Scotland to the US.

For a smooth-drinking Scotch, Oban 14 is my go-to. I'm also a fan of the Balvenie Double Wood. I'm also very fond of Islays. At the moment, I have a few variations of Ardbeg, and Laphroaig.

We get Laphroaig and some Islays [IIRC] into our non-specialist stores - but the others probably have more 'market' in the specialist stores.

For sure, once you have tried some of the single malts at the quality end of the range it becomes hard to summon much enthusiasm for the 'blended' brands found in most supermarkets.

I was introduced to Tullamore Dew this weekend.....Wonderfully smooth Irish whiskey.

Surprisingly I've never had Balvenie Double Wood, I've heard it is quite the value. My wife did buy me some Balvenie Port Wood for Christmas once.

Cail, grab some Lagavulin Distillers Edition. You can thank me later.

That sounds good, I'm on it.

Thats retailing at around £80 per 70cl bottle in the UK. How does that compare with the US?

Looks like about $110 per 750ml.

Much of a muchness then. A bit cheaper in the USA, but thats probably as much down to the 'duty' we pay as anything.

I'd put it up there with Macallan 18 in terms of quality if not character. Well worth the price especially to an Islay man.