Back when I was a good, non-drinking, ill-informed, scared Mormon, I believed I would become a gutter-crawling alcoholic if I ever drank alcohol. I was wrong. I have maybe a drink a week, sometimes two, and sometimes it's weeks between drinks. Woo! Party on!

I was running errands yesterday. Christopher Hitchens was on my mind. A North Carolina state liquor store was up ahead. Hitch liked Johnnie Walker Black. I hadn't had scotch in a long time.

Though I'd been in this liquor store before, it suddenly hit me how normal the experience was. The store was normal (just go to the scotch section and grab a bottle) but, more importantly, *I* was normal. No feelings of shame, sinfulness and failure. It felt no different from buying milk at a convenience store. (A nice, uncluttered, skeevy-character-free convenience store.)

So, after dinner, I settled into my easy chair with a book and a bit of Johnnie Walker Black, neat. I sipped as I read. How civilized. How Normal.

I felt the same thing. If I allowed any alcohol at all into my body, I will have tainted or corrupted myself and brought shame to my ancestors. I've been drinking now for about ten years, and I do it with about the same frequency as you. Maybe twice a week. Big whoop.

BTW, I tried Johnny Walker Black for the first time last month, and it's so good I wanted to lick the glass clean.

I love the glenlivet 12 yrs aged.....one cube of ice (distilled water)

It is more complex.

I love Glenfiddich 15 year scotch. It is a good price-point for me.

And yeah: it's the most normal thing in the world.

Cheers, to a cultured life!

If you get a chance find some Ben Nevis. The 10yr is moderatly priced. Might have to order it.

being. But, I do have to correct you on this. Drinking a BLENDED Scotch is NEVER civilized! ;)

Normally I'm a vodka or tequila guy.

Amen to the Lagavulin 16 an awesome beverage!

I would have to beg to differ, although I was of the same opinion for several years. However, as I've aged and traveled and tippled a bit more than my share, I've discovered the simple pleasure of a well blended, or especially a vatted Scotch. Famous Grouse, Pinch, Johnnie Walkers, red through green (I've had the blue and find it vastly over rated and insanely overpriced), even Dewars Gold is pretty damn fine. And then there's Duggan's Dew. Well under 25 bucks a bottle (and usually, that bottle is a liter)and bottled at the now unfashionable 43.5% abv, they use a generous amount of very smoky and peaty Islay whiskey for the bottom note.

All that said, If you like JW Black, you've got to try Lagavulin 16. You'll go crazy.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/05/2012 02:50PM by jaredsotherbrother.

I haven't had one that wasn't amazing. It's a shame that I had to be over 50 when I first tried those. I just finished a bottle of Oban - it took me 2 years, so I haven't turned into a raging alcoholic.

Sounds great!! I'm a whiskey lover too. If you want an exceptionally smooth drink, try "Red Breast" Irish whiskey. It's a single pot still and is very smooth, almost a creamy essence like a brandy, but still very much a whiskey. I buy the 12 year because its a bit cheaper than the 15 year, and very good. I'll have to compare the 15 year sometime.

I like it straight with 2 - 3 ice cubes in a tumbler.

Redbreast is hands down, my favorite Irish whiskey, and I've had all the super-premiums. I love that you can still taste the Jameson in it; keeps it honest.

I have tried a fairly broad variety of single malts and my favorite for the last few years is "The Balvenie Double Wood".....I was tempted by a bottle of Blavenie 21 Year Old last Feb. In Palm Springs at BevMo but it was $180...so I passed...

Th 21 year old sherry or port finish is pretty spectacular but Lagavulin 16 is just as good for half the price.

I've been trying to develop a taste for Lagavulin, but I'm not quite there yet. One of the high end liquor store in Lethbridge has Scotch tastings and I must avail myself of the opportunity to expand my knowledge the next time they have one...

"Th 21 year old sherry or port finish is pretty spectacular but Lagavulin 16 is just as good for half the price."

