whiskey

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

I miss the days of hanging out at the whiskey ward.

sevengrand is really great when not crowded. Which is hardly EVER. Otherwise, roll deep and take over a booth. The whiskey selection is unmatched in the greater LA area as far as I can tell.

Char No. 4 was OK but I wasn't thrilled with their selection for a bourbon place.

is there a whiskey equivalent for beermenus.com? not that i do much high-end bourbon drinking (especially not at a bar) but it would be neat to have as a reference.

I miss the days of hanging out at the whiskey ward.

ian/dmr, fette sau has stagg for $16 i think? not sure what age it is.

i can't find it in stores here.

sixteen is too much for a glass of whiskey imo. though i do love fette sau.

you can buy most liquor online tza.

i know. i gotta get on that.

i had it there to celebrate my last day of work in may, and i had 1. i wouldn't normally drink that extravagantly!

but in some cases, better to spend $16 on a kickass whiskey than get 2 glasses of a poorer one.

what about sixteen shots of something dreadful

yea what are some good online liquor stores

not sure what age it is.

I'm pretty sure there's only one age of it cause after I saw how much cheaper the Stagg was at Whiskey Ward I tried to check to see if CN4 had had some super-premium Stagg 30 Year or something. but no, they just have really high-ass prices. I liked the food though, the house-made sausages were v good ... as a bar it's kinda bullshit.

imo use google shopping for price comparisons

buffalo trace

good?

i have not developed an advanced bourbon palate but i think it's awesome. it smells incredible.

anyone had wasmund's single malt (or anything else) from copper fox distillery?

drinking knob creek at the moment.
however, the last two nights i've been drinking the special at a bar in the neighborhood--shot of evan williams & can of black label for $4. pretty good deal imo.

(xpost) They're getting better with each release, but they still don't stand up to a more traditionally made product. Good effort, and I understand why they did the wood chip quick aging the way they did (hard to be a start up distillery and wait years for your first income), but so far all the ones I've had just seem like part of an interesting learning process. Might be serious in a couple more years, though.

Hmm, thanks for the tip.

enjoying some fine jack daniels right about now

drinking knob creek at the moment.

same here

Rittenhouse 100 with ginger ale.

i have not developed an advanced bourbon palate but i think it's awesome. it smells incredible.

youre right, buffalo trace does not taste bad by any stretch but it smells absolutely amazing. at (now sadly defunct) marty's liquors down the street from me, there used to be this weird old guy who didn't actually work there but liked to pretend he did. if you went down one of the liquor aisles he would ask you what you were looking for, and he was pretty hard to get rid of. he turned me on to buffalo trace. i think he was actually pretty knowledgeable of their stock!

I DIED, I sent you a webmail.

basil hayden's - pretty good imo. almost fruity on the nose, maybe a little cinnamon? apparently is made w/ twice as much rye as some of the other small batches from beam - you can definitely taste it. there's like this slightly minty flavor there, w/ a little spice. definitely lighter than a most of the bourbons i've tried