[member="The Revenant"] - You, sir, passed the test.
[member="Sarge Potteiger"] - What KIND of irish whiskey?... There is only one acceptable answer really.
[member="Alric Kuhn"] - Irish or ....??
[member="Darth Lussuria"] - Jack Daniels... Such a long history with Mr. Jack.
Either i'm a lush, or you people are way more accepting/cultured in your booze drinking, or less picky. And re-reading this before posting, I swear I am not an alcoholic, really.
For me? I drink quite often. I'm not really ever
drunk, really. But it's just a thing... A lot of my friends are home brewers or distillers or mead makers. Heck, one who works at another ambulance company is actually get a
degree in brewing and distilling to open a brewery, and i've been signed on as a tester and developer. And I have developed a habit of being their go-to for tasting.
And, oddly enough, my aunt married into the family that owns Makers Mark, so there is a tie there. Can't wait as I have a whole karking barrel aging in their warehouse! One of my best friends wrote a thesis for a Bachelors degree on the history of bourbon... And i'm Irish... I also worked as a roadie/stage/street crew for a heavier alt rock band for a year or two...Just a natural storm of love for the 'aqua vitae'. Plus, it's a rare thing to be an EMT, Firefighter, or Cop, and NOT drink in some fashion really.
I've a penchant for Bourbon. And I mean straight up, real, Kentucky made bourbon. It ain't bourbon unless it's made in the bluegrass. I have an abiding love for Makers Mark and Buffalo Trace. Specifically Makers 46 (very smooth) and I am spoiled that the local liquor store my girlfriends sister works at does several trips a year to hand pick single barrel productions of various flagship products down in Makers Mark territory. There's always a bottle or two put back for me. And, should be 2016 i'll be getting a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle 20 year old, though I still cringe at the price tag. If you try to convince me Jim Beam is a 'quality' bourbon you're going to get laughed at.
Beyond bourbon, there is also a taste for stouts and in general 'dark beers'... I was never really a beer drinker until I moved to Michigan, unless it was Guinness. Being up here in what is arguably the strongest craft brew culture in the US, you wind up being educated about it. And I would be at my one friends house after work, talking about this or that call or such, and in between stories it was always 'Oh, hey, try a sip of this'... I'd make a face, and he'd go 'Oh, you probably dont like ______ in it, so try this'... Over a period of five years or so, my brewing buddies have (by force, I swear!) refined my palette. Beer is something I drink sparingly, and am very snobbish about, to be honest. I'll try almost any whiskey. But beer, I'm picky.
I drink Irish Whiskey, but again, i'm a bit snobbish about it... I will
try anything... But if it's behind my bar in the basement as a 'regular cast member' it has to be just right. Jameson is my favorite, but that is, again, because I grew up with a Grandfather who would, from the age of thirteen, allow me a shot or a beer on St. Patricks day at the local pub. "Yer old enough to see over the bar boy, try this. And dont tell your ma.' was his infamous line. It was our thing, that and Tullamore Dew. Because he was a broke Navy guy, and I idolized him growing up. I've been trying to convince my favorite local store I mentioned before to expand their selection, but there just isn't much demand.
Mead is a recent taste, having met a few who make it, and living 15 minutes from an amazingly friendly company (B Nektar) whose brewing facility shares a wall with the makerspace I frequent. They're always bringing over things to try, and since I did viking re-enacting, and am still 'the viking guy' to a lot of friends, I find random bottles of mead making their way to me as gifts. I prefer a sweet mead, and my favorite to date is a simple, unassuming variety of B Nektar flavored with vanilla and cinnamon.
However, the grand-daddy go to favorite is Jack Daniels. It's like Franks Red Hot is for some... I put it in everything.. In all it's forms. My girlfriend and I actually met at my brothers wedding via him claiming she could outdrink me in the stuff. It ended poorly for us both. I can't point to a single thing about it that lures me to JD, but I love the taste and particularly the finish. And i've a bit of a collection of it. Unaged distillers Rum, DIstillers Rye, Single Barrel, Gentleman Jack, bottles of the 'Master Distillers Select' (all three), and a limited one liter bottle of Frank Sinatra Jack... Because, Ol Blue Eyes AND Jack Daniels are a force to be reckoned with...And two of my favorite things.
I swear, the fact that when I walk into a local meadery/brewing supply my greeting is on par of that with Norm in 'Cheers' is either really funny, or depressing.
I leave you with a picture of my bar... And the fact this is about 1/3 to 1/2 the booze in my house is scary.. People come over to party and leave bottles behind and never retrieve them.