That's like saying that porterhouse steak is pretty spectacular but chuck roast is just as good for half the price.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/06/2012 02:07PM by jaredsotherbrother.

I drank scotch when it had fallen out of fashion. Yeah if you want to pop for the single malts then that's one thing but the blended stuff is a pleasure as well.

I was a Johnny Walker guy back when there was only red or black. Most the time I would drink red on the rocks. Sometimes Chivas.

I was a member of the Green Street club in Salt Lake City and I was always sitting out on a nice summer night sipping my scotch on the rocks.

To be honest. There is a lot of hocus pocus and snobbery in the alcoholic beverage world. It's a lot like the clothing industry. Sure there are premium products but some of the stuff you pay extra for really isn't worth the extra price. Also, a lot of it is buying the brand. Talk to someone in their 80's who have made wine their whole lives about all the up and coming new wineries and they will have a good laugh at it. The wine world has gone insane over the last 30 years.

I agree....if it tastes good, I don't care if it's cheap....mores the better if it is...I know zero about wine, other than I like drinking it....same with single malts...no grey area there for me I like it or I don't based solely on taste. Some of the blends are very nice also...but paying $50 for a shot of Johnny Walker Blue is just STUPID!

to honor the denizens of france, where i went on my "safari" i started with brandy, cognac, armagnac, calvados and red wine.

one day i will make it to scotch.

so much to drink, so little time.

agree on the normality of going to a store.

I always expect to see the lds kids there pulling a "hey mister"

You can use Michel Couvreur Vatted whiskey as a bridge between the two cultures. It's made in Scotland and aged and vatted in Burgundy. And. It. Is. Delicious.

jaredsotherbrother Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You can use Michel Couvreur Vatted whiskey as a
> bridge between the two cultures. It's made in
> Scotland and aged and vatted in Burgundy. And. It.
> Is. Delicious.


I love fusion cuisine. thanks for the advice

...the normalcy of buying and enjoying alcohol would swerve off into a discussion about the merits of various scotches. The same happens whenever beer or wine are mentioned. Sigh.

Does this phenomenom not show how normalized we have all become?

When groups og guys get together, they'll talk about sports and/or cars, because (among a great many other reasons) those are relaible NORMAL subjects.

If scotch and the merits of various kinds are bandied about, that just shows the normality of the topic.

The last bottle of whisky that I bought, I bought directly from the Talisker distillery on the Isle of Skye in Scotland - after a tour through the distillery; very interesting!

I stayed in a B&B just nearby and the operator's husband had just retired from working at the distillery. In hallway he had a huge collection of various Talisker whiskies that he had collected over his career. (http://www.langal-skye.co.uk/info.html if anyone is ever on Skye - great B&B)

Super nice people! And the local pub was fab... and of course the scenary...and the highland cows... and the loch... ahhhh... I didn't want to leave.

Every sip takes me right back there.

Adding - it was civilised too! ... except the midges, they were barbaric!!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/06/2012 07:41PM by spaghetti oh.

Talisker is my desert island scotch, used to be Lagavulin, but I've mellowed.

I can't drink scotch anymore. Made my farts smell like butterscotch.....and I never new if it was butt or scotch.

Walker?

That stuff tastes like turpentine.

I'm not sure what kind of U.S.A. equivalent there is to Gibsons 12yr Canadian wiskey, but one thing for sure, it's not Walker. It's a rye wiskey.
Once you try Gibsons Walker tastes like crap.
That's crap rolling the r in scots style.

I haven't got access to the U.s.a. wiskey like Woodford Reserve, Makers Mark, Knob Creek or Bookers, in my little city.

One night it would be fun to do a wiskey comparison taste test.

My husband and I did that 2 years ago, with 3 wiskeys we bought from our local store.
Wiskey and pepsi...oh yum
in moderation of course!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/07/2012 01:31AM by steve benson.