Whiskey question

[Wang Lung]

Blues, if you like Famous Grouse, there are other Grouses available. Snow Grouse, Black Grouse, and the generally recognized favorite, Naked Grouse. Pick up a bottle of that to try. Or not, and just do the wise thing financially, and stay with what you like for $17.99.

[Blues]

Among good "starter" scotches, I'd also suggest Highland Park, which despite the lack of sounds-like-your-spitting Gaelic name, is actually a first-rate single malt, not the Costco house brand.

That was the name of the town in crowded northern NJ adjacent to my college dorm. My imagined vision of a beverage called Highland Park would be a budget friendly bottle of locally brewed industrial strength malt liquor routinely served in New Brunswick, NJ pubs and frats to frustrated, over 21 Rutgers sports fans.. "Yo, bartender! We just choked again in the biggest game of the season for the third time in a row, and our QB just threw six interceptions.. I gotta chug me a friggin' Highland Park, fast..."

If I come across the real Highland Park I'll try it though. I just saw that Highland Park single malt is one of the major ingredients of the Grouse blends.. Thanks.

[Wang Lung]

HP12 is a great whisky. Must pour me a glass right...now.

[Bowbridge]

The Famous Grouse was also Katharine Hepburn's Scotch of choice. Laphroig Quarter Cask is an interesting one for the not faint of heart. One of the ones at the top of my list is Aberlour 10 year. The Yamazaki is another good one to try. Actually, they are all good ones to try, so bend an elbow.

An aside: the liquor store owner down the street told me that the Chinese are big into Champagne (and Scotch), and bought 500,000 cases of Moet and basically the whole output of one of the Scotch distilleries this year (can't think of which one he mentioned),

Quick Poll:
a) Neat
b) Straight Up
c) On the Rocks
d) With Soda or Water

I go Neat with the special occasion Scotches (anything 18 years or older), and the high end stuff like Johnnie Walker Blue, and with Soda on the Rocks with anything else.

Latest projects are Everclear 190 proof in Apple Pie Moonshine (it's in the fridge aging), and finding where I can get a few bottles of JTS Brown Bourbon (no luck here in New York or in New Jersey).

[gh]

for me, Neat is the only way to go.

I just recently had the first scotch & soda of my life.... gack!!!! What a waste of good scotch (and good soda too, come to think of it).

[Conor Dary]

for me, Neat is the only way to go.

I just recently had the first scotch & soda of my life.... gack!!!! What a waste of good scotch (and good soda too, come to think of it).

Good grief, yes. Or maybe with a little water like the Scots do. But no ice!

I might have told this story before, but my brother's wife's cousin lives in Surrey--next door to Eric Clapton, I might add. The first time they visited a few years ago, the cousin, a barrister, asks my brother if he wants a Scotch, which of course he said yes. Whereupon the cousin asks if he wants some ice. My brother knew enough to say no, neat was fine. And the cousin brought in an superb 18 year or so Scotch, and told my brother that if he had wanted ice he would have just served some plunk, like Johnnie Walker Red.

[Bowbridge]

Johnnie Red might not be up to the standards of say, The Macallan, but it's certainly not in the in the class of Bud Light or one of those infernal brews. And if you don't want to go broke drinking in the bars here in New York, you can't be too choosy. I was drinking in a bar down near Wall Street a few years ago and asked the barkeep how much a shot of Johnnie Blue was - $45. Does anyone order it? She said yeah, a lot of the Wall Street 30 somethings that want to act like big shots, they start knocking back shots of the stuff. After about 3, she said she starts downpouring. Now, I'm all in favor of honesty, but in this case, these rubes deserved what they got.

[tandfman]

Quick Poll:
a) Neat
b) Straight Up
c) On the Rocks
d) With Soda or Water

When I drink Scotch before dinner, I usually drink a blend (Chivas or Dewar's) and I'll have it on the rocks. When I drink Scotch after dinner, it will always be a single malt, and I drink it neat.

[Blues]

If it wasn't for Bowbridge's poll, I'd still be under the impression that straight up meant neat.

Until recently, on the rare occasions when I drank a Scotch whisky, I always had it on the rocks, which is probably why I only drank it on rare occasions... If a Scotch whisky tastes bad neat, I'll drink something different now. Neat or bust for me.

