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The Rye Scotch Whsiky Whiskey and Bourbon Discussion

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by kindalas, May 14, 2014.

  1. kindalas

    kindalas
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    They are all made in similar ways but no other types of alcohol will get your ass kicked faster then ordering the wrong one in the place at the wrong.

    Each type has its own etiquette that when followed usually makes for a more enjoyable drink.

    Two articles I found discuss the differences between Whisky and Whiskey and the differences between Rye Scotch Whiskey and Bourbon.

    Focus: What is your experience with alcohol aged in barrels? Do the etiquettes and traditions work to make them better? How do you drink them?

    Alt-Focus: What is the most inexcusable combination you've seen someone use as mix. Mountain Dew? Pepsi? Grape Drink?
     

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  2. Nettdata

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    ALT-FOCUS: Frozen yogourt. It was just as disgusting as you'd think it would be.
     
  3. Juice

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  4. john_b

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  5. Hoosiermess

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    I'm not what you'd call an expert by any stretch. I use whiskey as a mixer, try to avoid rye at all costs (we bought a cheap rye for tailgating once, turrible), I'm not sure what I think of Bourbon, and Scotch.... Scotch is responsible for a night of bad decisions that landed me in jail. I have since had a visit with scotch that was amicable and ended well enough. I'm not sure I'm a fan but I could be.
     
  6. CharlesJohnson

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    That was a pleasing list. My favorite so far is Woodford Reserve as well. Bulleit is coming in a close second. Not only is the price alluring, $24, but I find it hearty, full bodied. Bulleit is good for cocktails. I have a problem making an Old Fashioned with expensive Bourbon, but if I can't drink it straight, that's not fun either. You can mask shit vodka. Some good ones: Buffalo Trace, Maker's Mark, Basil Hayden. I don't mind Jack either, but it's overpriced for what it is. If you still have to mix bourbon, get Jim Beam. Don't waste your money drowning something expensive in Coke. Same reason I buy Beefeater's gin because I know I'm just mixing it.

    I like one good sized ice cube. One perfect square cube. Couple fingers. Haven't gotten into Scotches yet, so Bourbon all the way. Perfect amount of smoke and sour. One thing that impresses me about Scotch is the water source. These distilleries are built next to some of the purest water sources in the world. If you're not getting 1000 year old glacial ice, you want it from an area/island in Scotland whose population has never gone above 500 the duration of written history.

    Whiskey production traditions are there because they work. Trial and era over the past few centuries, with men better than ourselves, far nobler, mastering their environments just to make whiskey. Bourbon can get away with aging less because of the climate. Hotter climes allow the liquor to absorb the barrel flavors quickly, which also evaporate the liquid quicker too. It's also why colder Scotland has 50 year old whiskys. More time. An article not long ago said anything over 20 years is probably not going to be much different than something around 30. It kind of hits peek absorption. I'll take their word for it because I can't afford a $400 bottle of Scotch. Although how cool would it be to drink one from your birth year?

    Tell me these aren't some of the prettiest images.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  7. Misanthropic

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    Me either, but I have definite preferences. I like Macallan, Glenmorangie and Ballantines, but I'm too cheap to buy expensive Scotch, so i usually stock Johnnie Walker Black or Double Black.

    As far as Bourbon goes I prefer Maker's Mark and Knob Creek is ok.

    While I'll drink it any way you're pouring it, I prefer to drink whiskey straight/neat. I don't care for the watered down flavor you get with melting ice, and i don't care if it's cold.
     
  8. katokoch

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    I like those bourbons a lot too. Buffalo Trace is my personal pick for a more affordable bottle of sippin' booze and same goes for Jim Beam when mixing with coke or better yet, 7up. I bring Knob Creek with me when camping. My dad hates bourbon and loves scotch so I enjoy that stuff with him (besides everything is better when he pays). He's been on a Glenmorangie fix for awhile and that is a very pleasant, mellow scotch.

