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.