Hats and Drinks - A Match Made in Heaven

[Who?]

But I drink everything neat.

As do I.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

As do I.

Do you have a favorite Speyside or other region?

 

[Who?]

Do you have a favorite Speyside or other region?

No, I really don’t.

I have very little experience, having gotten hooked early on by Islay malts.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Getting ready for SNF with a Stetson BRE & a dram of Colkegan Mesquite Single Malt Apple Brandy Cask Finish.

 

[Blare]

Guinness and Lion Hats

 

[The Shoe]

It’s definitely my favorite Islay followed closely by Ardbeg Uigeadail & any Ardbeg, really. Quarter Cask is good but most of the Laphroaig line is too medicinal for my tastes. But I drink everything neat.

Etsuko’s quite a fan of Laphroaig, but I’m with you. Love the Lagavulin.

 

[The Shoe]

Dangerous territory. We went for Mexican food today. I’ve been interested in tasting some decent tequilas having seen @Hurricane Jack post some that looked appealing.
We decided we’d give one a go here. We got chatting with the waitress and she, with feigned surprise said “oh! There’s the tasting glasses. Have a taste of anything you want.”
No second invitation was needed.

I ended up going with a smoky one.

Etsuko went with one full of vanilla aromas.

We’re well & truly converted. Both were beautiful (as were the others we tasted). I followed it up with this…

The hats?
Dobbs Homburg

Maxim beret

Looking forward to your recommendations, Jack.

 

[Who?]

Wow!

 

[Short Balding Guy]

Home on Saturday evening found me enjoying a Founders Agave and a Surley Pilsner. I included a pic in the collage of this mornings first cup of coffee.

Cheers, Eric -

 

[Hurricane Jack]

@The Shoe

Sounds like you two found a great place & had a great evening together. Some of these are not common here in the US so I have no experience with them. What is common here is:

Don Julio
1800
Herradura
Espolon

My personal preferences would be the Don Julio & the Herradura, in that order. I noticed they are all Reposado or Anejo. If you want to see if you like the true taste of blue agave you need to include some Blanco. Blanco goes straight from the copper pot still to the bottle. If you want to experience a top drawer Anejo it would be Don Julio 1942 which is aged a minimum of 30 months.

Clase Azul is available here & I have only had the silver/Blanco by the shot. I don’t know how the Anejo would compare with the Don Julio 1942. Both are pricey here. Definitely sippers to be savored.

I am intrigued by the artisanal Mezcal Durrumbes. Small batch. I tried looking it up by the NOM but found nothing here. Interesting Aztec looking label on the bottle.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Akubra BCD on this cold day HH, with some KC Bier Co German Dunkel.

And the founder of Johnny’s, 1953.

 

[Short Balding Guy]

Good evening folks. I shoveled snow after arriving home this evening. Afterwards I took a relaxing walkabout in the new snow sipping a Surley Supreme pilsner.

Coming inside I warmed to a small dram of Suntory Hibiki Harmony. This is a unique blended whiskey. It is aged in American oak, Japanese oak and Sherry barrels as well as it has some peated whiskeys. I do find it interesting that Japan makes the second largest amount of malt whiskey next to Scotland.

My expectations are high all the time when I "un-cork" the artistic bottle. What a bottle!

Wonderful flavor and balance. Light and lively taste from start to finish. Complex and balanced. My Yamazaki 12 has a similar taste. Not suprising as Hibiki has blended some Yamazaki in it. While the caramel color and chill filtered are not positives, this disappears after the first sip. Floral and slightly sweet is what I take away this evening.

Cheers folks, Eric -

 

[The Shoe]

@The Shoe

Sounds like you two found a great place & had a great evening together. Some of these are not common here in the US so I have no experience with them. What is common here is:

Don Julio
1800
Herradura
Espolon

My personal preferences would be the Don Julio & the Herradura, in that order. I noticed they are all Reposado or Anejo. If you want to see if you like the true taste of blue agave you need to include some Blanco. Blanco goes straight from the copper pot still to the bottle. If you want to experience a top drawer Anejo it would be Don Julio 1942 which is aged a minimum of 30 months.

Clase Azul is available here & I have only had the silver/Blanco by the shot. I don’t know how the Anejo would compare with the Don Julio 1942. Both are pricey here. Definitely sippers to be savored.

View attachment 464804

I am intrigued by the artisanal Mezcal Durrumbes. Small batch. I tried looking it up by the NOM but found nothing here. Interesting Aztec looking label on the bottle.

View attachment 464805

We were lucky to have the day off on a week day. Week day lunch time tequila prices were 30% off. On top of that, we went for a late lunch/early dinner, so had the place to ourselves for most of the time. This waitress was fantastic - a very friendly, bright, cheerful woman.

She really looked after us with the free tastings, extra big pours and entertaining banter. She also complemented us on our hats.

The Beneva was an in-your-face smoky number. Nice for me, but not to Etsuko’s liking. She said it tasted like smoked mackerel. Is that something to do with the worm?
The Durrumbes was also quite smoky, but without the marine flavours. We both preferred this it to the Beneva.

I was surprised to see your recommendation, because just a few days ago, someone posted this in one of my Facebook groups:

 

[Hurricane Jack]

She said it tasted like smoked mackerel. Is that something to do with the worm?

