Hard Drinkers, Lets Drink Hard (Spirits, Liquors and Cocktails)
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Xmas pressie from my little boy, who knows I love a good grog…
Nice sweet caramel with a good heat afterburn. Neat obviously.
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Never really got on that well with rum. I sort of wish I could enjoy it more.
One of the sillier (but very welcome) things I received for xmas, plus a bottle of Nikka Days which was a present to myself as a reward for not losing anybody on the family trek around the south of England.
Before…
After…
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^ Love the stormtrooper whiskey decanter
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Received a bottled of Laphroaig 25 as part of my Christmas bonus this year. In short, a delicious, smooth, peat bomb. I would have to say my favorite ever, followed fairly closely by Ardbeg Uigedail. Note, even with how good it is, I could not fathom personally paying for this bottle. It’s delicious but not sticker price good.
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It's not just single-malt. An ever larger percentage of the many billions of people on the planet is interested in, and can afford, good spirits. Supply and demand. But that doesn't mean that they're always "worth it."
I'm glad there's a craft distiller movement to help offset some of this, but it is disappointing to no longer be able to find/afford bottles that used to be part of my routine.
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^ all of this is true.
What is super dissapponting is the way certain distilleries have willfully degraded the quality of the base product. The changes to the standard 10yr old Laphroaig being a case in point.
In the name of “product standardisation” (read mass production), they started using caramel to adjust colour and chill filtering. The drink is a bland, ghost of its former self. Imagine if IH did the same to the 21oz 634…
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That is all news to me. That a hallowed marque like that would dilute its quality and its brand in such a way is disgraceful.
It's an iron triangle of supply/demand, quality, and price. Quality should never be compromised for a premium marque–ramp up production or raise price.
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I’ve been putting my Big Willie in Muff lately, it’s very nice.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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^ all of this is true.
What is super dissapponting is the way certain distilleries have willfully degraded the quality of the base product. The changes to the standard 10yr old Laphroaig being a case in point.
In the name of “product standardisation” (read mass production), they started using caramel to adjust colour and chill filtering. The drink is a bland, ghost of its former self. Imagine if IH did the same to the 21oz 634…
Agreed. They've also started mixing what I view as the leftovers into a bottle and calling it Select. It is absolutely mind boggling what the market has done the past few years though. I used to see 5+ bottles of Laphroaig 18 at all the nicer liquor stores around where I live, and they went for maybe $120-$135 after tax. Now they are nowhere to be found and they cost well over $200.
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It is an investors market. The return on a rare bottle of whiskey is way higher than the interest rates of investment accounts. Preorders on limited releases are crazy. No one gave much of a damn about Japanese scotch 5 years ago, now there are international award winners that cost £1000s. It has become the new wine investment market.
At the lower end, gin was the big hype drink over the past decade, now the press are focusing on rum. Markets are fickle.
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No one gave much of a damn about Japanese whisky
scotch5 years ago, now there are international award winners that cost £1000s. It has become the new wine investment market.
…and there I was minding my own business for years, enjoying 'wacky' not Scottish Whisky...and yes now look at the prices.
??? 
I actually think that prices have got much worse since a lot of spirit sellers came online.
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We were invited to a brunch in Washington DC this morning. The bar in the hotel had a large safe. It was 10am and the bar was empty. Had to ask the bartender about its contents. Here are a few pics of the inside.
Macallan 72 was front and center. 40,000 USD for a 2oz pour. Fun to see but no chance I’m getting a sip of any of these.
