Whisky and Scotch Recommendations

Robear wrote:

The thing that struck me about the rye Manhatten is the way the flavors blend together after the first few sips. The sweetness comes out of hiding and it's just a smooth ride after that.

Vermouth is a criminally underrated spirit, in my opinion. It interacts with other spirits in strange and amazing ways. As much as I love martinis, it makes me sad when someone orders "gin in a glass" as people like Churchill were purported to do. I'm not surprised it opens up the rye.

Minarchist wrote:
Robear wrote:

The thing that struck me about the rye Manhatten is the way the flavors blend together after the first few sips. The sweetness comes out of hiding and it's just a smooth ride after that.

Vermouth is a criminally underrated spirit, in my opinion. It interacts with other spirits in strange and amazing ways. As much as I love martinis, it makes me sad when someone orders "gin in a glass" as people like Churchill were purported to do. I'm not surprised it opens up the rye. :)

Agreed. That whole "dry" martini thing is so gauche.

Martinis are just a delivery vehicle for vodka-soaked olives. My wife's fond of ordering her's "dirty dirty with at least 3 olives".

For working with Rye. It goes very nicely with ginger ale or ginger beer.

I also suggest the staple Old Fashioned. Rye(double please), a spoon of sugar or bar syrup, a splash of purified water, a dash of bitters, over ice with a cherry or citrus wedge.

And given the season, how about a Hot Tottie with Rye?

A cup of strong black tea (Earl Grey for me), a squeeze of lemon, a spoon of honey, and a shot of the rye for those cold nights.

McIrishJihad wrote:

Martinis are just a delivery vehicle for vodka-soaked olives.

IMAGE(http://t.qkme.me/3rs0x4.jpg)

Minarchist wrote:
McIrishJihad wrote:

Martinis are just a delivery vehicle for vodka-soaked olives.

IMAGE(http://t.qkme.me/3rs0x4.jpg)

Hey, I know that a proper Martini should be gin and dry vermouth, but that doesn't change the fact that most crappy bars think its vodka-or-bust :/

I'm usually in the corner ordering bourbon up, scotch neat, or a Manhattan anyway.

Minarchist wrote:
Robear wrote:

The thing that struck me about the rye Manhatten is the way the flavors blend together after the first few sips. The sweetness comes out of hiding and it's just a smooth ride after that.

Vermouth is a criminally underrated spirit, in my opinion. It interacts with other spirits in strange and amazing ways. As much as I love martinis, it makes me sad when someone orders "gin in a glass" as people like Churchill were purported to do. I'm not surprised it opens up the rye. :)

Yes! Vermouth is the best! It's such a funky blend of sweet/bitter.

I'm dry this month, but I know that my first purchase in February is gonna be some Rittenhouse Rye and Carpano Antica. That is truly some kick-ass vermouth.

I need some Bourbon help. We have a beautiful bottle of Bulleit that I want to like, but just can't figure out. When I drink it neat it's way too harsh but I can tell there's a lot of great complex flavor going on if I can just get the bitterness out of the way. Adding water or ice doesn't seem to help my palette, I lose the flavor and retain the burning. With Boston snowed in, and our local 7-11 being all that was open, I tried making a run at the problem tonight with club soda, ginger ale, and coke. Club soda didn't enhance the flavors enough and the coke was too overpowering on its own. Ginger ale was ok, enhancing the spicy flavors but losing some of the others, so I'm still looking for ideas. Any thoughts on how I can make this Bourbon work for me?

I've always just done neat, and sometimes with a splash of water.

This might be blasphemy, but what about Manhattans? 2:1 bourbon and good sweet vermouth, with a few splashes of bitters. Then you can start adjusting the vermouth and bitters to keep the complexity of the bourbon without overpowering with bitters and vermouth.

You can always try a whisky sour too. Just go light on the lemon and simple syrup.

Oh, and then there's the vermouth. It's a fortified wine, so it can go bad. Get a small bottle and pitch whatever you don't use every few months.

But then you also have bitters on hand, which is something your bar should not ever be without

Thanks guys! I've never been a big fan of either Whiskey Sours or Manhattans, but I've never encountered a Bourbon like this before, so they both sound like good ideas. I really should pick up some Vermouth and bitters. My wife and I are mainly beer or neat Scotch drinkers, so our cocktail supplies are lacking. I've never made simple syrup either, but since we're snowed in still it sounds like a fun Sunday project.

gravity wrote:

Thanks guys! I've never been a big fan of either Whiskey Sours or Manhattans, but I've never encountered a Bourbon like this before, so they both sound like good ideas. I really should pick up some Vermouth and bitters. My wife and I are mainly beer or neat Scotch drinkers, so our cocktail supplies are lacking. I've never made simple syrup either, but since we're snowed in still it sounds like a fun Sunday project.

Typical Whiskey Sour recipe + egg white = Boston Sour for your drinking pleasure. Also, simple syrup is crazy easy to make, so have fun!

McIrishJihad wrote:

I've always just done neat, and sometimes with a splash of water.

