In Praise of Inexpensive (relatively) (and GOOD) Liquor

[bennymac]

yeah yeah okay i agree, it's a globally available product and there's nothing "special" about it; these flavors are carefully crafted (re: engineered) to be consistent, and you can do what you want with it. there are no rules, we're all adults, do what makes you happy because we're all gonna die anyway. you want your JW BL in diet coke? drink yourself silly mate!

THAT BEING SAID - part of the beauty of this (or any other flavor based pursuit) is that you get what you put into it, and while there is no moral imperative - no right way/wrong way, there are depths of complexity and nuance to scotch (and whiskey or even alcohol in general) that are best explored within certain parameters. meaning - there is somewhat of a (soft) hierarchy of aesthetic. otherwise, your kid's 3rd grade drawings would be hanging on the walls of the Louvre and no one would give a fuck who damien hirst is.

experimenting around with how you like your whiskey is totally a part of that exploratory journey, and sure, if in the long run you end up settling with the old diet coke strategy, that's fine, but at first you should (i think) learn to sit with and appreciate the aesthetic of the thing by itself, on it's own merits. then start adding water, see how that changes things. maybe try making some ultra classic cocktails with it - that's always really cool, and it lets you play around with how the flavors of whatever whiskey intersect with other flavors.

it's a little like coffee, i guess. i'm a huge coffee nerd, and when people say "i can't have my coffee without cream and sugar", i know that they either 1. have really bad coffee, 2. don't really like coffee, or 3. don't really know how to taste coffee. i imagine even cardboard would taste good with enough cream and sugar.



see this here tells me we could be friends. i'm a corryvreckan guy myself, but they're both just different sides of the same coin - i would pick up (and cherish) either in a heartbeat. sadly, both bottles are increasingly hard to find. it's an absolute shame.

Agree with everything you wrote. I think what happened here is I got a bit manic after my second coffee (americano from a profitec machine) and got up on top of the scotch soapbox and swung for the fences.

Your comments on appreciating scotch/whiskey/other types of foods and flavors are well written. I went all Octomore in here and you came in like a Highland Park 21. More balanced and polished. Kudos.

Yes to the Corryvreckan being equally as wonderful as the Uigaedail. That southern coast of Islay should be held as the birthplace of civilization.

[tgapp]

Agree with everything you wrote. I think what happened here is I got a bit manic after my second coffee (americano from a profitec machine) and got up on top of the scotch soapbox and swung for the fences.

Your comments on appreciating scotch/whiskey/other types of foods and flavors are well written. I went all Octomore in here and you came in like a Highland Park 21. More balanced and polished. Kudos.

Yes to the Corryvreckan being equally as wonderful as the Uigaedail. That southern coast of Islay should be held as the birthplace of civilization.

i almost bought a profitec pro700 - got a lelit bianca instead .

seriously though, if there was enough interest i'd start up a whiskeyswap thread here. tons of facebook groups do this - basically, users put a list of bottles that they'll share samples on and then swap stuff around. the 2-4oz brown glass vials are cheap and easy to come by, could be fun.

any takers?

[DJSapp]

Good god, don't you guys have a scotch thread somewhere?

Back on point: Koloa dark rum from HI on the rocks is fantastic. Probably on the high side for price in this thread. Koloa's silver and coconut rums (both 80 proof) are also very good. Their reserve and spiced sucks. They're now shipping to a lot more of the mainland, used to be really hard to find outside of the islands

https://koloarum.com/distributors/

[irul&ublo]

Good god, don't you guys have a scotch thread somewhere?

that’s why I suggested some Irish. Perhaps these dirtsuckers can get civilized

[evasive_MT]

I’ve started enjoying 1792 Small Batch as a mid-$20s sipper. The full proof is nice too, but I don’t see it locally very often.

[oftpiste]

Purchased yesterday:
a fifth of vodka for arancello for $4.99
handle of gin for $6.99

And ya know, it ain't bad at all in a cocktail. Not solo sipping stuff, but gotta keep drinking somehow.