Monarch booze in a plastic gallon screw top jug. Bletch!!
I’d say “serviceable” rather than perfectly good. And I guess I’m mostly quibbling about Jim Beam. Wild Turkey 101 isn’t much more and is good enough to drink neat.
I’d also say that while using a $60 bottle of rye for a manhattan is a waste, absolutely splurge on the vermouth. Carpano Antica is expensive, but worth every penny.
Do you have a favorite dry vermouth for proper martinis?
Unfortunately no. My cocktail rotation is basically manhattans in the winter, negronis in the summer, old fashioneds when around family and martinis when at a steakhouse. And then I usually ask for a Hendrick’s martini and they probably use martini and rossi.
So, I should explore that. Probably the gin too since Hendrick’s is the first one I really liked vs Bombay or Beefeater. Might be missing out, but it does work for me in both martinis and negronis.
For a proper martini, the vermouth must be Noilly Prat. The gin must be Bombay Sapphire, but Tanqueray will do in a pinch. But Noilly Prat vermouth, definitely.
Thank you!! Sapphire or Hendricks FTW, but I’ve been seeking the right vermouth. I’ve just now added Noilly Prat to my shopping list.
Tanqueray tastes and smells like turpentine. Ugh!! Sorry.
Ditto, with also pick it up.
I like both, but I started out with Scotch in high school. A friend of mine was moving and I was hanging out at his house as his mother was packing things up in the kitchen. She pulled a bottle of White Horse down from the cupboard and asked me, “Do your parents drink scotch?”
Of course I answered in the affirmative, took the bottle home and hid it away in my closet. It tasted pretty vile but it was all I had so I learned to like it. I’ve since graduated to higher quality single malts.
I was playing bartender for a large family get-together, and was shocked at how popular Monkey Shoulder was with the Millennial and GenX nieces. As well as a couple of the Boomer uncles and aunts.
I’d bought some classier stuff that got ignored… sigh.
A nice side effect: my wife liked the Monkey Shoulder bottle so much that she started a Booze Display in our living room. She bought a cart and moved our best-looking bottles to it. Looks great with sunlight shining through copper-colored whiskies!
A review says:
making it perfect for mixed drinks and cocktails
So… Not really a sippin’ whiskey.
To hijack slightly, I’m visiting Japan this fall, and may want to bring someone a gift. An American liquor might be a good gift. Should i shop for a nice bourbon? Mostly, i want something that won’t be common in Japan. (And is good, of course.)
I have not lived in/been to Japan since I was four; but I get the impression that Japanese men (used advisedly) like scotch.
I’ve never been to Japan but I know back in the ~90s a lot of aged bourbon went to Japan because there wasn’t the market for it yet in the US. That suggest that at least at one point in time high end bourbon was sought after there.
I believe @tokyobayer is a non-drinker but does live in Japan and may have some relevant info on what’d make a good gift.
I’ve only had it and seen it being drunk around my friends neat. It’s a perfectly fine Speyside (so on the sweet, non-peaty side) blend that goes down well. The only drink I’ve ever mixed Scotch in is scotch and soda. I don’t really like Scotch whiskey as a base alcohol for mixed drinks. No, it’s not something super complex, but it’s a bit of a crowd-pleasing introduction to scotch whiskey that is absolutely fine enjoyed neat.
As @LSLGuy notes, I no longer drink but I consumed more than my share when I did.
Japanese are appreciative of gifts so even if they aren’t into bourbon, chances are they would be grateful.
There’s such a wide range in what people like.
One customer and I used to go to an exclusive Scotch bar that had no advertising or even the name outside, and you had to have a magnet card to get in. Introduction by members only. The price started off at outrageous and went up from there.
OTOH, most average “salary man” weren’t that sophisticated and tended to stick to beer or shochu.
If you have a sense for the friend, and know they would appreciate it, then a bourbon would be a good choice.
I’m a single malt scotch fan. I’ve never heard of Monkey Shoulder and had to go look up what kind of booze it even was.
Yesterday I had a Rob Roy with Johnnie Walker Red before dinner, and an Oban after.
White Horse is a minor plot point in The ABC Murders by Christie.
Yeah…it was on a shelf beside the single malts when I first saw it. Fancier packaging but still a blended Scotch. I can get a decent single malt for a similar price. I will try a sip if soneone offers sometime but I ain’t buying it to find out.