This might be blasphemy, but what about Manhattans? 2:1 bourbon and good sweet vermouth, with a few splashes of bitters. Then you can start adjusting the vermouth and bitters to keep the complexity of the bourbon without overpowering with bitters and vermouth.

I vote for this idea, if you've tried the other standard mixers and haven't found the right touch. Of course, nothing makes a better Manhattan IMO than this stuff, so get shoppin'.

I do have Booker's on the shelf Min, but I refuse to drink it any way other than neat. It's too good! If the liquor store is dug out enough and open today I'll grab some Vermouth and give the Manhattan a go. I've never heard of a Boston sour before, but it's intriguing and I love the name, so I'll add that to the list to try out!

Don't forget the cherries

gravity wrote:

I do have Booker's on the shelf Min, but I refuse to drink it any way other than neat. It's too good! If the liquor store is dug out enough and open today I'll grab some Vermouth and give the Manhattan a go. I've never heard of a Boston sour before, but it's intriguing and I love the name, so I'll add that to the list to try out!

Good for you. I love it neat, but I still love it for Manhattans because it has a very unique flavor that I've not found in any other whiskey.

Fredrik_S wrote:

I believe so, yes. It's sweet. Much sweeter than anything I am used to. Even my wife, who despises whiskey, walks over and sniffs it because it smells so sweet. I use just a little bit of water added to it which brings out tons of vanilla and honey flavors. Goes really well with a cup of strong coffee and some apple pie. There's no peatiness, but is just super smooth and is super easy to drink. I can heartily recommend it if you are looking for something a bit out of the ordinary in your scotch line up.

Thanks a lot for the feedback on that one. I think it'll be my next bottle. Right now I'm working on a 20 year old bottle. Similar taste to the Balvenie 12 year old sherry. Kirkland brand of all things. Was $60 with tax and deposit. That being said, it's a little one note. Still a great scotch for the price though.

Maker's Mark lowering proof in response to world wide shortage of bourbon. Our selection in NC was already bad enough, sheesh.

My brother-in-law will be crushed. Doesn't matter to me, so many better bourbons out there, even in NC!

So the fact that Makers Mark is lowering their proof to meet demand, it still means that other bourbons will probably go up in price

Sounds like I should just take the Blantons short cut and order an oak stave with the full set of stoppers included, instead of going bottle by bottle to get each different jockey and horse :/

Maker's changed its position:

http://www.facebook.com/makersmark/p...

I have been on an Old Fashioned Kick. Bitters are expensive yall.

So far, the Riverboat Rye I got has been my favorite. Right now my counter has Wild Turkey Rye (I could take it or leave it).

I found that tweaking the recipe with Honey, rather than Bad Syrup yields a more complex result.

Also, as a kitchen tip, try a dash of bitters when you are marinating steaks and chops. Your taste buds will thank me.

So I've been bourboning it up lately.

First I tried Four Roses. That was very smooth and disappeared quickly. Will purchase again.
Then on NSMike's recommendation I tried Buffalo Trace. Good, not as smooth as 4r but the burning kind of made it more worthwhile in a way. Also? Half the cost of the other one =) Will try that again.

Next on the docket will be Bulleit or Knob Creek.

Any other suggestions?

Get a small bottle of Knob Creek. I have never been too enamored with it. I find it twice the price it should be for how mediocre I find the flavor. It also comes down to a problem I have with a lot of spirits. Liquor, by and large, is a poor person's drink(Gin, Vodka, Bourbon, Whiskey carry that poor farmer heritage). A 50 plus dollar bottle of bourbon, is a bit like a 30 dollar cheeseburger.

It all rather depends on what you like. And you are still experimenting.

For me, I think Jeremiah Weed is top of my list still.

Got a nice little present from the wife for Valentines Day

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/hBncJ8E.jpg)

KingGorilla wrote:

It also comes down to a problem I have with a lot of spirits. Liquor, by and large, is a poor person's drink(Gin, Vodka, Bourbon, Whiskey carry that poor farmer heritage).

This is why I don't eat rice. Can you imagine, eating something that a poor person eats? The thought turns the stomach! Oh dear, I feel a case of the vapors coming on....

Manhattans really benefit from rye whiskey. For bourbon I either go with ice or if I feel energetic, make an old fashioned. We just got a Costco in town recently and the Wild Turkey 101 1 liter bottles for $22.49 apiece are making my evening choice pretty easy.

Dalwhinnie 15 year. I've tried quite a few varieties of Scotch since I acquired the taste a few years ago, but this is by far the smoothest Scotch ever to go down my gullet. Not cheap, not terribly expensive either. It's not complex or 'exciting' like a Laphroig but it's terribly easy to drink. Recommended!

Unknown Soldier wrote:

Dalwhinnie 15 year. I've tried quite a few varieties of Scotch since I acquired the taste a few years ago, but this is by far the smoothest Scotch ever to go down my gullet. Not cheap, not terribly expensive either. It's not complex or 'exciting' like a Laphroig but it's terribly easy to drink. Recommended!

I just bought that last night! I tried it at BC and really enjoyed it so I figured it was time to own one.