I wouldn’t think so. The worm in mezcal lives in the soil around the heart of the agave plant. Being in the bottle I always thought was just a marketing gimmick. In Japan I’m sure you have seen other strange creatures like scorpions & snakes in bottles of saki.

I was surprised to see your recommendation, because just a few days ago, someone posted this in one of my Facebook groups:

If the guy in the video doesn’t like Don Julio 1942 because it’s owned by the mega corporation, Diego, then there is all kinds of other brands he doesn’t like either. As I’ve said, I’m not much of an Anejo drinker, preferring Blanco overall but I do keep some Anejo from time to time. Alan has been AWOL for a while but I know he keeps a bottle of ‘42 in his cabinet & likes it very much.

Fortaleza is a top brand but I have only had a couple bottles of their Blanco. Black pepper & black pepper corns are taste profiles common in tequilas. Fortaleza has a strong ground white pepper taste not to my liking. YMMV.

Having 47 agave fields the Camarena family are well vested in the tequila industry. In fact Carlos is one of the founding partners in Tequila Ocho which was the winner in the Best of Class Silver/Gold (unaged) Tequila awarded this past July 2022. Tequila Ocho Plata (Blanco) bested 110 other tequilas in that class. El Tesoro is a fine tequila to drink out somewhere but for home I’ll buy Ocho.

I’ve never heard of Cazcanes. Siete Leguas Blanco is a favorite & I’ve posted it up many times. @Chamuco was the one who first turned me on to Siete Leguas Blanco back when he used to post on FL. Better than Reposado or Anejo, for those who love the taste of cooked blue agave.

 

[The Shoe]

I’m sure you have seen other strange creatures like scorpions & snakes in bottles of saki.

Snakes, yes. I’ve heard of the scorpion sake, but never seen it.

If the guy in the video doesn’t like Don Julio 1942 because it’s owned by the mega corporation, Diego, then there is all kinds of other brands he doesn’t like either. As I’ve said, I’m not much of an Anejo drinker, preferring Blanco overall but I do keep some Anejo from time to time. Alan has been AWOL for a while but I know he keeps a bottle of ‘42 in his cabinet & likes it very much.

I’m sure you’re right. One thing this guy is right about, though, is that it costs more than I want to pay for it.
The only Ocho blanco I see in the online shops here is this one.

It doesn’t look as appealing as the ones you’ve posted in the past.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Snakes, yes. I’ve heard of the scorpion sake, but never seen it.

I read somewhere the snakes are alive when they are placed in the bottle, & killed by the alcohol. That’s how they come to be coiled up with their mouths open, tongue out, etc.

The only Ocho blanco I see in the online shops here is this one.

I’ve seen that bottle only on offshore websites, never domestically or in a store here.

 

[Short Balding Guy]

My neighborhood is snowy and cool tonight. It is an excellent night to take a walkabout sipping a Founders Porter.

Getting inside I was feeling a slight chill from the weather. I poured a small dram of Red Breast 12.

I was reading shortly ago about the Red Breast whiskey history. Very interesting. I discovered that Pot Still Irish whiskey is made from a minimum 30% malted and a minimum 30% unmalted barley, with up to 5% of other cereals added and distilled in pot stills. Adding the unmalted barley enabled the Irish whiskey folks to avoid English taxes in the 18th century. This tax avoidance historically changed Irish whiskeys. The malt tax may have not been the lightbulb for Irish whiskeys, but it did push the single pot stills. Over time bended whiskeys have become a preference. I have been reading how distllers must run the whiskey through the distillers three times to remove harsher flavors from the unmalted barely. Many blend contain column distilled and pot distilled. I think of the example Jameson.

Interesting reading while sipping a truly fine Irish whiskey.

Cheers folks, Eric -

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Yesterday working on being inducted into the “Hall of Foam” @ the Tap Room under an Optimo Texan, Original West Series. Maintaining my current trend thru Winter I should make the Hall of Foam by May, & hopefully making the Top 25.

A couple of Logboat Brewing’s Dark Matter Wheat Porter @ 6.6% ABV.

Followed by a couple of KC Bier Co’s German Schwarzbier @ 5% ABV.

Along the way a sample of Deschutes Chasin’ Freshies iPA @ 6.0% ABV.

And a sample of Great Divide Brewing’s Barrel Aged Hibernation Ale @ 11.5% ABV. This one might be something special.

 

[Blare]

Yesterday working on being inducted into the “Hall of Foam” @ the Tap Room under an Optimo Texan, Original West Series. Maintaining my current trend thru Winter I should make the Hall of Foam by May, & hopefully making the Top 25.

View attachment 465620
View attachment 465619



A couple of Logboat Brewing’s Dark Matter Wheat Porter @ 6.6% ABV.

View attachment 465625
View attachment 465621

Followed by a couple of KC Bier Co’s German Schwarzbier @ 5% ABV.

View attachment 465623

Along the way a sample of Deschutes Chasin’ Freshies iPA @ 6.0% ABV.

View attachment 465622

And a sample of Great Divide Brewing’s Barrel Aged Hibernation Ale @ 11.5% ABV. This one might be something special.

View attachment 465621

That shall be quite the honor

 

[Hurricane Jack]

That shall be quite the honor

I’ll probably get a big diamond ring, or maybe a Rolex with inscription.