whiskey

john, that is fucking poetic.

i enjoy sazerac.

sazerac is one of my favs, just wish it was cheaper over her in the uk

i've yet to see sazerac in shops

blanchard's in allston!

on the question you raise:

the only really nice scotch i've spent enough time with to really say anything about is laphroaig, which i love for v. specific reasons and want to drink once every couple months. i have had some of the more common single malts and they're nothing special. i do like dewar's and stuff as a cheapish sipping drink or highball drink--it's pretty smooth and tasty.

i do agree that bourbon/tennessee is prob a bit more agreeable to my palette overall. but i've also been enjoying canadian club recently so maybe i don't know what i'm talking about.

god i wish bulleit was broadly available in england

― thomp, Wednesday, 19 August 2009 15:36 (3 minutes ago) Bookmark

it is! thresher's/wine rack stock it.

― joe, Wednesday, 19 August 2009 15:40 (1 month ago) Bookmark

My local Threshers closed down yesterday and I went in and bought a bottle of bulleit for 20% off. And then, as I was talking to the woman she was all "ah, fuck this company" and threw in another bottle for free!

May have been a shitty week but sometimes I love life.

bulleit is really good imo

lots of cedar

there are few things better than free alcohol.

last night i finished off my Macallan 10yr (fine oak), which i've enjoyed very much. now looking for something similar, sweet not peaty, not really wanting to pay more than 35-40€. any tips?

i'm trying to figure out my next bourbon purchase, suggestions?

prob don't want to spend more than $40, would maybe go up to like $45. want it to be really interesting - i have a really close friend/whiskey buddy who's been going through some rough financial times who's visiting in a few weeks and i want to have something really good on hand for him to try. dude needs some cheering up. what do you say?

i don't really know single-malts all that well but do you like highland park? is that comparable at all to macallan 10

have never tried highland park. i think it might be a bit more on the heavier, smokier side than what i'm looking for? seem to have some good stuff in my price range tho

I'd just like to take a short moment to genuflect upon the wizened grimace of Old man Overholt. Mixes a finer Manhattan than any bourbon.

he makes a damn fine old-fashioned too

single malt classification:
http://www.whiskyclassified.com/classification.html

Has anyone tried the Suntory/Yamazaki whiskies? I am curious but I don't know if that's just because lol japanese scotch

I thought I just posted this but it seems to have vanished. er

i have always wanted to but they're a bitch to find

i know one bar that has one of them but it's the kind of place where i would feel like a dork ordering that

Anyone ever had Blanton's? Best bourbon I've ever tasted, hands down.

the japanese whiskies are real good apparently but yea i never see them either

xp blanton's, no i haven't... ok yea i've seen it tho, cool bottle

http://www.winespecialist.com/ecart/img/productImages/blantons.JPG

how much does it run for?

McClelland's bottles a nice peaty, islay single malt that's pretty worthy for someone who wants Laphroiag-like flavor but doesn't want to pay for it all the time. It's available around here for under $25! it's the least expensive islay scotch i've seen available. recommended.

Of the other McClelland's single malts, I've had the highland variety, but you could go even cheaper and do better I think.

One of the Yamazakis has started showing up in Tesco. And there's a whisky shop here that stocks like four different variations.

Ha, according to that link McClelland is a subsidiary of a subsidiary of Suntory.

xxp I've only seen Blanton's at one store around my house, and it was $54. $9 a glass at the bar. If I had a job it might almost be worth it.

i'm thinking i might go w/ the michter's i saw in the shop the other day

I did a favor for a friend and his parents, who dont drink anymore, gave me a gallon bottle of Chivas that they have had lying around for 40 years. It says 12 years old on the label, so its 52 years old. It's so goddamn smooth its dangerous.

interesting, bill. that actually brings up a n00b question i was wondering about tho - does aging matter once the whiskey (or wine or whatever) is bottled? or is it only the barrel/cask aging that matters?

i.e. i know that the wood in the barrels are responsible for so much of the flavor and color, so once it leaves the barrel and is bottled, is still "aging" ("aging" as opposed to just, um, getting older)

okay yea i'm a dumbass - i just thought about wine cellars and all that so yea if it's stored properly it definitely continues to age

I am not sure either. This is the first really old whiskey I've had. It's really smooth, there is almost an apple-like aftertaste to it. There is no bite at all.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=1006020304959

http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/61059

"authoritative"

fwiw last night i continued to drink the bottle of Jefferson's that DMR gave me.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2088/2320605840_56e2b78f18.jpg

Has anyone tried the Suntory/Yamazaki whiskies? I am curious but I don't know if that's just because lol japanese scotch

I had a Suntory once at Angel's Share in New York and liked it ok but I'm not really a Scotch guy, when I ordered it I thought it was bourbon. oops!

also anyone try michter's whiskeys? they've got a rye whiskey, a bourbon, and an unblended american whiskey.

michter's rye is good imo. drier and lacks that spiciness that Sazerac has (to me that's a good thing, altho I like sazerac too. your mileage may vary)

xpost - lol good timing

so apparently the bottle-aging does nothing for spirits, only the cask aging does. what about a bottle of wine in a cellar? on beer i've read some basic things like this http://beeradvocate.com/beer/101/store so i guess it varies between spirits/wine/beer?

wine is different, yes

generally I think if the wine bottle is corked properly then red wine will age and get better over time. if air gets in it will eventually turn to vinegar. I should leave this to someone who knows but I'm pretty sure that's the deal. white wine usually doesn't benefit from aging iirc

i might go buy some liquor right now!

wine and beer def both age, i mean i don't really know what the fuck i'm talking about but i always just figured distilled spirits are kind of stable by the time they're bottled.

right

this bourbon is so freakin good

http://www.whisky-pages.com/images/stagg-big.jpg

I think I even like it better than Booker's. super high proof but smooth.

Hey, ive been proven wrong about my 50 year old chivas. Still tastes goddamn good though!!

this is a very, very good whiskey bar in downtown l.a.

http://www.sevengrand.la/

kind of a douchey scene, though.

there is some charlatanism going on in some of the whiskey-centric bars in New York, glass of Stagg at Char No. 4 (fancy place with 100s of bourbons in Brooklyn) is $26 and at Whiskey Ward (dive in Manhattan with a small but good list) it's $12

Buffalo Trace Experimental Zinfandel Barrel

wow what in the fuck is this. Char No. 4 has this for $60 a glass. sounds terrible! but Buffalo Trace made Stagg so who knows

glass of Stagg at Char No. 4 (fancy place with 100s of bourbons in Brooklyn) is $26

haha wowwwwwwwww

i will probably never in my life ever feel like i could drop $26 on one drink

except when i'm 60 and $26 pints are the standard