"Learning to like Whiskey" Topic

Ok, as a western aficionado I realy should learn to like wiskey it was the drink of chioce for cowboys and sheriffs and even s(just incase I decide to become one)

There are two big problems.

1. last time I tried it it tasted like , storng but still
2. Wiskey is probebly the most expencive alcohol in norway(which is saying a lot as all alchohol is already ing expencive)
A quart flask cost $50 USD for the cheapest and $123 USD for a mid to high end label, a full bottle of high end stuff starts at $300 USD and I can't even think how much I would have to pay for the best(if I can even get it here)

First of all, it's whiskey, with an "h". IMO, Scotch is the best, and the various American brands are the worst. There's a lot of variation in flavors, though, if you keep tasting you'll eventually find one you like. Flavors are often subtle.

I think it was drunk a lot in the old west because it could be made cheaply and easily from just about anything. Anyone could produce it in their back yard or barn. Quality varied of course, but I would bet a lot of folks were just looking for alcohol. And unlike wine or beer it doesn't go bad.

OK, why should you consume anything you have to learn to like? If you don't like it, if you think it tastes like goat , then don't drink it.

Anything that's an acquired taste isn't worth acquiring.

>>> First of all, it's whiskey, with an "h".

Except where it's "whisky"…

There are many currently-produced American brands which would have been available in the "Old West": Wild Turkey, Jim Beam, Old Grand Dad, Makers Mark, Old Overholt, Old Crow, Jack Daniels (a latecomer, the only one of these first produced *after* the Civil War).

Certainly, there were other brands that did not survive, and no doubt some of them were of worse quality. But I'm sure there are plenty of TMPers who would hold out for a good Bourbon or Tennessee whiskey in favor of a bad Scotch whisky--and in the nineteenth century, a *lot* of bad Scotch whisky was produced.

Allen

I don't like scotch but I do enjoy a good bourbon. It is truly a matter of individual taste. A good bottle of Makers Mark is truly a beautiful thing.

Mongo

Also, please remember that whisky in the old west was watered down. They aren't swigin 80 proof straight from the bottle.

A decent Whisky will be drunk with a class of water. The whisky is NOT watered, but the drinker can drink from the weater should taste demand

I prefer bourbon over any other liquor. link

Michters is my new brand of choice. link

It's sweet and mild for a bourbon. I can sip a couple of shot glasses and still want more.

I also like Elijah Craig – 18 years. link

It has a hint of apricot. I love it.

The woman who works at the liquor store by me is also a bourbon fan. She works hard to get small label stuff in. That being said, I've always been a Wild Turkey fan. I still remember my first shot of Turkey. I was 22 at the time, but I don't remember how the night ended.

Steve

"Also, please remember that whisky in the old west was watered down."

But watered down from what strength? Jack Daniels, for example, comes out of the barrel at 125 proof, but is bottled now at 80 proof (86 up until a few years ago). It makes sense to ship it at a higher strength (reducing cartage costs) and water it locally.

Even today, Scotch whisky aficionados often purchase "cask strength" whisky and do the necessary before consuming it. I don't have a single bottle of Scotch in my cabinet (some cask strength from single barrels, some blended) that does not benefit fom a slight dilution.

Hurcheon's is one solution, but the wee pitchers of water at the bar at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society headquarters in Leith suggest another. Stronger whiskies have their nose and flavor improved with a small addition of pure water.

Allen

You'll have to do like all your other compatriots – get yourself over the border to Sweden and get it slightly cheaper.

If you're in it for the western touch I suppose you'll want bourbon, i.e. maize whisky, which IMHO tastes like BLEEP! no matter what you buy.

Get some good Scottish stuff instead. More expensive, but it tastes good.

a tiny splash of water does indeed make a taste and nose difference for whiskey.

I like single-malt scotches, and heavy on the peaty tones, but I tried the water splash after seeing a Rick Steves tour of Scotland show and it really makes the tastes lively.

If you want to stop drinking Old-West whiskey, just read any of Louis Lamour's western stories where he describes the making of 'Indian Whiskey'… they include nasty ingredients like plug tobacco or soap.

I confess I have never cared for it, to the horror of some of my friends.

My personal (ie: worthless) whiskey --or whatever spelling you prefer-- drinking method:

A nice, heavy glass (~6-10 cm dia).
Add one cube of good ice (ie: no flavor).
Cover cube with (room-temperature) beverage of choice.
When ice is melted, drink is drunk.

Sounds like time to give up the stuff, move, or find another drink of choice.

Having to pay $120+ a quart, for stuff you don't even like, seems a bit outrageous to me.

You might be better off finding out what the locals drink, learning to make it yourself, or find a good smuggler, assuming you want to persist further with this indulgence…..

As mentioned above whiskey was the drink of choice for a lot of reasons -- the biggest being NO refrigeration capabilities on the trains or the bars. Beer back then didn't have preservatives and would spoil if it got too hot or had to sit too long. Wine was often imported and cost a lot.

Plus Beer was relatively more expensive to transport -- if we are lookin at ETOH content.

Whiskey kept very well in a flask and was easily transported by the individual. No carbonation and no going flat.

But . . . whiskey isn't exactly the finest tasting stuff. For many it is an acquired taste. For that matter, so is sauerkraut.

Today you have many more choices and I see no reason to 'learn' to like something that you find repugnant. Life is too short.

