I can only assume that they like it for the same reason that I like blue cheese. Somehow the intense, offensive flavor offends the taste buds in just the right way to tickle the pleasure center.
Friends and I did a big hot wings challenge a week or two ago. I made blue cheese dip, and thought it was Delicious. They made me throw it away because it “stank up the house.”
Sips, a drop of water or two, with a good quality single malt or an extremely good quality blend (nothing Johnny Walker for example). Depending on the Scotch there can be Smokey caramel flavours, peaty salty, heavy flavours, some lite fruit tones, etc.
Its not for knocking back in shots, blends are nice with mixers, but if youre sipping a Johnny Walker red you are probably going to think this is shit because it is.
If you ever get the chance to try a really nice single malt I suggest you give it a try with just a couple of drops of water to open it up a bit. Then some gentle sips, enough to coat your mouth and spread the flavours.
Its like a nice cigar. Very rough if youre doing it wrong, very enjoyable if you do it right. I know most people will say “yuck, cigars are gross too”, but the point is that there is a way to approach these things that make them much more enjoyable to the point where people genuinely like them and the routine that goes with it.
Other than a good single malt, my favorite drink with a cigar is Dr. Pepper on ice. I was a member of a cigar club for several years, and the manager and resident cigar sommelier suggested it. Surprisingly good. The ice breaks down the carbonation a bit, and the spice and caramel of the soda goes surprisingly well with many cigars.
This is only tangentially related to your post, but it just popped into my head when you were mentioning cigars.
same kind of thing with coffee. most of it is brewed terribly, usually over extracted, and then sit on a burner all day. Brew it up right and the flavors dance about. Single origin is the way to go; along with location, elevation profile makes a difference as well.
I think I had some decent single malts as my father quite enjoys whiskey, but I still think it’s horrible. It could be an acquired taste, I suppose, but I don’t know why I would want to acquire it tbh
There is no objective taste reality, so there is no false reality. Taste is a complex experience of actual taste, aroma, texture, memories (your grandma used to cook that way), setting, hunger (ever been hungry on a long hiking trip?) - what ever combination gives you pleasurable experience, tastes good for you.
Whenever people start talking about their sensed experience in objective terms I get a strong urge to hit myself over the head with a 2x4. Explain that with your rationality, Mr science man.
“Yankees” was the unofficial term of the people of the Union (who won the war and became the united states) vs the Confederates (“Rebs”) who supported slavery
it depends. Those foreign to the US are likely to say “yanks” to mean all Americans, but Americans may find it slightly odd to refer to Southerners as Yankees.
In the same way as calling a Catholic from Belfast “British” - it’s true but it could feel a little awkward.
It’s hard to see from the image, but if it’s like fields here, the lines you see dividing each “patch” are usually large enough / cleared enough to drive on.
Video is 8 years old, I think it’s a true story at least based on what I read. Also the fact that his own video doesn’t mention this in the thumbnail/title makes me think it’s real.
The Wee Beasty is also very very good. My local shop has a couple of $100+ releases from Laphroaig that seem more trendy than anything else, but I’m still tempted. My wife would probably leave me if she knew I was willing to go into triple digits MSRP for a bottle… which is probably how we ended up with this thread.
I used to think Laphroaig was the poor man’s Lagavulin, but now I don’t believe there’s a single poor man’s thing about the brand.
After seeing this video for the first time, I watched some of his others.
Seemed to be a pretty standard review channel until it hit me in the face:
His earliest videos review restaurants together with his wife. Then it transitions to reviewing bars, then only him sitting in front of his camera at home reviewing whisky. Until the iconic video of his wife leaving him.
Most of these vids were only watched by a couple people, and he reviewed a new bottle of whisky almost every day.
His Youtube channel documents his slow decline and slip into alcoholism. Dude must have drank several bottles of booze per week off camera, for years.
I used to buy for a liquor store. There are tons of whiskey people who open bottles but don’t finish them. He might be an alcoholic or he could be one of those guys. We don’t know why they broke up.
Even if he had only one drink every time, it’s still a form of alcoholism to do so every single day (as the previous commenter alluded to). It’ll still devolve into compulsive behavior.
If he has a single drink a day he’s not an alcoholic by most standards. It’s only in the trash DARE adjacent programs that nonsense like that is taught.
Agreed. I have about 20 open bottles of different whiskeys right now. I’ll probably have a glass or two each week.
You can have a very robust collection of whiskey and also drink in moderation. I know when I buy a new bottle I’m excited to try it, and the seal usually doesn’t last for longer than a day.
You can store whiskey for a very long time if the bottle is over halfway full. Keep them upright and away from the sun and they’ll last for many years and still hold their taste. You might lose some due to evaporation though.
…we have about two hundred opened single malt whiskies and it takes us years and years to finish any one bottle; two or three wee drams are usually plenty to review fairly, maybe twice if we want to come back another day for a second opinion…
But if you buy and try a new bottle every other day and don’t finish it, they will pile up over time and eventually go bad. The amount you buy must be equal to the amount you drink in the long term.
…whisky really doesn’t ever go bad as long as the bottle is sealed; we use teflon plumber’s tape around the neck for long-term storage but there are other solutions, too…
If you are serious about help, and you are still early in the process, just one less bottle per night every day for a week, then the next week one less than that.
It takes will power, but if you want it you can do it. It doesn’t have to be cold turkey. If you are at a six pack a night, or a 4 pack of some 12% ones you can wean yourself off nightly binge drinking in a month or two.
When you are down to one a night, switch it to one every other night… Then don’t buy any for a week. Then you can figure out how to drink more responsibility.
If you are to the point where you drink one when you wake up, you will need medical detox. If you wait… You will probably eventually die from alcohol related diseases.
Thanks for reaching out. I’m at 12-15 6-9%s every night. Once or twice a week I’ll drink one or two before I leave for work so that the worst of the hangover hits at home/ can be staved off with another beer once I get back. I truly appreciate your sentiment and want to use this to give me some momentum to quit. I know I’ll have the shakes and be super sweaty for a week, but I can work with that. I quit meth, alcohol and smoking before, I can kick beer again. I think part of the problem is it’s a lesser issue than the other stuff I quit so I let myself keep slipping. Again, thank you
Genuinely, I encourage you to see a doctor first- at that rate you have a good chance of serious alcohol withdrawal. It is more dangerous than heroin withdrawal and the symptoms can range from sweats and shakes up to seizure and death.
Quitting booze will improve your life immeasurably but you need to do it with the assistance of a doctor or GP, your life depends on it. I believe in you, mate.
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