[tandfman]

If it wasn't for Bowbridge's poll, I'd still be under the impression that straight up meant neat.

Me, too. I've just learned the difference.

http://cocktails.about.com/b/2007/05/31 ... ght-up.htm

(Part of my ignorance is undoubtedly due to the fact that I'm basically a wine drinker. I have a well-stocked bar, but I rarely drink hard liquor.)

[Pego]

Whereupon the cousin asks if he wants some ice.

I never knew of a custom of "booze-on-rocks" before coming to USA.

[Conor Dary]

Whereupon the cousin asks if he wants some ice.

I never knew of a custom of "booze-on-rocks" before coming to USA.

Definitely an American thing. I never heard of it in England or Spain.

I think the cousin, who is English, just wanted to test my brother out to see if he should waste good booze on him. Fortunately, unlike like Gollum, he knew the answer to the riddle.

[tandfman]

I would never drink an expensive single malt or high-end bourbon on the rocks, but I certainly drink good gin and vodka on the rocks. Ditto Jack Daniel's and good blended scotch.

[Wang Lung]

"On The Rocks" is a Scottish phrase. Before the availability of ice, they used to put cold river rocks in their glass to cool the beverage. At least, that is what I was told by a guy in the biz.

[Conor Dary]

"On The Rocks" is a Scottish phrase. Before the availability of ice, they used to put cold river rocks in their glass to cool the beverage. At least, that is what I was told by a guy in the biz.

I find that a bit doubtful. What drinks do the Scots cool now with ice? Certainly not Scotch.

[gh]

I would never drink an expensive single malt or high-end bourbon on the rocks, but I certainly drink good gin and vodka on the rocks. Ditto Jack Daniel's and good blended scotch.

At home, I never drink any of those on the rocks. I simply keep a bottle of each (not the scotches) in the freezer. A wonderfully syrupy pour with no dilution.

[gh]

OK, this might be a scotch to lust after. I was reading a movie critic talking about product placement and he said some movie had the supposedly sophisticated couple sipping on Glenfiddich, and his reaction was, "Want to impress me? Bring me some Brora."

So I hied me quickly to google:

http://www.maltmadness.com/whisky/brora.html

[tandfman]

OK, this might be a scotch to lust after.

I'm afraid lust is going to be as far as I get with this one. The stuff costs more than $400 a bottle. A bit out of my price range.

[gh]

god's way of telling you you aren't making enough money

[Daisy]

"On The Rocks" is a Scottish phrase. Before the availability of ice, they used to put cold river rocks in their glass to cool the beverage. At least, that is what I was told by a guy in the biz.

I find that a bit doubtful. What drinks do the Scots cool now with ice? Certainly not Scotch.

Certainly not beer. What else is there?

[tandfman]

God moves in a mysterious way.

[tandfman]

Scotland? We don't need no stinkin' Scotland.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/16/dinin ... claim.html

[Conor Dary]

Scotland? We don't need no stinkin' Scotland.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/16/dinin ... claim.html

Yes, but sort of irrelevant in the scale of things since their inventories are so small. I see there is an Oregon whiskey, which I thought would be worth a try, but it is sold out.

Mr. McCarthy, who says he plans to expand production in the next year, is pleasantly frustrated with his whiskey’s growing global following.“I get calls from Japan for my entire inventory,” he said. “I labor over my eaux de vie, but the product they all want is whiskey.”

[tandfman]

The difference in smoothness between their 12 and 18 is palpable. Unfortunately, so is the price.

Our group of travelling track junkies regularly wrap up meals with a wee dram of the Mac. The fun part is applying what we call "The Macallan Rule" which is that a shot shouldn't cost more than a dollar per year. Obviously, with inflation that gets tougher every year, and while the 12 hangs in there pretty close, more often than not they're now asking for about $25 for the 18. The key comes in looking at the relative price between the two and figuring which is closest to rule.

I wonder what the rule is for Scotch from the 19th Century.

http://news.yahoo.com/explorers-rare-sc ... nance.html

Alas, it will probably never be sold, at any price.

[gh]

tried something new last night that the novice might like, as Balvenie perhaps channels Macallan and the sherry casks by using ones that held rum: Balvenie 14 Caribbean Cask.

nice and smooth. (no idea about pricing; it was a comp)