Which whiskey and whisky? Irish whiskey and Scotch? Or bourbon and rye? Or bourbon and scotch? Or Irish whiskey and rye? And do you know which distilleries you’ll be sampling from for each?
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Irish whiskey? ya mean uisca beatha?
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I did a Bourbon and a Scotch. Both from Trader Joe’s. They’re not the same distillery (for obvious reasons), but TJ seems to pride themselves on delivering quality accurate foods for the middle class so I figured it was a good mid tier option for both. I overall prefer the Bourbon which was smoother than the Scotch, but I think the Scotch would be better for straight/with ice drinking while the bourbon would be a better mixer? That being said, my pallette isn’t too picky, and I could see me using these both interchangeably. Anyway, drinking them side by side was fun!
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What is the Scotch? Is it a blend or a single malt? How long was it aged? Typically scotches that aren’t particularly smooth are either blends or not aged very long. It’s like drinking a VS cognac versus an XO or XXO. The VS will be very harsh compared to the smooth warm mellowness of an XO. Whisky is the same, and you’ll find quality aged single malt Scotch to be quite smooth. Also were the two similarly priced. You can tend to get away with mid-tier Bourbons than you can with a similarly priced Scotch, especially since a lot of the latter will be blends when the bourbon won’t (I believe, but I’m not much of a bourbon expert so I could be wrong about that part).
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Trader Joe’s Blended Scotch Whisky. It was aged three years. Here are pics of both:
I’m buying spirits with mixology and budget in mind. If the whiskys (that spelling is certainly wrong) of the world don’t get great until you start really spending, then I might hold off on adding them to my growing collection for a bit.
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I wonder who distills it for them.
I imagine this is similar in grade and blend to Johnny Walker Red, especially given the branding on the bottle. I doubt it’s made by Johnny Walker, rather made by someone who is duplicating the profile. Should be good for mixes like a Rob Roy, probably less enjoyable neat. You are correct, if you want something that is enjoyable neat to appreciate the flavours of the Scotch, you will want to work yourself up to a single malt. Starting with a blend is great if your intent is purely mixology. As for working toward single malts, you’ll have to explore flavour profiles from different regions of the Scottish isles. You should sample different products from different distilleries at a Scotch bar instead of investing directly in a bottle. If you find something you like, then invest.
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As the weather cools, I’m looking at my options for fall drinks. I made an Apple Blossom Moscow Mule and enjoyed it. Not enough to make sure I have the stuff for it all Autumn long, but enough to make one when I got the stuff and the mood strikes.
Let me know what Autumnal drinks you’re sipping on.
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My go to in Autumn, and then into Winter are stouts and porters, meads, barley wines, and Trappist ales. Although I can drink Trappist ales year round, I am especially excited to sip back some Rochefort 10, which is technically a barley wine.
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I do also Mulled Wine and Hot Toddy. Love a good vintage port, a brandy or an Armagnac. Cognac too, but I like the fact that Armagnac distillers are less confined to specific distillation and aging processes than the Cognac makers, which means that Armagnacs are free to play with the aging process, making it more like Scotch production than Cognac.
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Heavy beers are definitely the vibe. I’m trying to work on my bartending. I may take my whiskey and make a hot toddy tonight. Gotta go get some cinnamon sticks though.
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Second heavy beers, and mulled wines and ciders. You could also try the mighty chocorron: rum and chocolate milk. Wear diapers for that.
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Hot tip, make a Hot Toddy with Drambuie for a nice spin on the traditional Scotch based drink.
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Long Island Iced Tea always seemed intimidating to make. You see the bartender keep adding liquor after elixir into your glass. And the presentation with the gradiation- there’s big chad energy surrounding the Long Island Iced Tea. So I hadn’t even thought of making one until last night. I got one at a bar with my wife and I said out loud “I think I can make it now.” So here is my long island iced tea I just made. It was very easy to make and it tastes better than the one I had at the bar last night.
*I don’t keep full fat coca-cola in the house but this woulda been even better with the original.
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Are those rock glasses? A collins will give you bit more room for the cola, which is also traditionally stirred in. The layered look is cool but I’m curious, did you still get the characteristic mingling of flavours? Also what kind of bar mix are you using?
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The glasses are just my all purpose cocktail glasses. At some point I’ll get the proper glasses for each cocktail, but with all the kids’ cups in my house I don’t have the space for more than three cocktail glasses (these all purpose glasses, stemless wine glasses, and mason jars to show my Grouvee pride)
I just did layered for the pic and mixed it after.
If there is an IBA recipe, I use that. So in this case-
- 15 ml tequila
- 15 ml vodka
- 15 ml white rum
- 15 ml Cointreau (although I just used Triple Sec)
- 15 ml gin
- 30 ml lemon juice
- 20 ml simple syrup
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Today I had a drink of cold water from the tap, the fluoride was on point, the gay frog juice was a little lacking though. Added Ice, and that didn’t really solve the problem. When mixing it I’d suggest leaving it in your freezer for a couple hours, else you’ll have an unpleasant time.
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I’ll be praying that you become a gay frog 
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Whiskey Sour
If you followed my Whisky/Whiskey saga, you might be surprised to find out I actually don’t love the flavor of whiskey or whisky. That being said, the sour brings out a lot of flavor from the base spirit. It is almost a Long Island Iced Tea without the cola. That’s an enviable flavor depth for a WS which only contains three ingredients!
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I’ve been doing a bourbon cider recently. I see a lot of overly complicated takes on this drink, but you can keep it simple-
1 part bourbon
2 parts cider
Stirred with ice
I see people say to add cinnamon or ginger beer, but trust me- it’s a tasty drink without going Autumn asylum on your drink.
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Is the cider in the recipe a straight or alcoholic cider?
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