The New Drinking Thread

[Keyrock]

This one is for @ShadySands

This is maybe the best whisky I've ever had, but I rarely buy Lagavulin because I don't have Elon Musk money. That peaty goodness, though.

Edited June 28, 2023 by Keyrock

[Keyrock]

More affordable peaty goodness:

[Gfted1]

Put some pants on man!  I wish I enjoyed Scotch more, or maybe Ive only ever had crap quality.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

So I've run through most of my base liquor (except Cognac and dark rum) and looking to restock. Since some of yall have good taste, can I get some recs for the following

1. Tequila

2-3. Whiskey, two out of Bourbon, Rye, Scotch, Irish, or Japanese

4. White rum or chachaca

5. Vodka

6. Any wild cards like interesting liqueurs or whatever

[Keyrock]

39 minutes ago, Gfted1 said:

Put some pants on man!  I wish I enjoyed Scotch more, or maybe Ive only ever had crap quality.

You can't see it in the reflection in the bottle but I'm wearing shorts... Or am I?

With Scotch you kinda have to spend some money. With some other liquors, vodka or rum for example, you can get relatively good quality for a fairly low price, but you can't cheap out on Scotch because cheap Scotch is raw sewage.

@PK htiw klaw eriFI'm going to go ahead and recommend Chopin vodka to you. It ain't cheap but it's cheaper than Grey Goose and better IMHO, assuming you're down with a potato vodka. If you're adventurous and you can find it, I can't recommend Żubrówka enough, but that has a very specific flavor (from the blade of grass in the bottle) that's not going to do it for everybody, plus you're probably going to have to go to a big big liquor store to find it.

I will also recommend Nikka Whisky From The Barrel, it's a Japanese whisky and it burns like hell going down (it's 51.4% it comes with the territory) but I thoroughly enjoy the flavor. I've only had 3 or 4 different Japanese whiskies but that's my favorite of the bunch.

Edited September 12, 2023 by Keyrock

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Well it looks like they've got Żubrówka at a place close to me, as well as the Nikka. I prefer the high proof stuff so 51% is nice.

[ShadySands]

I wish a good Islay was cheaper but then I'd probably be drunk all the time and my liver would be shot.

1. Intentionally left blank

2. Lagavulin. This was the Scotch that got me liking Scotch. I also like Laphroaig and Ardbeg. 

4. I'm a dark rum drinker

5. Luksusowa and Chopin are my go tos

6. I really enjoy a good Limoncello or Ginja but it's tough to find ones I like a lot and don't remember the brands. I love a good Tawny Port as well. Most 20+ years will be a little pricier but the cheap stuff is trash.

[Keyrock]

I got this out of sheer curiosity:

First, I'm not even going to attempt to pronounce that name. It's an unpeated Islay, which piqued my interest. I mean, that kind of defeats the purpose of getting an Islay, since the peat is what gives them their distinctive smoky taste that sets them apart from all other Scotch whiskies, all other whiskies in general. I would say that the taste is most similar to a Speyside, which is curious since Speyside is about as far away from Islay as you can get in Scotland. It's a very sweet and pleasant flavor, feels really nice on the tongue. As an added bonus, it's 50% ABV but it doesn't burn as much as I would have expected from a liquor with that high ABV. It's rather easy drinking with a great finish. I'm glad I tried it, I'll definitely get it again, ugly ass pastel blue bottle notwithstanding.

 

[ShadySands]

I don't know how to feel about an unpeated Islay though... hold me?

[Keyrock]

4 hours ago, ShadySands said:

I don't know how to feel about an unpeated Islay

I still don't know how to feel about it. I mean, if I wanted a Scotch that tasted like that I could just buy a Speyside. On the other hand, "Brook-Laddy" would definitely be an above average Speyside, were it a Speyside, so I'm happy I was curious enough to give it a try.

[ShadySands]

Went to Costco and picked up 3 bottles of Lagavulin. I got one of each year; 8, 11, and 16. 

Suddenly remembering when I was in Jamaica and randomly met an older Scottish gentleman who was also on an island hopping campaign and we joined forces and cleaned out the resort bar.

Edited October 3, 2023 by ShadySands

[xzar_monty]

On 9/13/2023 at 1:22 AM, PK htiw klaw eriF said:

6. Any wild cards like interesting liqueurs or whatever

Green Chartreuse is what I'd go for.

