The Hard Liquor and Miscellaneous Stiff Drinks Thread

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Just found this in the FAQ at straightbourbon.com.

http://www.straightbourbon.com/homepage.html?54,249

6. Is Jack Daniel's a bourbon?

Jack Daniel's, is not considered a bourbon because it is charcoal-mellowed -- slowly, drop by drop, filtered through sugar-maple charcoal -- prior to aging, which many experts say gives it a different character. The process, called the Lincoln County Process, infuses a sweet and sooty character into the distillate as it removes impurities. But up to and after the charcoal filtering, the Jack Daniel's production is much the same as any other Bourbon. Jack Daniel's and George Dickel are two fine Tennessee Whiskeys though neither can be called bourbon.

Interesting.

Yup--although it's not all that different from bourbon. A nice whiskey though, if it wasn't so overpriced due to it's popularity/image I'd buy it more often.

[Beirut]

Yup--although it's not all that different from bourbon. A nice whiskey though, if it wasn't so overpriced due to it's popularity/image I'd buy it more often.

The problem is the 80 proof Canadian import JD tastes harsher (and not in a good way) than the pure 101 stuff that y'all get down there. Not the same quality it seems.

I had a taste of the JD Single Barrel at the "luxury" booze store in Montreal last summer. Not at all pleasent. It was beyond smokey, it tasted like a burnt piece of wood. Very sad. I was looking forward to something really special. Who knows, maybe the single barrel stuff was cut as well before it came north. Such a perversion if true.

As far as top shelf bourbon goes, Knob Creek is just about only one we see on a semi-regular basis around here. (Quebec is big on beer, wine and vodka, with a good amount of scotch drinkers as well. But the bourbon crowd is fed mostly with luck.)

Tasty.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

The problem is the 80 proof Canadian import JD tastes harsher (and not in a good way) than the pure 101 stuff that y'all get down there. Not the same quality it seems.

I don't think it's ever been 101 proof. Originally was 90 I believe, but they got bought out and the proof was dropped to 86 and then down to 80.

I had a taste of the JD Single Barrel at the "luxury" booze store in Montreal last summer. Not at all pleasent. It was beyond smokey, it tasted like a burnt piece of wood. Very sad. I was looking forward to something really special. Who knows, maybe the single barrel stuff was cut as well before it came north. Such a perversion if true.

Yah, JD is very smokey. Matter of taste I suppose. Like I said, the reason it's so popular is that it's so well known and marketed as a manly man's drink. As for quality it's more on the $10 a fifth level. Still good but not as good as makers, wild turkey etc. even though it's priced at that level.

The bottle design is one of the best:

As far as top shelf bourbon goes, Knob Creek is just about only one we see on a semi-regular basis around here. (Quebec is big on beer, wine and vodka, with a good amount of scotch drinkers as well. But the bourbon crowd is fed mostly with luck.)

Tasty.
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v.../knobcreek.jpg

I'd like to try it some time. I'm always wary of the top shelf stuff because it's common sense that there's a point where you can't improve the bourbon anymore, and that the companies will push beyond that point just because people will pay for it. I'd like to try the wild turkey rare breed/kentucky spirit stuff as well.

[Beirut]

I don't think it's ever been 101 proof. Originally was 90 I believe, but they got bought out and the proof was dropped to 86 and then down to 80.

Really? Hmmm, I'm going to have to educate myself on the matter.

Yah, JD is very smokey. Matter of taste I suppose. Like I said, the reason it's so popular is that it's so well known and marketed as a manly man's drink. As for quality it's more on the $10 a fifth level. Still good but not as good as makers, wild turkey etc. even though it's priced at that level.

You words fall as from a sophisticated palate.

The bottle design is one of the best:

Indeedely-doodely. It is a great looking bottle.

I'd like to try it some time. I'm always wary of the top shelf stuff because it's common sense that there's a point where you can't improve the bourbon anymore, and that the companies will push beyond that point just because people will pay for it. I'd like to try the wild turkey rare breed/kentucky spirit stuff as well.

Interesting point. I guess what we're looking for is particular refinements of taste, which we (I?) might imagine are best achieved in an expensive bottle. (Perhaps a naive if not ignorant mindset, but an applicable one none the less.) This level of sweetness with that level of gusto, or however you might describe it. Evan Williams Single Barrel is a good example. Right off you can tell its a very well made bourbon, very clean, smooth, light, but too sweet for me as well as my buddy who bought a bottle. A "lesser" bourbon, Jim Beam Black Label, for example, is not as clean or smooth, but I find it tastier and not sweet at all.

