whiskey

problem. solution.

i like abelour scotch, but why i couldn't really tell you, i don't know much about scotch. and i have to say the reason i posted the hitchens video is that i think johnnie walker black is really good.

Hitchens is notorious for regifting really nice bottles of scotch to his friends & neighbors. Many people know what he's fond of scotch and get him very expensive bottles as presents but he ONLY drinks Johnnie Walker Black and gives away everything else.

that's awesome. i've told this story before, but he's replied to two of my fan emails before within a few hours with a very polite, informative response each time... he is a true gentleman

I got bottle of Compass Box Flaming Heart 10-Year Anniversary as a present for a friend today at my favorite local liquor store. Really gorgeous label:

http://i51.tinypic.com/2z9a79l.jpg

Also, bless that store for carrying 14 kinds of rye.

you are a good friend!

haha I don't think I'd have gotten it for him if I wasn't sure that I'd be able to share some.

X-posts/re: hitchens

Except that, even allowing that its a really good one like Johnny Walker Black, repping that hard for a blended whisky, to the exclusion of all other whiskeys is so weird to me. I look down on it, as surely as I look down on someone who only drank canadian whiskey.

I mean if you don't drink single malts or quality bourbons, you just aren't in the fraternity of whiskey snobs/afficionados, and are hence to be ignored on the subject.

i'm shocked, just shocked that hitch would be stubborn and intractable about something!

what is drink whisky day

a very special day that coincides with the repeal of Prohibition in the USA

(note: if the actual date falls on a week day then the holiday is moved to the nearest following Friday, creating Drink Whiskey Day (observed))

wasn't the idea though that something like johnnie walker black would have the same consistency year in year out, rather than as a result of the particular year as in a single-malt? maybe that's what he likes about it, i don't know.

dude what is that store? i want to go to there!
xposts

so maybe i should make it tomorrow because the 5th is a sunday (aka school night)

yes i also want to know about this store so i can make a pilgrimage someday

also, re: hitchens, i've heard the same thing about him drinking wine. i read this account of a dinner someone was at with (seriously) richard dawkins, and they were drinking clos du bois, like $12 bottles of wine. i've also seen pictures of hitchens waiting for the bus in washington d.c.
awesome, awesome person

drink whiskey day i mean. xpost
well i guess next fri is the nearest following friday.
i give up. bad at posting tonight!

(xposts) it's Ace Beverage on New Mexico Ave (DC). Inconvenient location, only open until 5pm, but goddamn is it a great store.

By all means celebrate Drink Whiskey Day on a day that works best for you, but this year it does conveniently fall on a weekend.

Hitchens used to be maybe the closest thing I had to a sort of hero, but then there was that Iraq War boosterism and I stopped paying attention to him. But you bring up the wine and taking the bus and Johnnie Walker Black fits in in sort of an admirable way. I was interpreting it another way.

this is a bit off-topic but yep, the iraq stuff, i don't know. i don't really understand how he got to that point.

but johnnie walker black i have to say was really, really good. i haven't had any in a while but i was struck by how good it was.

No it is good. I won't deny that.

it's great stuff for sure

again sorry to be off topic here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/collina/4343030446/

hahah

lol. I used to ride the 42 b/w mount pleasant and dupont circle all the time.

On Thursdays I get all frosty on Jim Beam Rye and ginger beer and watch television.

you know, a google search for "drink whiskey day" yields 14 results, one of them a chicago ilx thread. lol.

more commonly called Repeal Day iirc

http://www.repealday.org/

I stumbled into a DC Whiskey Week tasting be coincidence at Bourbon last night, free tastings of:

Smooth Ambler White Whiskey (West Virginia, 100 proof) - a pretty delicious moonshine. Lots of corn on the nose but a really bright taste, almost like a pisco. Great for cocktails. They also make a really unusual gin.

Redemption Rye (Kentucky, 92 proof) - 95% rye, super spicy of course. Not too nuanced but it was only a 2-year old bottling and retails around $26, so what can you expect. This was one of my favorites of the night just because the rye content made it so unique.

Redemption Bourbon (Kentucky, 92 proof) - eh, nothing special.

High West Rendezvous Rye (Utah, 92 proof) - blend of a 16-year old rye and a 6-year old rye, both with very high rye contents. Great stuff, very long finish. Not filtered, but still cut. Wish it had been bottled at a higher proof. There were a couple older High West ryes, too, but I think bottling a 16 or 21 year old rye at 92 proof is a crime.

Willett 8-year "Coco Loco" Bourbon (Kentucky, 123 proof) - as usual, the Willett bottlings are really special. The Coco Loco was worth seeking out but the real star was the...

Willett 8-year "Suspension Bridge" Bourbon (Kentucky, 128 proof) - holy shit, probably my favorite Willett expression since the 16-year Malt Bomb. Huge flavor with a good burn but also a nice balance and strong finish. Less sweet than the Coco Loco. All the Willett bottlings (except for the Pot Still) get selected by individual barrel, so there are less than 200 bottles of each. I'm going to grab a bottle of the Suspension Bridge quick.

I feel very lucky to have a bar as good as Bourbon in DC. Also grateful for DC's relatively open liquor import and distribution regulations, that kind of stuff isn't visible but it makes an enormous difference to consumers.

good stuff!

the mini quality rye drought we were having up here seems to be over big time; seen both rittenhouse and sazerac in multiple stores recently. i guess i can stop hoarding?

whiskey week! dang. how do i never know about these things until after hte fact!?

i have hardly had any whisky this week

every week is whiskey week

xp was about to say me neither, then i realized i hade some monday and tuesday

glenfarclas anybody? got a bottle of the 12-year on a fabulous discount on new years eve.

got some redemption rye after a sampling a few weeks ago - made an awesome dry manhanttan with it. really young and lively.

i need to check that rye out soon

young and lively, like a frolicsome Sri Lankan lad...

mom gave (actually re-gifted) me a bottle of bushmills for my birthday, so I've been drinking that.

will be getting a dude a bottle of midleton very rare for his upcoming birthday, will report back

nice!

yeah well i expect reciprocation in kind in a few months, and it's a good enough excuse that gf/fiancee on either side can't protest oermuch

will not be drinking it like this

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/818963/pint.jpg

willett 'suspension bridge' tonight - really nice. a little harsh on the finish but awesome vanilla notes without being too sweet.

grandma came this weekend so we have dewars

thanks grandma

based on what I read in this thread, I decided to try some rye whiskey. I like drinking whiskey neat or with one ice cube, depending on the weather, so I asked the lady at the whiskey store for a good sipping rye. For my price range, she recommended Michter's single barrel. I liked it quite a bit, and am looking forward to my next bottle of rye. Has anyone had High West or Copper Fox?

not tried either--pls post thoughts if you pick 'em up

High West is supposed to be good, but I can't ever remember trying it. Copper Fox is a young and extremely harsh whiskey that I would recommend avoiding.

10 yr jura your thoughts pls

looks like bulleit has a rye out now!