Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[CGVT]

The publisher wants to sell fucking books. Jesus. You fuckers are intentionally obtuse.

[lineygoblue]

CGVT .. shaddup and go back to chasing neighborhood kids off your lawn ... geez

[lineygoblue]

Meanwhile, back in Kaepernick's neighborhood ...

https://babylonbee.com/news/colin-kaepernick-sues-parents-21-million-in-reparations-for-adopting-him?fbclid=IwAR3n8oSHj9tIPOKzov7FAn9hlB0GVmpTp3-_jQULoN5MXu4isxmc79I3ZtE

[AlabamAlum]

The best BWW wing sauce is Asian Zing. Peridot.

[CGVT]

The best BWW wing sauce is Asian Zing. Peridot.

It is good. I like the mango-habanero more, but both have too much sugar for me, so I stick with the traditional hot buffalo style.

[AlabamAlum]

Look, y’all, March Madness is one of the High Holy Days of sports. We need comity at this time. We all need to come together and realize that life is short and none of this politics shit discussed ad nauseum here will be changed by our incessant back and forth. There is no one here (except Crash, of course) that I wouldn’t buy a beer for and laugh with at a bar. Let Rosa Parks and the Jap guy who FDR fucked rest in peace and let’s embrace this time as a time of joy.

Yes, I may be tipsy. My group’s BWW waitress has over served me.

Shut up liver, you’re fine.

LIKE THIS POST for WORLD PEACE!!!1

[Dr. Strangelove]

AA going overboard now that he's back in the states and can finally find good booze again.

[AlabamAlum]

lol.

[lineygoblue]

Strangelove's irrational hatred of Scotland is very concerning ...

[CGVT]

Speaking of Bourbon... ;)

I made a trip from South GA to Auburn and back and stopped at Fort Benning. I usually pick up a case of cheap beer to give to my son at college and stock up the liquor cabinet if it needs it. I really didn't need anything, but I had a few extra bucks so I bought a bottle of Four Roses Small Batch Select. The prices at the Class Six store on base are usually quite a bit better than in the local liquor stores, so I paid about $60 for the .75 ltr bottle. I was anxious to see if it was worth the price.

When I got home, I decided to do a blind taste test of the four Bourbons I have in the house.

The Bourbons I had at the house are Four Roses Small Batch Select $60, Four Roses Single Barrel $40, Wild Turkey 101 $30 1.5L and Jim Beam $11

My wife labeled them and I gave them a taste.

I think I have a pretty good palate. Brewing beer helped me to develop it and I think I am pretty good at finding distinct flavors in everything from beer to wine to tobacco, but I have to admit that the first time through tasting them, they all tasted pretty much the same to me, except what I was pretty sure was the Jim Beam because the lower proof was obvious.

As I went through them a couple of times, I got past the alcohol and flavors and nuances started to poke through. The complexity of the front end of the Small Batch Select was amazing. Lots of vanilla, some fruit and spice with a lingering finish with spice giving way to oak and caramel sweetness. It was very smooth. The Single Barrel was a lot like Select, but the spice was more predominate and lasted longer in the finish then gave way to a really nice hint of cherry and tobacco. The Turkey was absolutely solid. Nice vanilla notes, with more spice than both Four Roses in my test. The finish is spice that slowly fades to some nice vanilla and subtle oak. It is really good stuff.

The results of my blind taste test are that although it is damn tasty, I don't need to buy the $60 bottle of Small Batch Select, but having a bottle of it and the $40 Single Barrel that I liked better on hand for a treat is a something I will do, Wild Turkey 101 is good stuff and has become my everyday swillin' Bourbon and Jim Beam should be mixed with coke.

I like that I can get Turkey for about $30 for a 1.75 liter bottle at the exchange (it is over 50 at the local likka stow, btw) keep a couple of bottles on hand and not cringe if somebody mixes it with coke or I want to make an Old Fashioned or Manhattan. It is good enough to drink neat or with a little water or ice and enjoy. It is a great value for a tasty drink.

I will continue to expand my bourbon horizons as I have seemed to have developed a taste for it.

[lineygoblue]

That post explains a lot about CGVT ...

[Dr. Strangelove]

UBS is buying Credit Suisse

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/19/ubs-agrees-to-buy-credit-suisse-as-regulators-look-to-shore-up-global-banking-system.html

[Jeff Buchanan]

CGVT, great post on your 4 bourbon taste test prompted by AA's Xi like post for peace. Heh! Fuck Xi and his upcoming visit to that war criminal and serial killer in Moscow for peace. Right.

