What makes Bourbon such a unique drink to you?

Bourbon tastes great and in the US it is substantially cheaper than imported Whiskies. That's enough for me! USA! USA! USA!

What's your favorite Christmas carol -- "Jingo Bells"?

Unfortunately, bourbon is also comparatively sweet and generally lacks the complexity of single malts. Scotland! Scotland! Scotland!

-- Larry

There are some great whiskeys if you find them. I prefer single malt scotch because they are drier (less sweet) and tend to be much more complex. However, great whiskey is great whiskey. It all depends on the style you like. There is a huge difference, for example, between the Islay and the sherried styles in single malts. Some like both styles, some dislike the Islays. Whiskey (as opposed to whisky) is just another distillation product made predominately from corn rather than barley. It is cheaper in the U.S. which is very attractive.

I don't care for mixed drinks, so all my spirits are consumed neat or with just a spash of water. I never use ice because it chills the spirit and dulls the taste, and retards evaporation which kills the nose, which in turn dulls the entire character of the spirit.

Try buying a couple of bottles of cheap bourbon and a bottle or two of the good stuff like Buffalo Trace. Then do a blind tasting where someone else pours and labels the glasses. It will open your eyes and you will know why bourbon is unique.

For the record I am a Scotch drinker and just last night I had a Laddie 15, Laphroaig CS, and Ardbeg Uigeadail. I agree that Bourbons are generally sweeter than Scotch but they definitely do NOT lack complexity. What Bourbons have you tried?

Some relatively easy to find suggestions: Bakers, Eagle Rare 10, Weller 107

7 YO, Elmer T. Lee, Wild Turkey Rare Breed, or any Van Winkle.

Funny, that's the exact reason why I like ice in my drink. I'll have a single malt neat only on rare occasions. For me the alcohol taste overpowers the flavor of the scotch and takes away any enjoyment. I prefer everything iced... water, coffee, milk, even my beer.

Unique? Well... it doesn't taste at all like any other alcoholic beverage. That's unique. I kinda like the taste. But then, I drink for taste, not for effects. And a smooooooth tasty small batch bourbon goes so well with a fine cigar.

Elijah Craig 18 yr anyone? Excellent stuff!

That is a truism! I'll have a dram neat as an ocassional treat. Smoooth!

Right now, I'm having a cup of coffee with Clan MacGregor and a touch of Dramboui.

If the alcohol overpowers the scotch, add a bit of water. Using ice in a good single malt restricts evaporation of the esters, aldehydes, phenols and other organics and kills the nose.

I would bet that most serious SMS fans on this list (not the occasional drinkers) will never add ice. Most of us do add a few drops or spash of water which accentuates the nose, but always at room temperature. Cask strength SMs (over 45% abv) are usually diluted a slight bit.

I don't add ice to my toppest shelf things because they are so brilliant just as they are. But it can be really interesting to add a SPLINTER of ice to almost any malt. When it cools, the flavors tone down, but as it warms you get the liberating effect that water can bring to a tighter whisky, along with the shift from cool to warm that lets you enjoy the whisky in different aspects. A splinter of ice can actually let you appreciate a shifting wave of the characteristics of the dram--and if you try it side-by-side with the thing straight out of the bottle without ice, then you have even more perspective and variability.

One other thing to consider is that even "room temperature" is a variable commodity. "Room temperature" for red wines historically meant something chillier than most of us experienc now (e.g., 63 degrees fahrenheit in a French chateau). "Room temperature" in southern California or Florida can be very different--and a 'room temperature' drink at 63 degrees versus 73 degrees (then add humidity) can be a very different substance.

Taste is subjective. Every serious scotch drinker I've met to date has told me the same thing: drink it however you like. If my only choice was neat, I'd still enjoy it. But I prefer lots and lots of ice. Perhaps restricting evaporation and killing the nose makes it taste better to me.

I've seen this discussion here dozens of times. Yes, the bottom line is that you drink it however you prefer. It's your dollar.

But most serious malt drinkers will recommend trying a malt neat, then adding just a few drops of water and trying it again, and so on until you find the level you enjoy.

