What Did You Drink Last Night?

[jamespowers]

Today it was Crown Royal. My short foray into the world of whisk(e)y has left me liking the bourbons or the rye beverages I have tried the most. More then the blended scotches as well. Crown Royal was good, but Buffalo Trace was still better.

Any thoughts on Elijah Craig or Four Roses Small Batch? They both come in around $40 here, so they could be on the list. Or should I just skip them and head straight for Knob Creek or Basil Hayden which are slightly more expensive?

Go for Basil Hayden if it isn't that big a cost difference. You can always go lower and see what a difference a few dollars makes.

 

[DJH]

Any thoughts on Elijah Craig or Four Roses Small Batch? They both come in around $40 here, so they could be on the list. Or should I just skip them and head straight for Knob Creek or Basil Hayden which are slightly more expensive?

I find the Elijah Craig 12 year old to be quite enjoyable, but for me Four Roses Small Batch is more to my taste. They are both about US$25 in our NH State stores. They are currently out of Four Roses and my bottle of Stagg Jr is getting low.

I'm thinking I'm going to try an Eagle Rare next - good stock of this one locally and right in that $25 sweetspot too.

 

[gear-guy]

Blue moon draft, in Indy tonight waiting to catch plane so found a diner to eat and this is what they had. Much better than the food.

 

[dh66]

Hope you're flying out to somewhere warm.

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[1mach1]

Going to the in-laws tonight, where Speyburn 10 is the house whisky. It could be worse, I guess.

 

[jamespowers]

Going to the in-laws tonight, where Speyburn 10 is the house whisky. It could be worse, I guess.

It could be a lot worse.

 

[Gairdner]

Last night I drank tea. Leaves brewed in an old English pot, drank from an old English mug and enjoyed with a little milk as always. Drink your spirits freely, ladies and gentleman and your beers, ales, ciders and what not. Enjoy them in good health too! But not for me I'm afraid: ten years sober past August 23rd last year. Nary a judgement and nary a drink will I begrudge ye, but if the spirit's in ma veins and in ma heid, the deil possesseth me.

 

[Gregg Axley]

Guinness Extra Stout

 

[Duper]

Last night I drank tea. Leaves brewed in an old English pot, drank from an old English mug and enjoyed with a little milk as always. Drink your spirits freely, ladies and gentleman and your beers, ales, ciders and what not. Enjoy them in good health too! But not for me I'm afraid: ten years sober past August 23rd last year. Nary a judgement and nary a drink will I begrudge ye, but if the spirit's in ma veins and in ma heid, the deil possesseth me.

Good for you Gairdner. I figure we all have our demons, but some of us are just lucky enough to never meet them.

 

[DJH]

But not for me I'm afraid: ten years sober past August 23rd last year. Nary a judgement and nary a drink will I begrudge ye, but if the spirit's in ma veins and in ma heid, the deil possesseth me.

Congratulations on the 10 years - that is a great achievement. A lot of people in my family have had serious drink problems over the years so I've seen first hand how the booze can ruin lives and how hard it is to quit.

In my younger days in the UK I drank way too much (really enjoyed it too!) but these days a wee glass of something nice is just right.

This evening a drop of Eagle Rare, 10 YO single barrel - our store isn't expecting any more of the Stagg Jr (both Buffalo Trace products) for quite a while so that will be for special occasions only now.

 

[Duper]

I find the Elijah Craig 12 year old to be quite enjoyable, but for me Four Roses Small Batch is more to my taste. They are both about US$25 in our NH State stores. They are currently out of Four Roses and my bottle of Stagg Jr is getting low.

I'm thinking I'm going to try an Eagle Rare next - good stock of this one locally and right in that $25 sweetspot too.

My sweet spot is $40 as that is where the quality products seem to start in pricing up here. Basil Hayden is $52, but I think it may be worth the premium.

Tonight I had the Canadian 100% rye product Lot #40. It really does have a nice warm spicy finish without an alcohol after taste. Nice dark amber colour. I hope the colour is not from some additive. That is another thing I like about bourbon. What you see is what you get. No tampering with the presentation.

 

[Gairdner]

Don't get me wrong, chaps. I had many, many good times whilst imbibing of Lucifer's Lure. I particularly enjoyed a number of English and Scottish real ales. I'm a Scot by birth but have a goodly amount of English blood and seemed to really take to some of the English brews. Timothy Taylor's Landlord, Marston's Pedigree, Greene King IPA, Everard's Tiger but a particular favourite was Gale's HSB. There's many more that are lost in the alcoholic mists of time. Scottish ale-wise, a well kept cask of Caledonian 80 shilling was aye welcome, especially in the colder months but my favourite was generally Deuchar's IPA unless Caledonian Golden Promise could be found which was about as often as tartan snow fell. One of the most fantastic winter restoratives after a half hour walk through a snowy, windy eve was a pint of Courage Director's with a wee dram of Glenfiddich to keep it company. Even now that has particularly warming memories.