I'm not a bourbon connoisseur by any stretch but I'll admit I've developed a taste for it. My daughter's partner, Pete) is a wanna-be bar-tender otherwise gainfully employed. He hangs out with a crowd at the very upscale resort, Ritz Carlton on Lake Oconee. That's in middle GA and used to be called (LOL) Ritz Carlton "Plantation" discarded a few months ago for obvious, actual history ignoring reasons. The clientele there is as you'd expect for any Ritz branded hotel - money is no object. I can't name them but there is bourbon at the golf club bar that cost $100/shot or more. Crazy, but I found there are a lot of these out there much like highly valued wines.

I don't have a great palate anymore, having lost most of it over time, allergies and bad colds - not COVID, but, like CGVT, and surprisingly, I can taste subtle flavors in bourbon and wine. That's probably one of the reasons I started liking bourbons. I still like Vodka and there are definitely differences in how these taste and feel on the palate if you take the time to enjoy them. But your nod to some of the less costly, hidden gems of Bourbon reflect some of Pete's favorites that he's poured for me from his own bar. Early on in my like bourbon period, he poured me a taste test from Jim Beam Black (around $40 retail) and Old Fitzgerald Bottled-In-Bond (upwards of $500 if you can find it). Pete tells me that particular batch of Old Fitzgerald is seasonal and it shows up in the bourbon section of a liquor store one or two at a time and is gone within minutes after it hits the shelf. Frankly, other than the Old Fitzgerald being exceptionally smooth on the palate, I didn't pick up on anything that would persuade me to pay that much for 1.750 L of the stuff.

He also recommends Wild Turkey 101 for a great bourbon under $40. Another is Evan William 100 Proof. You can find this one for around $20. He made a Manhattan for me from this bottle and that was enough for me for the night.

AA is right. Talking (and drinking) bourbons (or cars) is a great distraction from the realty of what's going on in the world. I think I'll mix up a Manhattan right now with one of my favorites, Bullite (sourced from Four Rose no less). Here's to you.

[CGVT]

Jeff, I found that Benchmark, which is made by Buffalo Trace, is pretty darn drinkable for a low cost bourbon. Even here in GA it is only about 20 bucks for a 1.75. It is only 80 proof, but it is really quite tasty. I was drinking that, mostly with water and in cocktails before I switched over to Turkey 101. I have a friend that drank Jack and Coke for years and switched over to Benchmark. I think it is much better than JD and I try to keep some around for the highball drinkers.

BTW, I have rediscovered the Gibson of late. If you are not familiar, it is just a gin martini with a cocktail onion for garnish.

I like them with Bombay London Dry (I am not a fan of the super junipery gins like Tangueray) at about 4-1 with good Vermouth, a couple of bar spoons of the juice from the onion and an onion.

The brininess of the onion takes the standard martini to a completely different level

If you like a gin martini, give a Gibson a try.

[Jeff Buchanan]

If you like a gin martini, give a Gibson a try.

My good US Airforce friend swears by the Gibson ... and he knows his liquors. I've never tried one. Not a gin martini fan and have been told I'm missing a lot. I should try one. One of the selling points for Vodka is where and how the distilling process is carried out. Is it from potatoes or grain? Grey Goose is infamously famous grain based Vodka. It really is smooth from multiple passes through the distilling process if not dull. There are a couple of off-label brands I actually found on a cruise ship (probably promotional from wholesale vendors). One was Christiana. A Turkish bartender on a cruise ship at the Martini Bar swore by it and infrequently served it. Years ago he recommended I try it. It's a potato vodka and I prefer these over the grain brands becas\use they have taste beyond being those of alcohols.

Another, though I've sworn off Russian vodkas, is Stoli-Elite and Stoli-Black (100 proof - and I have "proof" of that from personal experience). Stoli élite preserves the typical potato vodka flavor but it is way smoother than Stolichnaya - the Budweiser of Russian Vodka. Stoli-Black is very smooth and packs a punch

A friend of mine (since deceased, sadly) was in the chicken industry business. Did a lot of that import business with the Russians and traveled to Moscow/St. Petersburg frequently. He was often bestowed un-labeled, very fancy looking bottles of what his donor Russian friend told him were the vodkas only produced for and consumed by the Kremlin elite. True or not, just pouring them into a glass - warm not chilled as chilling allegedly kills the flavors - from these ornate bottles (porcelain cask like) rendered them exceptionally tasty .... and that is part of liquor and wine service: all the senses are involved.