    As far as etiquette and how you get it done, I guess a thick glass with an ice cube or two and maybe a touch of water is best. However some of the best glasses of whiskeys I've enjoyed were served in a plastic cup from the back of a pickup truck or sipped from a plastic mug on a camping trip that recently had soup in it. The pomp and circumstance assocated with making and serving some booze can be nice but in my opinion reeks of simply marketing a brand- to me the setting in which you enjoy your booze is more important than the container it's poured from, as long as it's clean.

    Alt-Focus: Milk (and vodka) was a bad choice. Just milk and bottom-shelf vodka. I was desperate.
     
  9. Rush-O-Matic

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    Rare Air

    It's been posted here before (edit: by katokoch), but worth repeating:
    [​IMG]

    I had had BT before, and found Eagle Rare on a deal. I am not a big bourbon drinker, but thought it was terrific. Since when I do have bourbon, I was usaully mixing it with Coke more than enjoying it straight, I figured it was a waste to be buying BT. After looking over this tree I figured Ancient Age will do. It does. Same starting point as BT and ER, just younger. It's obviously not as smooth, but mixing it with Coke makes that sort of irrelevant.
     
  10. AFHokie

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    I get where some of the etiquette comes from, but I fully subscribe the notion: drink what you like how you like. If anyone ever gives you crap about it, politely tell them to fuck off. If they persist, unkindly tell them to fuck off.

    While I do enjoy an occasional old school cocktail like an old fashioned, I rarely mix alcohol with anything other than ice anymore. If I don't like the taste by itself why mask it or drink it in the first place? I really don't get the allure of flavored vodkas. Scratch that; I do and there's a reason they and most 'modern' cocktails are marketed towards women.

    I prefer my spirits chilled so I drink on the rocks and have found one large ice cube superior over many small ones. In my opinion it cools your beverage faster and gives just the right amount of water without watering it down.

    I tend to prefer a lighter scotch (Glenkinchie, Dalwhinnie, some Bunnahabhain's etc) to a smokey/peaty scotch such as Laphroaig. For the most part I agree with Philalawyer's Johnny Walker article, but I'm not really a fan of Blue Label especially once I factor cost. I find Green Label more to my taste. As far as Irish whiskeys go, do yourself a favor and try Red Breast. Interestingly, Connemara is the only peated whiskey I've found to enjoy.

    I like Booker's, Knob Creek, and Buffalo Trace however I cut my teeth with Maker's Mark so its my go to bourbon as well as my "everyday" whiskey. Keep in mind bourbons are aged in virgin barrels whereas scotch is aged in anything from sherry and port barrels to bourbon barrels.

    I'm glad rye whiskeys are making a come back. I like its distinctive taste and supposedly since nobody's ever genetically monkeyed with rye unlike corn a glass of it today should taste roughly the same as anything distilled during the colonial period. I find that a fascinating connection to the past. Plus historically rye was distilled in the area I grew up which was also the heart of the Whiskey Rebellion. The US has a very robust spirits history the the prohibition era damn near killed. I love the fact 'micro distilleries' are the next new and growing thing.
     
  11. Currer Bell

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    Here's a question about rye whiskey:

    I want to try a sazerac, but I don't want to spend the money on a whole bottle of rye whiskey. I haven't seen any mini bottles of american rye whiskey, but I have seen in stock the minis of canadian rye whiskey. Do you think that is similar enough?
     
  12. Revengeofthenerds

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    Alt. Focus: One time I used Korbel champagne as a mixer. 50/50 with light Bacardi rum. In an empty Route 44 Sonic cup. Filled it to the top.

    Yes, I was very drunk (after an Xmas) party when I got the "brilliant idea!" Yes, I drank all of it, though I only know this because my less-drunk/stupid companions told me I did.

    Yes, it was the worst hangover ever.
     
  13. Flat_Rate

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    I like all the distillers mentioned here, unfortunately I am no longer to be trusted around hard liquor so I don't drink much of it anymore.