As for red wine, I was introduced to the likes of Amarolo and Barolo by an elderly Italian Maitre d' I once knew but a Wolf Blass yellow label or their President's selection was always very welcome. A good Fleurie too. Couldn't abide Champagne, Cava or the rest - just fizzy pop to me and their reltative qualities lost on my unrefined palate. Of course I never managed to venture anywhere near the higher echelons of the more exalted Champagnes.

Gin and Tonic was quite a regular especially through summer but I could drink most things at any time of the year. Bombay spice was rather nice but proper export Tanqueray was just the fellow. If Gin and Tonic may be abbreviated to G n' T then like wise Tanqueray became T n' T and the comparison bears up just as explosively! Had a friend that was particularly fond of his Hendricks Gin with cucumber. I do remember a most entertaining Christmas night drinking G n' T with pints of Murphy's Stout and however strange that seems, they made astonishingly good bed fellows!

Port tickled my fancy quite a lot although I was no connoisseur but enjoyed it immensely. Sloe Gin was anything but slowly drank and was murderously effective in its way, especially if home-made and Damson Gin just the same. I used to shun Sherry but a nice Amontillado of an early afternoon had its place but I would seldom admit to it.

Dark Rum or more properly, Navy Rum, was Lambs, Woods (disastrously deadly) or Pusser's Blue if I was in funds and being reckless but OVD would do for mixing with coke.

Saving the best to last were the Whisky's and Whiskey's. I am afraid I had no love of American Bourbon or such spirits but naturally, any port in a storm. I enjoyed many things here from my regular Glenfiddich through Lagavulin, Bowmore, Talisker, Glenkinchie (a lowland whisky made around 15 miles from where I live) and the TCP hater's favourite, Laphroaig. But then a wee splash of room-temperature water released all that Laphroaig had to offer and that was considerable. My Faither used to decree that all he wanted in his whisky was more but now relents to a few cubes of ice in a blend usually from one of the many bottles given to him for doing odd jobs here and there for this one and that. Jamieson's Irish is a particular favourite of his and I enjoyed just as much but the old bugger was like a stingy wee schoolboy with a packet of his favourite sweets in the playground and seldom liked to share it. For the naturally devious and cunning there was ways round this but I cannot, in all honesty, recommend whisky with apple juice!

But nowadays 'tis tea handsomely brewed with the usual anti-depressants and occasional valium when it all just gets too much. Sometimes I think I was better off with the drink but I full well know that's just the monkey chattering in my ear. Took me six rough, hard years from admitting my problem to finally, at least until today, getting firmly on the wagon.

Now that I've bored you all to tears or near-death, I'll go put the kettle on and patiently await the Postman, who, for his own sake, better be bringing my new Loake Otterburn brogues in light tan calf!

 

[dh66]

Congrats Gairdner! That can be a diffucult line to walk - I wish you nothing but continued success.

As for me, after two nights of sobriety due to being stranded in the storm, I enjoyed my return home with a couple of Sweetwater 420s.

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[Gregg Axley]

Congrats Gairdner! That can be a diffucult line to walk - I wish you nothing but continued success.

As for me, after two nights of sobriety due to being stranded in the storm, I enjoyed my return home with a couple of Sweetwater 420s.

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Need to stock up with a hooch stash at work too.

 

[dh66]

It wouldn't last 5 minutes around there.

Tonight I got a sixer of the Sierra-Nevada rye i.p.a.

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[Gregg Axley]

It wouldn't last 5 minutes around there.

Tonight I got a sixer of the Sierra-Nevada rye i.p.a.

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I guess you'll need a 10 gallon still.

 

[Gregg Axley]

Bought another beer variety pack at Kroger.
2 Southern Pecan, 1 Beck's Dark, 3 Killians Irish Red.
Looking for lower ABV for now, because of new meds.

 

[1mach1]

It wouldn't last 5 minutes around there.

Tonight I got a sixer of the Sierra-Nevada rye i.p.a.

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I love that stuff. Good choice!

 

[Duper]

We were at the liquor store tonight and they were offering taste tests of a Canadian flavoured whiskey.

Wiser's Spiced Vanilla. Thank heavens I did not spend $25 to find out what it tasted like!

The guy before me thought it was great. I thought it was horrible. Seems the clerk doing the taste testing found it was definitely a love it or leave it product, based on customer response.

What a terrible thing to do to whiskey or vanilla. They were happy on their own. Not a good forced marriage.

 

[Dickie Teenie]

Raki made on the island of Crete, the food wasn't too bad either as i remember.