The Whisky thread - The Bear and Badger

Paul the sparky

GooberTheHat wrote:

But then you've got single malt Japanese whisky that's easily the equal of many scotch whiskies, and there are some fantastic rye whiskies from America. Sazerac rye or bulleit rye are both excellent and very reasonable. I just find it odd when people turn their noses up at a whisky because its not scotch.

You have the correct attitude Goobs.

Shame it doesn't extend to the required amount of orange peel in an Old Fashioned

davyK

I have to say I find it hard to consider using whisky in a cocktail. It just doesn't seem right to me.

I have drank a Manhattan which I found pleasing but I don't recall having anything else.

I think in the right circumstances with an expert mixer offering me something I wouldn't say no of course.

GooberTheHat

davyK wrote:

Of course.

JP whiskey is malted barley though? So some may say that is "proper" whiskey as it is a based on barley.

It comes down to the definition of what whisk(e)y is - which is loose at best.

My first whiskey was Irish (Bushmills) and being Irish I have a bias for it. I prefer Irish as it tends to be smoother but Scotch is far more varied and interesting. But if you don't have a liking for the peaty/smokeyness that a great many Scottish whiskeys have then you may not prefer it.

Irish whiskey is starting to become more interesting with a great many more smaller distillers appearing on the scene in recent times.

The ageing process is of more interest to me than the base ingredient. The type of barrel has a greater influence really. The wood used and what the barrel was originally used for (sherry for example) really makes all the difference.

There are many different regulations regarding whisky, but the basic definition is distilled alcohol from a grain mash. Kentucky Straight Bourbon has to conform to stricter regulations than scotch, but that doesn't mean its superior. Its all personal taste. But the concept of "proper whisky" is really just a projection of peoples own biases. Bourbon is bourbon, scotch is scotch, single malt is single malt, they are all proper whiskies in there own right, just different verities. I imagine most of this kind of thinking goes back to some clever marketing in the mists of time.

Gremill

It's all bollocks - as long as it conforms to the basic rules of the type (ie, aged at least 3yr for Malt) then it's 'proper' whisky. After that, it's all about the taste - anything else is all bias and snobbery.

Bob

davyK wrote:

I have drank a Manhattan which I found pleasing but I don't recall having anything else.

I hope it was bone dry

GooberTheHat

Old fashioned, whisky sour, and Highland cooler are the only whisky cocktails I rember drinking. Old fashioned is my favourite cocktail, but a Highland cooler is great on a warm summer evening.

davyK

Bob wrote:

I have drank a Manhattan which I found pleasing but I don't recall having anything else.

I hope it was bone dry

You are referring to dry vermouth there I'm guessing? I'm pretty sure it was sweet vermouth with some aromatic American whiskey I can't remember which. Pleasant but not something for a session.

My 2 favourite cocktails:-

A good rum with sharp firey ginger beer and juice of half a lime. (Dark and Stormy is that? The Spaniard In Belfast makes a historic one - or at least it used to).

The other I named myself - Zubrowski bison grass vodka with a slice of cucumber and quality apple juice. A grassy knoll.

If I can get a good Martini I'll take that too but it has to be good. The Merchant Hotel in Belfast.

I used to like a good Gin and Tonic but my tastes are on up the heaviness scale now from drinking so much whiskey that I tend not to find it interesting any more.

Bob

davyK wrote:

Bob wrote:

I have drank a Manhattan which I found pleasing but I don't recall having anything else.

I hope it was bone dry

You are referring to dry vermouth there I'm guessing? I'm pretty sure it was sweet vermouth with some aromatic American whiskey I can't remember which. Pleasant but not something for a session.

My 2 favourite cocktails:-

A good rum with sharp firey ginger beer and juice of half a lime. (Dark and Stormy is that? The Spaniard In Belfast makes a historic one - or at least it used to).

The other I named myself - Zubrowski bison grass vodka with a slice of cucumber and quality apple juice. A grassy knoll.

If I can get a good Martini I'll take that too but it has to be good. The Merchant Hotel in Belfast.

I used to like a good Gin and Tonic but my tastes are on up the heaviness scale now from drinking so much whiskey that I tend not to find it interesting any more.

It’s how Bruce Willis is asks for his on the song Comin’ right up

Webbins

If I'm mixing whisky then OFs are my goto, but I do also like a Godfather; amaretto, whisky and a cherry. Silver Bullets are pretty potent too; whisky, gin and a lemon twist.

Moot_Geeza

I'm partial to whisky and ginger wine but it's not exactly a session drink.

GooberTheHat

A whisky mac, I used to like them but they're a bit too sweet/heavy for me now.

The Daddy

I like a bourbon. I’ve got one of these coming today, was £22 on amazon yesterday:

poprock

Eagle Rare’s supposed to be nice. I’ve heard good things about the 10-year old. I think it’s owned by Buffalo Trace?

I’ve not drunk much bourbon in years, since I cut back on booze in general – but this was always my favourite bourbon:

Fighting Cock

20200301_113752-min.jpg?format=1500w

£33 at Master of Malt

davyK

Webbins wrote:

If I'm mixing whisky then OFs are my goto, but I do also like a Godfather; amaretto, whisky and a cherry. Silver Bullets are pretty potent too; whisky, gin and a lemon twist.

I'm very fond of Amaretto. Quite often I'll just take one of those to sip instead of a dessert. Good in coffee too.