    Alt focus

    Used to drink beer/bacardi/orange juice in college, I am sure someone has a name for it but it was just terrible for hangovers.
     
  14. AFHokie

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    No, American rye whiskey has a distinctive taste. In order to be called American rye whiskey it has to have at least 51% rye. Most all Canadian rye whiskeys that I know of are blends and the rye component is often only be a small fraction of the overall blend.

    Jim Beam, Wild Turkey, Bulleit and others make a rye. They aren't bad but you can't go wrong trying Old Overholt, Catoctin Creek or Templeton. Sazerac only makes a limited production each year and is very difficult to find. I've never actually tried it, (if you know of a place selling it, please PM me the store) and I can't find it even in liqueur stores near the capital building in DC. Additionally don't be afraid to try a local brand at your bar. Many are quite excellent and discovering a new non-mainstream whiskey is half the fun. The beauty of bourbon and rye is the affordability. Unlike scotch where a top end bottle can easily top $10k (there are a few that are over a million, but they're typically 50-100+ years old) but the most I've ever seen a high end bottle of bourbon or rye sell for about $80. If a place charges more than that, they're trying to rip you off.
     
  15. AFHokie

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    Oh and ALT-FOCUS: I once had a mix of Hennessy and a blue ripit. I only had one and I still felt like shit over 24hrs later when I got on the helo the next night. I'm not a fan of energy drinks and I'm sure the year of forced sobriety didn't help, but fuck that was nasty.

    For those of you who have no idea what a ripit is, I like to call them our generation's version of the Lucky Strike. Only found in deployed locations and likely to disappear when we redeploy everyone home from the mideast. There's even a link: http://www.ripitenergy.com/site/
     
  16. Revengeofthenerds

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    Alt. Focus: Hypnotiq and Hennessey. It's technically a drink called the "Incredible Hulk," and I can see why they name it that: it's an exact match for the Hulk costume, and it makes you convinced you can Hulk-smash anything and everything.

    Also, if you're smart (unlike me), don't chase "the Incredible Hulk" drink with a vodka and sprite. The theory of "this will help" was proven wrong.

    Know that feeling when you wake up, and your fingers/hands are so mangled you feel like, for their structural sake, you should go to the doctor... yet you can't come up with a good excuse for how they got that way?
     
  17. Crown Royal

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    I'm a lover of North American ryes and bourbons, but have not got into scotch yet. What I know is this:

    Canada: Rye.
    USA: Bourbon.

    My friends think I'm odd for liking bourbon more than rye, almost as if its treasonous for a Canadian to drink bourbon. Can't help it. USA is the best whiskey maker. Hell, the ones I love I can name proudly:

    Booker's Small Batch
    Four Roses
    Woodford Reserve
    Jack Daniel's (Silver Select is da BOMB)
    Elijah Craig
    Knob Creek
    Wild Turkey (Aged 12 Years)
    Elmer T. Lee
    Maker's Mark

    Up here good ones include Wiser's, OFC, Crown Royal, Old Canada, Canadian Club and the mother lode: Forty Creek.

    With whiskey I've pulled back more and more on mix, I usually use a cola or ginger ale splash on the rocks. Its the one liquor I enjoy drinking straight, whiskey is a soul mate with cigars which I enjoy immensely as well.
     
  18. Currer Bell

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    This kind of sounds gross, but it's easy to get the mini bottles of both of these so I'm going to try it anyway. The name of it is what tickles me. I guess this will be my fireball challenge.
     
  19. thisisajs

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    I got lucky this past winter...

    [​IMG]
     
  20. zzr

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    How did you acquire that rarity? I've never even seen one in person.

    My favorite Bourbon so far is still Woodford Reserve. I prefer bourbon over Scotch by a wide margin. My wife bought me a bottle of Glenlivet 16 year Nadurra for our anniversary one year. I just didn't like it as well as any medium-priced bourbon.