On the other hand, you can have a Wild Turkey bourbon which is just damn near perfect in all regards. My buddy tried the ten year-old Russels's Reserve and likes it better than all others, including the Rare Breed, which I have yet to try.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Evan Williams Single Barrel is a good example. Right off you can tell its a very well made bourbon, very clean, smooth, light, but too sweet for me as well as my buddy who bought a bottle.

Picked up a bottle of this the other week--very sweet as you say. Sweetest smelling substance I've ever come across. I love it Always liked the flavor of evan williams, makes a nice contrast to the wild turkey. Nice to mix it up, and the single barrel is a darn good price.

I'll leave ya'll with a mint julep recipe I came across by one Judge Soule Smith:

"By the brookside the mint grows. As the little wavelets pass they glide up to kiss the feet of the the growing mint, the mint bends to salute them. Gracious and kind it is, living only for the sake of others. ... When the Blue Grass begins to shoot its gentle sprays towards the sun, mint comes, and its sweetest soul drinks at the crystal brook. It is virgin then. But soon it must be married to Old Bourbon. His great heart, his warmth of temperament, and that affinity which no one understands demand the wedding. How shall it be? Take from the cold spring some water, pure as angel's are; mix it with sugar till it seems like oil. Then take a glass and crush your mint within it with a spoon--crush it around the borders of the glass and leave no place untouched. Then throw the mint away--it is a sacrifice. Fill with cracked ice the glass; pour in the quantity of Bourbon which you want. It trickles slowly through the ice. Let it have time to cool, then pour your sugared water over it. No spoon is needed; no stirring allowed--just let it stand a moment. Then around the rim place sprigs of mint, so that the one who drinks may find taste and odor at one draft. Then when it is made, sip it slowly. August suns are shining, the breath of the south wind is upon you. It is fragrant, cold, sweet - it is seductive. No maiden's kiss is more tenderer or more refreshing; no maiden's touch could be more passionate. Sip it and dream, you cannot dream amiss. Sip it and dream, it is a dream itself... Sip it and say there is no solace for the soul, no tonic for the body like Old Bourbon".

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Reading this, the fact that I don't have any mint makes me feel like a heathen

[Alexanderofmacedon]

Wodka und mehr wodka.

[Adrian II]

The bottle design is one of the best:

Now that's a mighty fine bottle indeed, Sir.

It is a pity that Camus bottles all look like large effeminate perfume vials. Horrible design. But the contents are unsurpassed, nothing can change that. I pour the entire contents into an old crystal decanter and never look back.

[Beirut]

Now that's a mighty fine bottle indeed, Sir.

It is a pity that Camus bottles all look like large effeminate perfume vials. Horrible design. But the contents are unsurpassed, nothing can change that. I pour the entire contents into an old crystal decanter and never look back.

I just Googled the Camus bottle, doesn't look that bad. Is that the best stuff? $$$? I know very little about cognac.

As for crystal decanters, a few years back our SAQ (Quebec government booze stores) ordered a special series of very old scotch to be put in extra fancy crystal decanters and sold for one arm and half-a-leg. Problem is, once they hit the shelves, they found out the lead was leeching from the crystal into the scotch. Hello toilet bowl! What a waste.

[drone]

Rumple Minze, tastes almost as good coming up as it does going down. Leaves your breath minty fresh!

But seriously, never been much of a hard liquor type. Vodka is about the only kind I'll drink, either straight shots or mixed with Sprite. Don't really like whiskeys or gin, and had bad experiences with rum in college and the taste just turns me off now. Tequila is ok, but vodka is preferable.

I could drive a couple of hours west and get some good 'shine though...

[Reverend Joe]

Yup--although it's not all that different from bourbon. A nice whiskey though, if it wasn't so overpriced due to it's popularity/image I'd buy it more often.

Excuse me? Jack Daniel's, not all that different from Bourbon? Were it not for your further words of wisdom, I would be inclined to call you out as a buffoon, sir.

