Neoteric wrote:
] I find that there are three different archetypes for
] appreciators of strong spirit. You have your: a) vodka
] person b) tequila person c) whiskey person. (Rum and Gin don't
] count. Rum's sole purpose is to be mixed. Gin's sole purpose
] is to be mixed with tonic water and a small wedge of lime.)

I beg to differ. Any decent Rum is best enjoyed straight up. There are armies of rum drinkers. Pirates for instance... Go out and get yourself a bottle of Captain Morgan's Private Stock, drink some.. Go "arrrrrr.." Take a Caribbean cruise.

Gin sucks. I hate Gin. I don't believe you dismiss Rum in the same manor as Gin.

There is no good cheap Scotch. To actually enjoy Scotch, you must be a Scotch snob. Good Scotch comes in wooden boxes. At liquor stores, they keep it in a glass case. Everything that does not fall into that snob class of Scotch, usually sucks. I'm going to show up at your door and break 5 different Kentucky bourbon whiskey bottles over your head. Drill some sense into you. Get you back in touch with the south.

Neoteric wrote:
] ] The rugged terrain of Scotland has enduring travel
] ] appeal, particularly for Americans who have so much of
] ] Scotland scattered across their bloodlines. There is an
] ] aspect of visiting Scotland that I keep with me at all
] ] times, before after and during a trip, and that is the
] ] geographically informed enjoyment of Scotch whisky.
]
] I'm a scotch whiskey person.
]
] I find that there are three different archetypes for
] appreciators of strong spirit. You have your: a) vodka
] person

Vodka is totally meant to be mixed. In fact, I can't think of a single person in this hemisphere who would drink that crap straight.

b) tequila person

Fair enough, but most tequila is probably consumed in Margaritas. The only tequila worth drinking straight is not even the refined "Jose Queervo" style garbage, but rather Mezcal. If it doesn't have the agave worm, then it ain't worth drinking straight.

c) whiskey person.

Don't dare denigrate the wonderful importance and enjoyability of our nation's lifes-blood, rum! From the days of pirates through the Trade Triangle and the fires of the American revolution, Rum has enjoyed a rich heritage as our regional treasure. I wouldn't be suprised if Ponce De Leon's search for the fountain of youth ended in Barbados with a heaping coconut full of Black rum. Dark rum, with it's robust taste of molasses and sugar cane renders vodka into something akin to rubbing alcohol. Anyone who wastes dark rum on a mixed drink has no right drinking spirits at all. They can return to the Budwieser frat farm where they belong. Rum is a spectacular drink! It has its admirers and they will defend it far fiercer than William Wallace did Scotland! Rum is the drink of winners and scotch is the drink of cryers!

Also, whiskey should not be lumped into one group. Bourbon, Scotch, Irish, and good old American whiskey are as different from one another as apples and oranges. One drinks bourbon for an entirely different reason than they would scotch and only a man with no tastebuds drinks Jack Daniels. Now, Wild Turkey 101, aged 8 years, may be the drink of the gods.

There are also drinkers of Everclear. They are the ones who could bitchslap the both of us.

]
] Anyways here's a nice starter guide to scotch whiskey. They
] even have a nice little map
] (http://www.dcs.ed.ac.uk/home/jhb/whisky/scotland.html) of
] scotland with the location of each distillery labeled, though
] it's missing both the islay and jura distilleries.

Vile wrote:
]
] Vodka is totally meant to be mixed. In fact, I can't think of
] a single person in this hemisphere who would drink that crap
] straight.

I think you're limited by geography. In among those that live in NYC and those that are serious alcholics, it seems that straight vodka (cold) is the shot of choice... I still don't understand it. I'll drink it, but I certainly don't prefer it.

[ snip... snip... snip...]

]
] Don't dare denigrate the wonderful importance and enjoyability
] of our nation's lifes-blood, rum! From the days of pirates
] through the Trade Triangle and the fires of the American
] revolution, Rum has enjoyed a rich heritage as our regional
] treasure. I wouldn't be suprised if Ponce De Leon's search
] for the fountain of youth ended in Barbados with a heaping
] coconut full of Black rum. Dark rum, with it's robust taste
] of molasses and sugar cane renders vodka into something akin
] to rubbing alcohol. Anyone who wastes dark rum on a mixed
] drink has no right drinking spirits at all. They can return
] to the Budwieser frat farm where they belong. Rum is a
] spectacular drink! It has its admirers and they will defend
] it far fiercer than William Wallace did Scotland! Rum is the
] drink of winners and scotch is the drink of cryers!
]

I stand corrected. Apperently there exist the crazy crazy's that are willing to drink straight rum. But in my mind strong spirits are those liquors that you drink straight and enjoy the taste.

] Also, whiskey should not be lumped into one group. Bourbon,
] Scotch, Irish, and good old American whiskey are as different
] from one another as apples and oranges. One drinks bourbon
] for an entirely different reason than they would scotch and
] only a man with no tastebuds drinks Jack Daniels. Now, Wild
] Turkey 101, aged 8 years, may be the drink of the gods.
]

I definitely make a very clear distinction between burbon, whiskey, and scotch. Many people don't. To them it's golden colored vomit in a glass. But to me it's more. There's a something magical about the twinkle of the early evening night in my glass of scotch.

For the record my favorite drink is still Aberlour a'bunadh. Cast strength and very mellow. A little bit of ice or water is just enough to bring out the full experiance.

Aberlour a'bunadh