I don't know where you'd be able to buy the Elixir Vegetal, but I don't think it's worth it, anyway. I once bought a couple of bottles in Nice, France, and while it's nice to have tried it, I'd just go for the Green any day.

Edited October 3, 2023 by xzar_monty

[Keyrock]

Kikori whisky

It tastes like junmai sake. It's much stronger than sake and it burns some, though not excessively, but it's no harsher going down than junmai sake. It's quite pleasant to drink, though it won't replace Nikka From The Barrel as my favorite Japanese whisky.

[Keyrock]

Bushmills 10 Years Old. It's your typical Irish whisky taste with above average smoothness. Nothing novel to the taste but it's pleasant enough and goes down exceptionally easy. 

[Keyrock]

[Keyrock]

Some moonshine from right here in Cackalacky.

First time I've ever seen it, decided to give it a shot, glad I did. It tastes like a brandy, maybe it is, I don't know what are the prerequisites to qualify for the tag "brandy". Taste wise it's brandy and a pleasantly smooth one with shockingly low amounts of burn for north of 50% ABV. The scotch snob in me wants to complain that it's a simple flavor, not much in the way of different flavor notes, but that simple flavor does taste quite good, so thumbs up. They make a bourbon too, I'll scoop up a bottle for my dad for XMas, he's the bourbon drinker.

Edited December 6, 2023 by Keyrock

[Gorth]

Not sure what the real definition of brandy is. For myself, I usually think of it as cognac made outside the Cognac region (because the name is protected iirc)

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

2 hours ago, Gorth said:

Not sure what the real definition of brandy is. For myself, I usually think of it as cognac made outside the Cognac region (because the name is protected iirc)

In a broad sense it's just high proof liquor made out of wine. Most of it, aside from more fruity stuff, is going to be a lot like cognac because that's the most distinct kind of brandy with the biggest......brand name. Hon Hon Hon.

[Keyrock]

Na zdrowie!

[Gorth]

I’m on a quest to find my favourite vodka. So far, I’ve tried Polish, Russian, Swedish and Australian vodka. Just opened a bottle of Japanese vodka (I do love Japanese gin). Some day I’ll appoint one of them a “favourite”

 

edit: doing a bit of weekend cleaning, washing the shelves in the cupboard with soap and water. Noticed I have an Icelandic vodka too, to try out after the Japanese one. Didn't say anything about being fish based

 

 

[Keyrock]

Saw this at my local ABC Spirits, never seen it before, so I decided to give it a try:

It was fairly cheap, I'm guess is a fairly new distillery and they are trying to get their foot in the door, hence the low price. It's not the best Irish whisky I've had but it's better than the entry-level Jamison's, Bushmills, or Proper Twelve IMHO, and cheaper to boot. Sweet with a definite caramel finish. I doubt it will stay this cheap once it established itself, but at the current price it's an easy recommend.

[ShadySands]

Ronnie Z 23. It's my go to sipping rum.

[Keyrock]

I made a new batch of mead, started it a couple of weeks ago. Today I bottled it and I of course tried a glass. My target is strong beer/weak wine strength around 9 or 10%ABV. I don't have a hydrometer, but going off how I felt after drinking a glass, I think I hit my target. It's sweeter than my ideal sweetness level but only slightly so, I'm within shouting range of my ideal sweetness level. It has a bit harsh finish right now, as expected, but given enough time to mellow, I think this batch will have a pleasant taste. 

I should add that I went with raspberries and mint for flavoring, which has the byproduct of giving the mead a really nice pink color.

Edited March 17 by Keyrock

[Gorth]

I went shopping for groceries the other day and saw this one in the window of a store while walking by. How could I possibly not buy a bottle of vodka in such a bottle???

 

It's a nice vodka, made in Canada. But lets be real, the bottle was it's selling point

 

[Keyrock]

7 hours ago, Gorth said:

I went shopping for groceries the other day and saw this one in the window of a store while walking by. How could I possibly not buy a bottle of vodka in such a bottle???

 

It's a nice vodka, made in Canada. But lets be real, the bottle was it's selling point

 

Be careful, you might start believing in aliens after drinking that vodka, if you don't already.