I understand how it could be somewhat similar -- for the most part, it is brewed the same -- but the ending flavor of Jack Daniel's is nothing like proper bourbon, if I may say so myself. It has always tasted terribly sweet to me, to the point of being viscous. In fact, I would daresay that the only other Bourbon-ish drink that is sweeter (and a greater mark of shame upon American liquor) is the abomination known as Southern Comfort. Talk about Bourbon mixed with fruit punch.

@Beirut: Knob Creek is actually a little too alcoholic for me. It's a damn good whisky, but I find that the 100-proof alcohol content interferes with the flavor.

By the by, how do you (everyone) mix your egg-nog-and-bourbon? I have been told that my personal preference is far too intense; I generally mix about 2-3 parts bourbon to one part egg nog. It lets me taste both the egg nog and the bourbon, and I can drink enough to get loaded without giving myself an instant coronary from all that egg nog.

Edit: Adrian...



You want a bottle? That's a bottle. It is designed in the fashion of old frontier whisky bottles, complete with a cork cap. It also happens to be my favorite whisky, ever, ever, ever. It's really rich and very smooth for its strength. Of course, it's also around $25 a fifth, so it's definitely a special-occasion whisky.

[Beirut]

Were it not for your further words of wisdom, I would be inclined to call you out as a buffoon, sir.

Unlikely in the Frontroom, sir.

[Adrian II]

Unlikely in the Frontroom, sir.

I am sure the Reverend was only joking, dear friend.

Camus is my favourite, maybe Hennesy is better. But I like my familliar tasting and smelling glass now and then after dinner, no need to go hoity-toity about it (um, is hoity-toity a word at all?).

Reverend, your bottle rocks. Image-wise your Bulleit is right on the mark. Now allow me to point out a great cognac in the kind of vessel it deserves: Hine Grande Champagne, bottled and corked by Monsieur LeBrun himself on a sunny Sunday afternoon in 1928 in the Charente. No frills, no girly nonsense, and I can taste it by looking at it.

Until I think of the price tag of 1000 euro ($1800) ...

[Beirut]

I am sure the Reverend was only joking, dear friend.

But of course. I was merely being pro-active in my over-reactions.

If you buy, by God I'll help you drink it!

[Reverend Joe]

That is a marvelous bottle... if only more bottles had such class.

And speaking of which...



Almost makes me want to start drinking tequila again.

And then I recall the taste of tequila... and retch ever so slightly.

@Sasaki: Yeah, I guess in that context it would seem more like Bourbon. I suppose when your palate becomes more focused on a particular type of whisky, you tend to be more choosy about what is and is not included in that category.

[Mikeus Caesar]

Moving on from my last post here, in all seriousness, my typical hard drink (all i usually drink is the hard stuff) will be Jim Beam. Not because i like it (heaven forbid, awful cheap rubbish) but because it's within my price range. When i can afford it, i like to buy something with a bit more class, such as the beauty that is Bell's Scotch Whisky. Tragically, i've not been able to find any Bell's over here in Oz. I do miss it so. I have many memories drenched in the beautiful essence of that heavenly delight.

[Adrian II]

If you buy, by God I'll help you drink it!

By God you're welcome!

The Reverend's church keeps growing. I consider this a good omen.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Excuse me? Jack Daniel's, not all that different from Bourbon? Were it not for your further words of wisdom, I would be inclined to call you out as a buffoon, sir.

I understand how it could be somewhat similar -- for the most part, it is brewed the same -- but the ending flavor of Jack Daniel's is nothing like proper bourbon, if I may say so myself. It has always tasted terribly sweet to me, to the point of being viscous. In fact, I would daresay that the only other Bourbon-ish drink that is sweeter (and a greater mark of shame upon American liquor) is the abomination known as Southern Comfort. Talk about Bourbon mixed with fruit punch.

Well, on my shelf I have JD, then a few bottles of bourbon, then tequila, rum, gin, vodka, triple sec and vermouth. In that context it's not that different than bourbon--they are both whiskey.

https://img110.imageshack.us/img110/...bourbondw2.jpg

You want a bottle? That's a bottle. It is designed in the fashion of old frontier whisky bottles, complete with a cork cap. It also happens to be my favorite whisky, ever, ever, ever. It's really rich and very smooth for its strength. Of course, it's also around $25 a fifth, so it's definitely a special-occasion whisky.

Heh, that's a neat bottle as well. I find bottle design pretty interesting actually.