The Whisk(e)y Thread

Yes, yes, drink from me. But I can't promise it will be neat.

^ I knew something was wrong with that. Got the brand wrong. I was thinking of Johnny Walker Black (the Red is nasty!). He's a much more proper gentleman.

Edit: Scratch that too! That's scotch but not that great of a brand.

I don't know what it was I had that I didn't mind. Could have sworn that it was some sort of a black lable bourban and thought it was some sort of a Jack Daniels. I don't know. It was many years ago and never went back.

Just finished a bottle of good, but middling, Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye, and I'm about to tuck into a High West Double Rye, which I'm really excited about.

Bought a bottle of Bushmills 10.  Loving it.  The vanilla notes especially.

I don't think I've had a High West that I didn't like, and I've loved some of them. That was the beauty of the Red Palace. They carried most, if not all, of the High Wests as long as all sorts of other ryes and you could try them out without dropping $40+ for a bottle.

I think I'm going to walk up to Modern Liquors today and get a new bourbon based solely on how cool the bottle looks. They have all these craft-y looking brands there and I want to try something new.

Be careful buying based on cool bottles. I made that mistake once with a vodka. Think it was a Van Gogh. Nice arty bottle but the vodka was surprisenly harsh. It wasn't just run of the mill, it was downright bad! Made the regular brand rails almost taste good.

Lately, I've been drinking more and more Old Fashioneds as my cocktail of choice.  Any whiskeys to try/avoid with that one?

Hey me too! I love Old Fashioneds and pretty much enjoy one every night.

I tend to have a bourbon for mixing into Manhattans (usually Four Roses) and then a good bottle for the more straight drinks (usually Willet 13 or Noahs Mills). I feel like the Old Fashioned requires a quality bourbon so I use the good stuff for that.

The other night, my wife and I went out to dinner at this brand new restaurant and I ordered an Old Fashioned and they gave me one made with scotch.

nkotb wrote:
Lately, I've been drinking more and more Old Fashioneds as my cocktail of choice.  Any whiskeys to try/avoid with that one?

I discovered a couple years back the answer will always be completely different depending on who you're asking and what they consider an Old Fashion.
- Some people muddle with fruit, some don't and just throw in a cherrry and orange slice. Some don't even add fruit.
- Some add soda water, they tend to add lemon instead of orange
- Wisconsin makes an OF with Brandy

Personally, I like using a mid-shelf rye like Bulleit Rye with muddled Demerara sugar, a Luxardo Maraschino Cherry (I go without a cherry if the nasty fake one's are the only around.) and twist of orange peel.

I like

Highland Park
Tamdhu
Talisker

Tamdhu is probably the least harsh

I know nothing about whiskey, but I know this is a great song about whiskey….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqe3qyxNrwA

I think the Bulleit Rye is really good, better comparatively than the Bulleit Bourbon (which is also perfectly fine too).

My kids always grouse a little when I make my Old Fashioned (2.5 oz of bourbon, ~.3 oz of simply syrup, 5-6 shakes of bitters, and orange peel) because it means they have to eat an orange.
"Awwww, we just HAD an orange!"
"Too bad suckers, I want mouths on oranges STAT"

How old are your kids? My five year old is an orange nut. She ate five baby oranges in a day a couple of weeks ago.

Relaxer wrote:
I think the Bulleit Rye is really good, better comparatively than the Bulleit Bourbon (which is also perfectly fine too).

My kids always grouse a little when I make my Old Fashioned (2.5 oz of bourbon, ~.3 oz of simply syrup, 5-6 shakes of bitters, and orange peel) because it means they have to eat an orange.
"Awwww, we just HAD an orange!"
"Too bad suckers, I want mouths on oranges STAT"

8 and 4. They're very good boys.

So I just got back from Modern Liquors. They have such a wide variety of bourbons there, like twice as much as Schneiders, which everyone (at least on Cap Hill) always says is the best liquor store ever. However, I didn't bring my phone so I couldn't do a little spot research so I just went with a nice 7 year Bookers, which runs 127 proof. That oughta ease my existential pain.

The bummer is that I've slowly become pretty friendly with the owner. Today, he said "Have you ever had the Templeton? It's real good, you wanna see?" I was thinking he was going to show me the bottle, but dude pulls out a half-full bottle and two glasses from under the counter. Had to think about it for a minute and then said "I love that you offered this, I would love nothing more than to try it with you, but if I walk back into the office with liquor on my breath, my boss will say "NOT AGAIN" so sadly I had to decline.

But the overall bummer is that my company is moving at the end of the month and the fact is, Modern Liquors will be out of the way and no longer a viable option. Just when I was getting to be known as a regular (and eligible for the mythical Pappy Van Winkle 'list'), it will all go away. Sigh.

i love how james tries to talk about something other than whiskey . . . and then relaxer answers and shoots him down by going on back to the ole topic at hand.  nice, mate.

Well, it is the thread topic. And I never really shy from talking about my kids. They've utterly ruined my life but they're great guys and I'm having a ball with them.

Relaxer wrote:
So I just got back from Modern Liquors. They have such a wide variety of bourbons there, like twice as much as Schneiders, which everyone (at least on Cap Hill) always says is the best liquor store ever. 

I love Schneider's, mostly because of the service and location (on my walk home).

Agreed. They are helpful, and it is also on my way home from work plus I can stash my bike in the corner of the parking lot without a lock and not worry about it getting stolen. But their bourbon selection is a bit pedestrian, to take a highbrow stance. Also, since I'm always going in there at around 6 pm, with a large backpack on, it's often challenging to move around because it's usually crowded and the aisles are so damn narrow. But I've still dropped a lot of lettuce there and they are pretty helpful.

The Booker's last night was real good. I didn't realize that it's just pretty much top-of-the-line Jim Beam.

Interesting article on the wood barrels importance in whisk(e)y. Didn't think the Scotch would be the first to start experimenting with the wood barrels.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=whiskey-makers-break-tradition-to-make-new-flavors

Barrels for whiskey may sound boring, but they are integral to the flavor of both bourbon and rum.
Used bourbon barrels are sent to the Caribbean and used to age Bacardi Rum. 

Next time you're there, ask them why they no longer carry Founders beers.

HoyaSaxa03 wrote:

Relaxer wrote:
So I just got back from Modern Liquors. They have such a wide variety of bourbons there, like twice as much as Schneiders, which everyone (at least on Cap Hill) always says is the best liquor store ever. 

I love Schneider's, mostly because of the service and location (on my walk home).