Friday, December 21, 2007
Scotchless
Daryl's post about everyday scotch below is particularly helpful today, as I find myself without the good bottle of scotch I was hinting (and hinting, and hinting) about for my birthday yesterday. Nobody took the bait. Probably my own fault, couching my desires so obliquely as "You could get me some Talisker" or "Hey, maybe some Talisker."
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Everyday Drinking
So like most of us, I just don't have a lot of cash but do enjoy having a little bit of whisky/whiskey at the end of a hard day. Not a lot, maybe a finger or finger and a half in my favorite tumbler. But that can be hard on the old wallet when we're looking at quality single-malt scotches. What to do?
At the nearest liquor store to me, there are a couple of $25 single-malts. Both are not bad, but the problem being that if they are more than a decent bottle of bourbon or rye, then what go for it? So I made myself a challenge. Find a moderately priced blended scotch that's close to $20 to be the "everyday" drink. Fortunately, in my house, my former roommates had left a couple of bottles of just this sort of thing behind. One was a gift bottle of Ballentine's Finest and the other was Dewar's White Label. To this mix I added a bottle of the Famous Grouse based up on reviews of the bottle on Whisky Magazine's website.
I didn't consider several bottles for a few reasons. Price eliminated Johnnie Walker Black Label, Chivas Regal, and the Pinch. Reviews and my personal aversion to trying liquor that I used to see on billboards in my youth eliminated Cutty Sark and J&B. Just out of laziness, I didn't try Vat 69 and a few other cheap bottles on the second to the bottom shelf (the Grouse had that honor).
I found the Ballentine's to be pretty nondescript. Not bad, not great. Earthy while average. It didn't distinguish itself to me enough that I thought I would consider it for the "everyday bottle."
Dewar's White Label was good, but a bit light for my tastes. It also scored okay on the Whisky Magazine website compared to other cheaper blends. I can understand why it would be as popular as it is. I'm not impressed by their ad campaign, but that's besides the point. As with Ballentine's, I found the flavor at the start to be typically scotch, but failed to give me greater complexity on the back end. It's good for a party where you'd like to have a bottle. I would have considered this an everyday bottle except that it was also three dollars more expensive than the Famous Grouse.
I looked at a couple of places for the Grouse. One on Mass Ave had it for about three dollars more than the other place, which in addition to being cheaper is also closer to home. The second place had the bottles on the bottom shelf collecting dust. I was curious about this one because I had read that it is the best selling scotch in Scotland, had decent reviews on the Whisky Magazine website (same as above), and well, I saw it at the bar at the opera my girlfriend had me go to. So all that, it had a lot of build up to it. In the end, I was a bit apprehensive, but not disappointed. It was a bit unusual to my palate, a bit sweeter than what I had imagined. Almost American in the sense it was sweet, but not fruity. Kind of like a scotch/bourbon hybrid. It's darker than either Dewars or Ballentine, and I like that. I've noticed that I do tend to like my whisky darker. So for the time being, until I find a better, cheap whisky, I reckon the Famous Grouse wins out for being flavorful enough, cheap enough, and not giving me a raging headache. Although there was that strange dream about drowning in an elevator.....
At the nearest liquor store to me, there are a couple of $25 single-malts. Both are not bad, but the problem being that if they are more than a decent bottle of bourbon or rye, then what go for it? So I made myself a challenge. Find a moderately priced blended scotch that's close to $20 to be the "everyday" drink. Fortunately, in my house, my former roommates had left a couple of bottles of just this sort of thing behind. One was a gift bottle of Ballentine's Finest and the other was Dewar's White Label. To this mix I added a bottle of the Famous Grouse based up on reviews of the bottle on Whisky Magazine's website.
I didn't consider several bottles for a few reasons. Price eliminated Johnnie Walker Black Label, Chivas Regal, and the Pinch. Reviews and my personal aversion to trying liquor that I used to see on billboards in my youth eliminated Cutty Sark and J&B. Just out of laziness, I didn't try Vat 69 and a few other cheap bottles on the second to the bottom shelf (the Grouse had that honor).
I found the Ballentine's to be pretty nondescript. Not bad, not great. Earthy while average. It didn't distinguish itself to me enough that I thought I would consider it for the "everyday bottle."
Dewar's White Label was good, but a bit light for my tastes. It also scored okay on the Whisky Magazine website compared to other cheaper blends. I can understand why it would be as popular as it is. I'm not impressed by their ad campaign, but that's besides the point. As with Ballentine's, I found the flavor at the start to be typically scotch, but failed to give me greater complexity on the back end. It's good for a party where you'd like to have a bottle. I would have considered this an everyday bottle except that it was also three dollars more expensive than the Famous Grouse.
I looked at a couple of places for the Grouse. One on Mass Ave had it for about three dollars more than the other place, which in addition to being cheaper is also closer to home. The second place had the bottles on the bottom shelf collecting dust. I was curious about this one because I had read that it is the best selling scotch in Scotland, had decent reviews on the Whisky Magazine website (same as above), and well, I saw it at the bar at the opera my girlfriend had me go to. So all that, it had a lot of build up to it. In the end, I was a bit apprehensive, but not disappointed. It was a bit unusual to my palate, a bit sweeter than what I had imagined. Almost American in the sense it was sweet, but not fruity. Kind of like a scotch/bourbon hybrid. It's darker than either Dewars or Ballentine, and I like that. I've noticed that I do tend to like my whisky darker. So for the time being, until I find a better, cheap whisky, I reckon the Famous Grouse wins out for being flavorful enough, cheap enough, and not giving me a raging headache. Although there was that strange dream about drowning in an elevator.....
Thursday, December 13, 2007
The Truth About Bond, James Bond
If you've never looked at this website, you really should. Make Mine A 007 is a great site and this page has the stats on the literary Bond. If you combine bourbon and scotch drinks, as the Minister notes, Bond is definitely a whisky man.
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