Whiskey

[Jack Scorpion]

Due to limited budget, my so-called liquor cabinet tends to follow supermarket sales, but I still have preferences. Having lived in Russia for awhile and really having LIVED Russia, I do know my vodka quite well, and now that I'm in America again I cannot bring myself to purchase vodka any longer. It doesn't really bother me, however, because my true tastes adhere more toward Whiskey, and Whiskey has been my main choice of drink for a good while now.

However, like I mentioned, a limitfull wallet and a good dose of inexperience leaves me with little knowledge of this very rich topic. Usually my counter will sport proudly:

-Cutty Sark
-Jim Beam
-Southern Comfort

And all three of those I have returned to time and again because I do enjoy them. Cutty Sark was my first Scotch and the whiskey I taught myself to like first. It is only by chance that it also happens to go on sale regularly at Safeway. The truth is I like Cutty Sark more than I like Johnny Walker red label, and one time I had the luck of trying 12-year-old Cutty Sark, a time I remember quite fondly. Once I went out of my way to buy a bottle of J&B, and delicious as it is, Cutty Sark I adhere to loyally. (Another reason is Murakami's Wind Up Bird Chronicle.) But I ask you: What is your favorite Scotch? What is the best?

The only Bourbons I've tried at any extent are Jim Beam and Jack Daniels. I like Jack Daniels more, but Jim Beam is far cheaper and I think not so much worse. I know very little in this area. Makes Mark I've only tried briefly. What is your favorite Bourbon? What is the best?

Southern Comfort ain't a whiskey, I guess, but I usually consider it to be anyway. I enjoy a tumbler with ice and some Southern Comfort w/lime every once in awhile -- makes me feel like I'm sitting on a white porch looking over green land or swampy everglade.

What about Irish? Japanese? Canadian? What do you prefer?

[scotrace]

Jack Daniel's isn't bourbon.
Jim Beam only technically so.

Jack Daniel's is made in Tennessee. For a whiskey to be called "Bourbon," it must come from a designated area in Kentucky, of a certain water, a certain specific content and aging process. So Jack Daniel's is simply whiskey.

Maybe you might like to try a rye? I don't know about your area, but Old Overholt is about the only Rye available around here. You may have better luck. Once common (in the US), Rye is a somewhat unusual find on the shelf these days. Good Rye is worth the hunt.

My own taste is for Maker's Mark. Also some excellent Scotch and Irish whiskies - I inherited a bottle of Glenmorangie that I have about finished off.

[BellyTank]

Well... blended Scotch Whiskeys are just that... blended.

The 'true' World of Whiskey, for me at least, lies in the many and distinct Single Malts of Scotland- of which I have too many favourites.
I prefer the Islay Malts- deep, smokey and peaty.
But I can occasionally go a Highland or a Speyside.

As far as blends go, many seem to like Chivas Regal but I prefer the price of
VAT 69.

If you didn't know- a Single Malt is a Whiskey from one distillery- blends are, of course blended from diverse sources- supposedly in orde to find a 'smooth' drink.
But- I find most Malts tastier than blends.
'Smooth' is a meaningless term to me.

Bourbon... I'm not a great taster of but I hear 'Makers' spoken of often.

Single Malt Whiskeys (in the Scottish vein)are also produced(only a few) in New Zealand, India and Japan.

In a word; "Ardbeg" is my favourite Malt at present.
Laphroiag, Highland Park, Tallisker, Isle of Dura and The Glenlivet are among some of my other favourites.

But Vodka... I enjoy Finlandia, Stolichnaya and Wisent (Zubrowka/Polish Bison Grass flavoured Vodka)

Cheers!

B
T

[Big Joe]

Here's something about the various types of whiskey:

http://www.hungrymonster.com/FoodFac...rages&fid=5899

Big Joe

On the house

[Brad Bowers]

For a good ol' American rye, try Rittenhouse, if you're on a budget. To be an American rye, it has to be distilled from at least 51% rye, which is why Canadian whiskies don't qualify.

Brad

[Pilgrim]

My own tipple of choice is good beer, but when I drink whiskey, it's usually Beam's Choice (green label). I just happen to like it.

Or for ceremonial occasions, I drink a nice Scotch liqueur called Lochan Ora...just a wee dram over a single ice cube. My little bottle has lasted me 20 years.

[Craig Robertson]

Maybe you might like to try a rye? I don't know about your area, but Old Overholt is about the only Rye available around here. You may have better luck. Once common (in the US), Rye is a somewhat unusual find on the shelf these days. Good Rye is worth the hunt.

(Jack Scorpion:Once I went out of my way to buy a bottle of J&B, and delicious as it is, Cutty Sark I adhere to loyally. (Another reason is Murakami's Wind Up Bird Chronicle.) But I ask you: What is your favorite Scotch? What is the best?

I agree with Scotrace, Old Overholt Rye Whiskey is worth the hunt. A good 40s highball is Rye and Ginger on the rocks.

For blended Scotch: Johnny Walker Red Label (I love Murakami's Wind up bird chronicle...but not his taste in Scotch!)
For Single Malt: Macallans, 12 year (anything older gets expensive) or Lafroig

[Briscoeteque]

I too am a fan of whisky, and I've recently fallen in love with Manhattans made from Crown Royale Canadian Whisky. It is not the most flavorful whisky on earth, but I like the subtler taste and it makes the perfect Manhattan. And because Canada was the source for good whisky during prohibition, it has all of the historic value too. Plus, it's affordable, and has the best bottle presentation of any libation I've ever seen.

[Baron Kurtz]

I'm with the Tank. I spent my formative summers trawling the whickey trail with my parents and grandparents (back when they didn't care much about the kids having a wee dram). The Glenlivet is a fine single malt, and the one to which i normally gravitate. At $30 a bottle it's a little steep, but you can't get a single malt for much less in a general liquor store. I've also been known to sip on Glenfiddich. I cannot bear rye or bourbon. Jack Daniels is an abomination. Southern comfort is passable on a very cold morning. A friend of mine swears by Knob Creek. I've never seen the fascination.

bk

[Maj.Nick Danger]

You might like Yukon Jack. It's sort of the Northern counter-part to Southern Comfort.

(Uhhhh,....apparently some of the smilies are not functional. The red x in the box was "cheers" )