Dang does this stuff really cost this much these days? Back in high school (the only time in my life I had any interest in the stuff) it was running about $15.00 USD for a fifth -- and that was the better end of the stuff.

Showing my age I guess.

mjc

Get on a ferry and come over to Scotland. There are a bunch of distillery tours where you can ride around on a bus to various parts of the country then tour and sample different makers. Or just plop down in a town and find a good barkeeper. Load up in the duty-free shop on the way home.

While I stand behind no one in my appreciation for single malt Scotch Whiskey, (Macallan and Oban being two very good examples), I would also suggest looking at Irish Whiskey. I was very pleasantly surprised by an Irish libation called "Coolie"--excellent stuff.

If you're going to drink Whiskey, you may as well enjoy the good stuff rather than the rotgut -- or firewater.

Recipe for firewater from Fort Whoop-up:

(a) 26 ounces of whiskey, (b) one pound of chewing tobacco, (c) one bottle of ginger, (d) a handful of red pepper, (e) a quart of molasses and (f) a dash of red ink.

Firewater while authentic western beverage is definitely not recommended!

Gunfreak, you sure are a romantic. American frontier folk did and do drink any beverage with an alcohol content, including cough medicine, after shave and paint thinner. Drink what ever suits your palate and budget and you'll fulfill the spirit of the Old West.

I agree that a good single malt Scotch is mother's milk, well worth the $50 USD a bottle I pay for the stuff. Of course it's for sipping, not swilling.

American whiskey is made from maize, which is our main grain crop. Bourbon is the civilized version of the stuff, but there was precious little sipping whiskey on the frontier. Popskull, rotgut or firewater, generally started with raw white lightening corn squeezings fresh from the still, watered down from the local creek and doctored for flavor as per R J Andron's recipe or one similar.

For the authentic American experience, include as much maize as possible in your diet. Corn flakes or chex for breakfast, corn bread, corn chips, Green Giant Frozen Niblet Style, etc. Mix with beans for complete protein, throw a little fatty salt pork in the pot for flavor. It's what the cowboys ate. Your bowels will learn to tolerate the diet eventually. Or it will kill you. Some analysts have suggested that the niacine in all that maize is what makes Americans crazy and violent, but that's just a theory.

I'm with neotacha on this one. If I don't like it, I don't take a second try. Beer is like this, people tell me it is an acquired taste. Why try to acquire it?

I usualy agree with that(thats why don't drink beer or coffee)
But as I don't drink beer, I feel I should atleast drink one manly drink and nothing is manlier the whiskey

A 'manly drink'?

Quit watching all those commercials. Good Grief!!!!

I know quite a few 'men' that drink water on the rocks or soda water on the rocks. These are often folks with razor sharp intellects and see no reason to surrender that advantage in a public place.

If you want to challenge your liver -- drink Everclear. If you are just looking to get drunk, there are cheaper ways to do it.

mjc

A nice bottle of quality Kentucky Bourbon or Rye or Tennessee Sour Mash is a thing of beauty. But I'm also positive on single-malt Scotch whiskies and certain Canadian and Irish products. if your budget allows you to experiment, and your options aren't too curtailed in Norway, you're likely to encounter your special brew.

You might try starting with some classic whiskey/whisky cocktails to make the taste more palatable (I'm thinking a Manhattan, Rob Roy, or Sazerac, for example), but these aren't at all Wild West authentic…

a tiny splash of water does indeed make a taste and nose difference for whiskey.

Agreed a tiny splash of water helps the flavors to bloom.

I like Whiskey and Whisky, I like Bourbon and Scotch. I appreciate the different tastes.

I keep at home; Jameson, Makers Mark and Glenlivet. These are all reasonably priced and tasty brands with good consistency.

There is a local brand Copper Fox that has real potential if they survive and if they give the product time to age. It is aged (not very long sadly) in apple wood which is very nice even for a very young whisky.

Don't bother. Learn to like brandy instead.

It's a much more civilised drink

Update.

Got two bottle today, Tried Rare J.B first. It was kinda strange. I expected it to be strong and it wasn't VERY smooth, I've tasted Liqueur's with lass volume that was alot stronger going down.

Infact the whole taste was kinda inoffencive almost to inoffencive, not much taste at all, no after taste either.
Kinda disapointed, it didn't taste like whiskey or what I thought whiskey tasted like.
I don't think I would bother sipping it with rocks, the tate is to bland and watery, would probebly taste more from the ice then the whiskey.
But in shot from it goes down smooth, and is probebly a good way og getting drunk, but the taste isn't much diffrent from vodka

Ok, second update.

I now just drank for the bottle, and this time I DRANK, sevral good glugg gluggs, and this time I felt the burn and more of the taste, but still kinda inoffencive

Gunfreak…check your PM's…I sent you a little message…

trust me….

Well I tried a 16 year old single malt fra islay.

Man I could feel the lungcancer sneak up on me, just from drinking the stuff, tasted like dirt and old sigaretts

Anything that's an acquired taste isn't worth acquiring.

Neotacha, I wish you could have said that to my mom when she used to make me eat my vegetables…

I feel I should atleast drink one manly drink and nothing is manlier the whiskey

Gunfreak, yer nuts! Give up and and smoke some weed instead. You'll laugh a lot and be far less apt to brawl in bars and break furniture over other cowboys… For diabetics, it does absolute wonders for blood sugar control, too.
--
Tim