Moot_Geeza

I quite like the 5yr Lidl one. £15.49 or so, which is probably the right price but also why I go back now and then. It's decent enough on the rocks.

The Daddy

That Eagle Rare 10 is lovely stuff. Still haven't fully got my sense of smell back so still missing a dimension, but the wife assured me of its vanilla notes with a hint of christmas pudding.

Awful hangover this morning though, might've had too much, or maybe it was the strong IPA I had beforehand...

poprock

“Beer & wine, everything’s fine. Whisky & beer will make you feel queer.”

Can’t remember where I picked that old saying up from.

Lord_Griff

Beer before wine, you're fine, wine before beer...

The Daddy

Drink more than a bit, and you’ll feel shit.

poprock

Here, that one’s actually true.

Nina

davyK wrote:

A good rum with sharp firey ginger beer and juice of half a lime. (Dark and Stormy is that? The Spaniard In Belfast makes a historic one - or at least it used to).

What would be a good rum for this? And I assume it's the soda ginger beer and not the alcohol ginger beer.

I've got some ginger beer in the fridge for Kentucky Mules, which is basically the same thing but with bourbon in stead of rum.

I have that Eagle Rare too, I like it. A friend here is very deep into bourbon, wish I could visit him to sample things again.

GooberTheHat

Kraken (dark) rum works well in a dark and stormy. I'd imagine any half decent rum would be fine though. The ginger beer and lime are pretty strong flavours so I would use anything too special.

Nina

That will work, it's currently $17,- (plus taxes of course) for the 750ml. And when looking at that I realized they used ml and l for this and I'm shocked.

Moot_Geeza

Kraken is the sweet spot for spiced rum/mixing I reckon. Love the stuff and I'm a sucker for a few quid off in supermarkets.

davyK

Nina wrote:

A good rum with sharp firey ginger beer and juice of half a lime. (Dark and Stormy is that? The Spaniard In Belfast makes a historic one - or at least it used to).

What would be a good rum for this? And I assume it's the soda ginger beer and not the alcohol ginger beer. I've got some ginger beer in the fridge for Kentucky Mules, which is basically the same thing but with bourbon in stead of rum. I have that Eagle Rare too, I like it. A friend here is very deep into bourbon, wish I could visit him to sample things again.

I quite like using Havana Club Anejo Especial rum with mine.

The ginger beer I use is non alcoholic - certain brands are better than others. It can't be too sweet as that ruins the drink. The Old Jamaica brand is good - not sure you can get that outside the UK. Fentimans is good too.

And aways a fresh lime. I use one of those juicers that turns the lime half inside out. Quite often I'll just drop the juiced lime half into the drink.

1 x 330ml can of Old Jamaica shared between 2 drinks is optimal. 1 half lime for each drink. Each drink having a Northern Irish standard pub measure of 35ml of rum (GB is 25ml - though Scotland might have the same as us?)

A few lumps of ice makes it a very agreeable drink.

And make it dirty with a splash of Angostura Bitters.

If you are ever in Belfast. The Spaniard serves a drink they call an Extraordinary That's what got me onto it. They specialise in rum.

Gremill

Nina wrote:

davyK wrote:

A good rum with sharp firey ginger beer and juice of half a lime. (Dark and Stormy is that? The Spaniard In Belfast makes a historic one - or at least it used to).

What would be a good rum for this? And I assume it's the soda ginger beer and not the alcohol ginger beer.

I've got some ginger beer in the fridge for Kentucky Mules, which is basically the same thing but with bourbon in stead of rum.

I have that Eagle Rare too, I like it. A friend here is very deep into bourbon, wish I could visit him to sample things again.

My Christmas Day drink for the last few years has been an adaptation of the D&S that I like to call The Tentacular Spectacular.

Pint glass, ice, juice of a whole lime, 150ml of Kraken and top it up with Crabbies alcoholic ginger beer. Goodnight Vienna.

Moot_Geeza

McDonalds full fat coke with a ridiculous amount of Tullibardine in it for me tonight.

davyK

Gremill wrote:

Nina wrote:

davyK wrote:

A good rum with sharp firey ginger beer and juice of half a lime. (Dark and Stormy is that? The Spaniard In Belfast makes a historic one - or at least it used to).

What would be a good rum for this? And I assume it's the soda ginger beer and not the alcohol ginger beer. I've got some ginger beer in the fridge for Kentucky Mules, which is basically the same thing but with bourbon in stead of rum. I have that Eagle Rare too, I like it. A friend here is very deep into bourbon, wish I could visit him to sample things again.

My Christmas Day drink for the last few years has been an adaptation of the D&S that I like to call The Tentacular Spectacular. Pint glass, ice, juice of a whole lime, 150ml of Kraken and top it up with Crabbies alcoholic ginger beer. Goodnight Vienna.

A fine variation.

Moot_Geeza

Anything interesting going on with black Friday? Got a bday cheque burning a hole on my mantelpiece.

The Daddy

Nowt's grabbed me. Auchentoshan 3 wood is 30 quid on Amazon, one of my faves but it's been cheaper. Laphroaig Quarter Cask is £25 too.

Benromach 15 is £50 on Loch Fyne, but not free delivery unless you spend over £75.

I'm tempted to pre-spend my christmas dosh from parents on a Glenfarclas 25 from Costco, which isn't on offer directly but there's £10 off a £100 spend on there. I'd have to sneak that one in...

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