The What's In Your Liquor Cabinet? Thread

[Admiral Yi]

  That's no more snobbery than saying Scotch comes from Scotland.

[garbon]

According to wiki the requirement by many countries is just that it is made somewhere in the US. Says Canadian law requires bourbon labeled products to come from US! Reminds me of champagne discussions, that's all.

[fhdz]

Yeah, it's pretty much identical to the champagne argument.

[Jaron]

I'll be establishing a liquor cabinet soon! What is a good first addition? Something that brings immediate sophistication and refinement to an otherwise classless joint.

[Admiral Yi]

I'll be establishing a liquor cabinet soon! What is a good first addition? Something that brings immediate sophistication and refinement to an otherwise classless joint.

Any single malt.

Cognac works too, but don't get that until you have 4 snifters.

[Brazen]

Just had my friend from primary school to say, a vicar who's currently a chaplain in one of the toughest prisons in the UK. Having previously been something of a mixologist, she's currently dating a former alcoholic and joining him in abstinence, so she's gifting her cocktail cabinet to friends. I inherited a bottle and half of Zubrowka and a bottle of Krupnik. Well, Marty hasn't been to London in FOREVER!

Also port and advocaat which have been open so long as to be rancid, some amaretto that's getting a bit crusty, emergency tequila and some tangerine flavour liqueur in a bottle the shape of the fruit, won for me as a joke by a friend in a raffle.

[Caliga]

Just had my friend from primary school to say, a vicar

[Caliga]

CAL'S REVIEW OF BASIL HAYDEN'S BY JIM BEAM:

Neat: Nose is sweetish and smells of honey, cloves, pine, and vanilla.  Taste is much lighter than typical bourbon (which makes sense since it's only 80 proof), but still warm and earthy.  Not particularly complex, but certainly not offensive or unpleasant.  Goes down quite smoothly.  I detect a butterscotch note too, which is unexpected but not off-putting.  There's a honey-like taste along with the honey odor, which is definitely agreeable.

Cut with a splash of water: Same scents, but they seem stronger and spicier somehow.  I'm really noticing the pine note at this point, too.  There's an interesting chocolate-like aftertaste when it's cut that I didn't notice at all when I tried it neat.   Surprisingly, it's really not any smoother when cut.

Ok, so this is hardly the first time I've had Basil Hayden's.  It's another of the boutique Bourbons Beam produces now, and it's the 'lightest' of them at only 80 proof.  I think it'd be a great bourbon for someone who is trying to get into whiskey since it's weaker (on the flip side, a novice should definitely NOT try Booker's straight, which is like ~120 proof).   I don't think I've ever had Basil Hayden's straight before, though: I often get it in an Old Fashioned and have mixed them myself with both this and Knob Creek.  Overall, this bourbon is easy to drink and has mildly pleasant characteristics.

A 750 ml bottle retails for  ~$50.  I still think it's a bit too expensive, but not nearly as overpriced as that rye stuff. 

CAL'S GRADE: B

[Caliga]

Oh, on a related note:  Princesca told me some fucking idiot at the Frankfort plant accidentally mixed Canadian Club, Jim Beam, and Laphroaig together in one of their bottling tanks, which potentially ruined $110,000 worth of product.   It's a huge nightmare for them because they dont' know what to do with the resulting Frankenstein liquor.  At first they talked about denaturing or dumping it, but that of course would result in a huge write-off.  One of the other options they're looking at is exporting it back to Windsor to the Canadian Club distillery and back-mixing it into CC until it's diluted to the point that it can just be sold as Canadian Club, but that's proving to be a massive red tape nightmare.

And yes... it has been tasted, and no, it doesn't taste great.  It apparently tastes like weak Laphroaig because Laphroaig's characteristics overwhelm the other two liquors, even though the Scotch was the smallest component by percentage that went into the tank.  Not all manufacturing fuck-ups result in a new, ossum invention 

[PRC]

It apparently tastes like weak Laphroaig because Laphroaig's characteristics overwhelm the other two liquors, even though the Scotch was the smallest component by percentage that went into the tank. 

Peaty... tastes like real dirt.

[Caliga]

I was hoping the guy who tasted it would turn into Swamp Thing or The Hulk or something.

[CountDeMoney]

One of the other options they're looking at is exporting it back to Windsor to the Canadian Club distillery and back-mixing it into CC until it's diluted to the point that it can just be sold as Canadian Club, but that's proving to be a massive red tape nightmare.

One would hope it's a red tape nightmare for a variety of reasons.

[MadImmortalMan]

A 750 ml bottle retails for  ~$50.  I still think it's a bit too expensive, but not nearly as overpriced as that rye stuff. 

CAL'S GRADE: B

I tried that for the first time on national bourbon day. I pretty much agree with your assessment, but I didn't pay $50. I think it was $39 IIRC. Liquor prices can vary a lot by state. I liked that it didn't come on way too sweet. Sometimes bourbons strike me that way, and it's one of the main reasons I prefer scotch most of the time.

[Caliga]

Yeah, I'll eventually do a review of Knob Creek, which I like better for drinking straight, but I really do like this stuff too.

[Syt]

I picked up a bottle of Knob Creek (small batch, 9 years, 50%vol) today.