Many, including myself, will also wonder why you would pay big bucks for a single malt that's expensive because of its remarkable taste and smell, and then add enough ice to cover up most of its taste and smell.

But sure, drink it as you like it. As will I.

cheers.

bill

Not only that, but Dare to Compare.

Try the same dram neat, vs. with drops of water, vs. with ice.

I mean, will you go to hell and suffer eternal flames if you even dare to experiment with flavor options?

Sweetness generally masks complexity in any foodstuff. And my favorite bourbon, by far, is Pappy Van Winkle 20/22/23.

-- Larry

I've had Old Rip Van Winkle 10, Lot B, and 15 and Pappy Van Winkle 15 and 20 but never the 22 or 23. How do they compare? I've never seen the 22 but the 23 is quite expensive.

I've tasted the 20 and 22, and couldn't tell them apart. Both absurdly smooth, rich, and mellow -- perhaps a bourbon analog to the 20/25 year Glenfarclas bottlings. I just saw the 23 for the first time a few days ago in Binny's in Chicago, but couldn't buy it (I was already committed to carrying home two Scotches and a venerable Calvados.) I haven't seen it at a bar anywhere I could get a taste.

I've wondered for a long time about their product plan for the over-20 whiskies. The label ages of the 20+ year bottles don't seem to follow any particular plan from year to year. Does anyone know how they determine when to bottle and select what casks to use in their Pappy 20+ bottlings?

-- Larry

I'll see Julian/Preston at Whiskey Fest in a few weeks, I'll ask them.

Tim

No argument here, just my own take on adding ice (sorry if this is a re-hash).

In chemistry, the usual method of analyzing the composition of complex organic mixtures is to use a GC-MS (Gas Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer). This computer-controlled device is essentially an oven into which the mixture is injected at a low temperature (close to ambient room temperature

22 C or 72 F). By room temperature, I refer to a normally controlled air conditioned room, not one subject to outside ambient influence.

The mixture enters a stream of inert gas (helium) and passes through a long coil (column as we call it) during which time the oven temperature is increased slowly. This causes the different compounds to change to gaseous form at different times based on their molecular weight (and other polarity factors). This effectively separates lighter molecules from heavier ones which travel more slowly through the column. A detector at the end of the column signals when each separated compound leaves the column, effectively separating them by noting their exit times.

In whisky tasting, the lighter aromatic compounds evaporate more quickly from the surface of the liquid. The reason complex whisky changes character over time is that the relative percentages of each of these organic aromatics is constantly changing dependent upon their volatility. As lighter aromatics evaporate and leave heavier compounds behind, the character of the nose changes.

Adding a small amount of ice to a whisky effectively retards evaporation of lighter compounds. This has several effects. One is that the rate of change of the "nose" would be expected to slow down. Since all compounds would be cooled the same degree, you might enjoy the more volatile components of the nose for a longer period of time. But the relative rate of evaporation and hence change in the nose would remain the same, spread out over a longer period of time.

The downside to using ice is that cooling the liquid also suppresses the taste on the palate by dulling the taste buds. I suggest that either method works. By using a proper glass (I prefer a cognac balloon with a small opening), volatile component evaporation is retarded thus allowing a lengthened nose development. On the other hand, if you allow the whisky to linger on the palate long enough for it to warm to body temperature, and assuming that the taste buds can recover from the constriction of the colder temperature, there is no reason not to use a very small amount of ice if you prefer. It might be preferred to use ice if you don't have a proper nosing glass, in fact, such as dramming in a bar with inadequate glassware. Ice could effectively be used to "close" the mouth of the glass to evaporation so the full nose can be appreciated.

However, in my own home with my own glassware, I pour whisky at 22 C / 72 F, and add several drops of water from time to time to open the nose and allow the whisky to develop at "room temperature."

Generally I take my Scotch neat or with an appropriate amount of water.

However, I _will_ take it with ice on occasion. I recently found that Glenfarclas 105 (cask strength) poured over ice is a _stonking_ dram, because the melting ice changes the character constantly.

Jim