Things you just don't get - Page 363

That aftertaste is the whole point!

Maybe you had some super peaty Islay monster?

There's obviously a thread for this, but there's a pretty wide range in taste for "scotch", with all kinds of different aftertastes. I can see not liking peat, and can really understand not liking medicinal. But plenty out there without either of those elements.

I'm not sure, I know I hated J&B, I hated Balvienie (sp?), hated Glenfiddich... I don't know much about it, honestly.

I don't get people that don't like white liquor.

Hi!

I just don't like liquor in general. I won't turn down a fine whiskey or brandy if it's offered but I don't do shots or mixed drinks.

You and I both know I've never gotten you!

Can you not afford him?

Well, I get total at the thought of vodka. Really--here is a liquor where as the quality goes up and as you pay more, it tastes like less. I want my liquor to taste like something; more specifically, something other than whatever I mixed it with + alcohol. That was great when I was a freshman in college--now, not so much.

Gin, I don't hate, but I definitely don't love. I will drink it in some mixed drinks, but I have not had many mixed drinks made with it that I loved. Pretty much a negroni or some variation thereof is the only thing I've had made with it that I will drink happily, though I will drink a G&T if it's all that's around. This could admittedly be part of a positive feedback loop where because I don't like gin cocktails, I don't try them, and so I never find any that I like.

I do actually like nice tequilas, and this obviously excludes things like eau de vie.

In my experience, far too many cocktails made with white liquor are too sweet for my tastes. I know this is a gross generalization, but there it is.

I think I just greatly prefer the flavor profile of whiskeys.

Obviously this is just for liquor--I drink a fair amount of wine, and also beer, which was my first love, but mostly during the summer.

I agree on the vodka. It is a bullshit spirit for people who don't like spirits. A cop out.

Now that is a position on white liquor that I can respect

Some of what you say is true but it's tossing the baby out with the bath water, so to speak. Not all drinks made with white liquors are sweet. Martini is a great example of this. Also, while I agree much of the current vodka craze is about making a tasteless, odorless spirit that neither tells the whole story nor is necessarily bad. For instance, Tito's is a pretty neutral and mellow vodka however I find it really shines in a Kicker with Noilly Prat vermouth. The vermouth and the bitters (orange) are the stars here and the vodka is just the character actor in a supporting role. Or if you want vodka with flavour and character try this: http://karlssonsvodka.com/ Just as the craft beer thing was in reaction to decades of bland US offerings there are now small batch/craft, etc. vodkas that have the character of the initial product of fermentation.

It's also not like plenty of whisky drinks either do not get sweetened or that whisky itself does not give off sweet vanilla notes, etc.

It's a big tents I live in gents; come visit me in here!

Big fan of Tito's. One of the best bang for your bucks in vodka.

I'm sure there are some more craft vodkas coming out, and I think that is fantastic--but at its core, vodka is still about being clean, having no primary flavors. That's not something I enjoy.

Certainly not all white liquor cocktails are sweet, and yes, the martini would be the first example of this. Problem is, I don't do vodka, as we have established, and I don't like gin enough to drink a cocktail that is 75%+ gin by volume.

Whiskey cocktails can certainly be sweet, but I particularly like spicy notes in my whiskey cocktails--this is why I drink rye usually when mixing. I rarely drink bourbon anymore--if I'm drinking something neat, it'll be scotch; if mixed, I prefer the spiciness of rye. Rye manhattans are my mixed drink of choice these days, though if I'm honest, I drink Scotch or wine most of the time.

Each to his own. I just enjoy a very broad range of spirituous drinks.

By the way, the Negroni is just such a drink as I am talking about, where the base spirit plays second fiddle to the modifiers.

I went for something neat this weekend, namely my 28 y/o old sherry cask aged, cask strength Bunnahabhain. That didn't quite do it so I poured a dram of 21 y/0 Old Pulteney, which I am told, is considered a passable pour.