An acquaintance was kind enough to share a little of his 25 yr old MacAllan with me after a fishing trip. I’m not even a Scotch drinker and I was blown away by the obvious quality and fine taste. I have no idea what it costs, but I suspect it’s a bit more than the $30-a-bottle Irish whiskey I’m used to.
This Scapa. 25 year old.
Utterly superb.
When combined with the taste of an Arturo Fuente… I’m pretty sure that’s what they’ll be serviong in Heaven.
I like the common, locally produced mescal of the Yucatan. Call me a peasant. Then, I’ll take peasant food over haute cuisine as well.
Three dollar plum wine, sipped from the bottle. I was on my way to class with a friend, but somehow we just walked on by the classroom and into the hills. There we made a little nest of sweaters, unscrewed the cork, and much to my surprise, mutually declared our undying love for each other.
The light around us was golden. From our perch we could see the lights of town sparkling, and the ocean beyond that. The cars looks like little glowing ants. The wine tasted like candy. It tasted like what I was feeling- warm, achingly sweet, ecstatic, unreal. We stayed there sipping that wine until deep into the evening.
I’ve had dozens of bottles of plum wine since. They are all the same- cloying, yeasty, cheap and gross. But even though that love has long since passed, I still keep trying for just a hint of that feeling. I’ve never felt that good in my life. I didn’t even know it was possible.
The last alcohol I ever had was some Mum’s champagne.
Didjer mum know?
The most exotic booze I’ve had was a glass of (IIRC) Millennium Port. This was port from a cask that someone had abandoned in a castle somewhere in the UK (Scotland?) for at least 100 years before it was found, bottled, and auctioned off.
It was a very, very good port, even if it wasn’t the best I’ve ever had (I’ve been spoiled with some very nice, very expensive, Vintage ports) but the sense of history in every sip of this Tawny was incredible.
I’m also a very big fan of 1978 Kopke Colheita port.
I had a glass of 30-year-old white port at the Port Wine Institute in Lisbon that was like silk.
The Porto Rocha anniversary tawny port was fabulous.
I’ve had madeira from the mid-1800s–it’s definitely the oldest booze I’ve ever had, but I don’t have a real burning desire to try it again.
I have a bottle of tokaji esszencia awaiting a suitable occasion. I’m quite fond of 5-putt tokaji azsu.
For booze that’s more easily accessible, Chartreuse VEP is really nice.
But the best I’ve ever had was a spiced pear liqueur that a buddy of mine made during college. He never made anything near as good either before or since, but for that one batch the fates smiled upon him–this stuff ended up close-your-eyes, curl-your-toes good. After we finished the bottle, we corked it and kept it around so we could open it every so often and just get a whiff of the aroma.
Black Bush Irish whiskey is incredible. Neat, or in an Irish coffee, wow! Bushmill’s is all that, but when you age it that long it becomes ambrosial, something about the sherry casks they age it in or something.
Some generic cheap local plonk in Perpignon France.
Thick, almost a syrup, deep ruby, sweet and smooth as velvet. It was also 5 or 6 years old, not a new wine at all.
I know everybody else would consider it the soda pop of wine, but I loved it.
The closest I can get in the US is Yago Sant’gria … which isnt as thick and has the added fruit flavors, but I like seriously sweet wines. I love sauterns, ice wines, sweet german dessert wines … If I want tannin I willl go suck an oak tree.
If you’re evern near Raphine, VA, exit 205 off of I-81, stop by Rockbridge Winery and pick up a bottle of V d’Or. Heavenly sweet, nothing like what I can find at any of the stores near my home.
~TygerD
My og, you do know how to turn a phrase! You’ve described it so wonderfully I can picture it vividly.
Sounds wonderful, but being broke and living in connecticut makes it a bit difficult, but i stuck the name in my pda to look for in stores=)
The best drink I’ve ever had was the last one that I’ve recently taken (hic)…
However, the serious reply is a drink of 50 odd year old Jack Daniels from a bottle in a buddies parents basement. The bottle had been his grandfathers and it was never opened. Harsh, hot, boozy, and clean. Trust me, they’ve definately done something to utterly wuss it out since then.
I’d guess that wine was most certainly a Banyul, if you wanted to look for it by name.
Ah, that was when she stopped breastfeeding you then? 
The best I’ve had recently was a bottle of Moscato d’Asti italian dessert wine. I made some Pineapple-Moscato Zabligone and served it with some of the wine. It was mindblowingly good and a great pairing.
I love dessert wines. Ice wine, especially.
I went to a tasting at a distributor (there were probably 100 wines to try as well as beer and spirits). I did the whites and then stopped, as I was driving, and I hate to spit.
There was a dessert wine (the price was “ask”… and this was with two and three hundred dollar bottles sold in cases on the list) that was like drinking liquid raspberry jam. It was the most amazing taste. They served it with little bites of dark chocolate, which changed the flavor into something even more amazing.
The second best is Ponzi Vineyards 2004 Vino Gelato.
Darn, I’ve been a way and just saw this thread. Even at this last time, I can’t resist giving MHO.
The best? No contest - Louis XIII cognac. Even a philistine like me could instantly appreciate that it was something very, very special. Delicate and smooth, exquisite texture, subtle “flavors”, and a terrific punch! Worth every nickel (of the over $100 per shot price - not that I was paying. My generous nephew treated me).
He also shared with me two amazing wines. Each in a class by itself. The white was a Puligny-Montrachet (alas, I can’t remember the brand) and the red was a 1982 Chateau Mouton Rothschild (John Houston did the label). You would not believe the price of the latter. Again, I was being treated. Like royalty.
A number of you have mentioned various scotches. The best I ever had was a special edition bottle of 25-year-old Bowmore. It is the standard against which I now judge all other scotches. Unsurpassed aromas (nose?) instantly upon opening the bottle, immediate delicious taste, a luxurious “five minute” finish, and, incredibly, a texture almost along the lines of a light oil. Hard to put into words, but, independent of nose and taste, it felt wonderful in my mouth. An exquisite viscosity (or lack thereof?). Wonderful.
You’re my kinda guy, Captor. I don’t like beer or wine, I simply can’t do hard liquor straight. But the best darned cider I’ve ever had was K Cider. Not too sweet like Woodchuck Amber, not too bitter like Hornsby’s. It comes in relatively small bottles, but makes up for that with the 8.5% (?) alcohol content. K is wonderful with a variety of cheeses, too. Tragically, I can’t get it around these parts anymore. A damned shame, that.
(I’ve noticed a lot of Brit Dopers think cider is just for chavs. Not on this side of the pond!)