Opinions please: Good Scotch/Irish Whiskey under $20?

I know he suffered a mental breakdown, but I remember someone saying there were considerate amounts of Absinthe involved also. I can't find any statements on the internet on this however, so you are probably right...

This a rather a "chicken and the Egg" situation. Did mental instability cause the absinthe use, or did the absinthe use cause the mental instability?

Many people with mental problems self medicate with alcohol or various other substances.

Jim

It's not a matter for the chicken or the egg. Rather, it's the collective historic perspective versus a rumor, one which I've never even heard to this point. Neither is proven, both are plausible. However, I am inclined to accept the academic perspective over the completely made up one, because one involves research and the other is clearly invented. The evidence of Van Gogh's "problems" dates back to his childhood, and I've never read or heard anything of a serious absinthe problem with Van Gogh in particular...yes, it was popular with many artists during the impressionism/post-impressionism periods, and was commonly addressed as a subject, not necessarily because the artists used the substance, but in some cases they did. Also, there is no evidence that I know of to suggest that absinthe was a substance used to alleviate mental illness at the time. One thing's for sure, a chicken of a hundred years ago did not lay a third millennium egg. Furthermore, it's unclear what type of illness Van Gogh had--some believe it was schizophrenia, which even today is a psychological mystery.

Still, the main point of all this is that no historian, to my knowledge, which is at least moderate, believes that absinthe drove Van Gogh to cut of his ear, to have his life dream of being an evangelist denied by clergy, to become hospitalized, or to eventually shoot himself in the stomach, which slowly killed him. I don't recall any mention of the substance in any of his letters to his brother Theo, or anything from Gaugin, or from his extended family, or from the hospital, nor speculation of such from any historian or even a casual author. If I am wrong on any of these points, I gladly welcome correction (with citation of legitimate source, of course).

John

Glen Geery 10 is again on sale in North Carolina for fifteen and change a bottle. Not a bad deal. Especially in an ABC state.

chuck