MALT, SPIRIT an GRAPES lovers post here

[ANO]

i like lagavulin for scotch bullitt for burboun

[XanKriegor]

I like white spirit, always useful for cleaning your hands after a hard days work.

lol we have this shit here too xD

[TheWalrus]

i like lagavulin for scotch bullitt for burboun

Looks like he likes the Bulleit, I like his review, good to get a euro perspective on our bourbon, never knew how it played over there.

[philie]

philies reviews of special gins #1:

Professor Cornelius Ampleforth's Old Tom Bathtub Gin

last week i emptied this little bottle of very fine gin by famous prof. ampleforth, who runs a small distillery somewhere in england. the name is not a name, but kinda a description of the gin.
old tom gin is a sort of gin that is sweeter than the common london dry gin.
The name Old Tom Gin purportedly came from wooden plaques shaped like a black cat (an "Old Tom") mounted on the outside wall of some pubs above a public walkway in 18th century England. Under the cat's paw sign was a slot to put money in and a lead tube. From the tube would come a shot of gin, poured by the bartender inside the pub. (from wikipedia)
bathtub gin means, that it's homemade under amateur conditions (like filling your bathtub with alcohol and throw some spices in, then fill into bottles after a few weeks).
the bottle looks awesome, wrapped in paper, wax top, nice graphics with walls of text explaining the old tom story.
the gin itself is light yellow, smells like lots of stuff. it has a complex and strong juniper and coriander taste followed by a sweet taste of cinnamon. you don't taste the 42 % alcohol, it's pretty smooth.
i didn't try it with tonic water, would have been a waste.
btw: it won worlds best compound gin award 2014.
definitely not the last ampleforth gin i'll try.

[ANO]

I have blended these two whisky, it turned out a fantastic mix

they are very good anyways, but together they exalt each other, it's amazing.

[ANO]

a classic

[skunk3]

I'm a fan of pretty much all kinds of booze, except for stuff that tastes strongly of anise / black licorice. *puke*

I used to drink a lot of liquor, but these days I primarily just stick to beer. It just depends on my budget. I don't have a good-paying job anymore, so I haven't bought myself a bottle in some time.

I'm a single malt scotch fan above anything else; however, I really LOVE this stuff: http://www.chartreuse.cz/images/chartreuse-1920.jpg

Both varieties are incredible, but I prefer the darker of the two. The flavor is very complex, and at 55% ABV is does pack a punch. Best enjoyed slowly with lots of ice. It does have a little bit of an anise / black licorice flavor, but it's not overpowering at all. It's a bit pricey here in the states (roughly the same amount as a decent bottle of scotch), but it's worth it.

Also, fun fact: the color 'chartreuse' is actually named after this liquor.

[philie]

philies reviews of special gins #2:

Star of Bombay

as i'm at my last glass of "star of bombay", it's time for another review. so let me rant a bit about "bombay" gins.
"bombay sapphire" has managed to be available kinda everywhere around the globe, you know the light blue bottle from bars (the gin itself is colorless, of course):





that one is ok, if you want to drink it with tonic water.
if you go somewhere, it will often be the best gin you can get.
(now that doesn't mean it's really good though)

of course the gin is not from bombay, but from london. it's supposed to have an original recipe from 1761, but this gin as it is now is available since 1987. on the cover you can see a pic of queen victoria, and below the star of bombay, a 182-carat sapphire from sri lanka (as you can see, here is nothing as it's supposed to be).
the label refers to india being under the rule of the british crown from 1850 - 1950.
since 1998 bombay gins belong to bacardi (which is imo neither a sign of quality nor a company to support).

there's  a "special editon" of this gin, which is called Bombay Sapphire East:





it's basically the same with a bit stronger taste of pepper and lemongrass.

but actually i wanted to write about the "star of bombay" (the gin, not the sapphire xD):





it's supposed to be the bombay gin you can drink neat.
well...
it is really better than the standard bombay gin and tastes a bit more complex (they say they've given the botanicals more time to lay down their flavour).
nevertheless it has a strong taste of industrial alcohol :/
greets from bacardi.
for a price of 40 € there are way better gins around.
won't buy again.

cheers

[Sensei]

Good old mother’s ruin

[TheWalrus]

hate bombay sapphire, good review philie

[Dr Abegod]

Gordon's ftw!

[philie]

philies reviews of special gins #3:

Sears Cutting Edge Gin

i'm in the mood for more (gin) so here we are. i just got me a bottle of this young (2013) new school gin:



the edgy bottle with the minimalistic design looks really stylish somehow.
though i gotta say its transparency is getting on my nerves, cause gins are in the first row on my bar and you can see the bottles in the 2nd row..

the gin is from paderborn, germany. you maybe know the famous bum-beer:



nowadays if you wanna get a grip on the gin market, your gin has to have something special and unique. the thing here is the "cutting edge" (tm): the botanicals used for the gin are cut with very strong and sharp knifes which is supposed to have a positive effect on the essential oils responsible for the flavour of the gin.
aha. well.. ok, if you think so.
the gin tastes very strong, mostly of juniper a bit of lemon and maybe some pepper. also the alcohol taste is very strong, but not to an annoying extent.
drinking neat is not recommended though.
but it tastes really nice when you drink it with some good tonic water. way better, for example, than bombay sapphire with tonic water. btw these gins are at the same price level.
btw tonic water. my favorite is this one:



sears says, you gotta drink it with goldberg tonic water:



the reason for that is that sears and goldberg both belong to mbg international premium brands.
goldberg tonic water is really good though.

enough of that now, time for a drink.

cheers.

[Sensei]

That Sears gin looks like a bottle of aftershave.

[TheWalrus]

nowadays if you wanna get a grip on the gin market, your gin has to have something special and unique. the thing here is the "cutting edge" (tm): the botanicals used for the gin are cut with very strong and sharp knifes which is supposed to have a positive effect on the essential oils responsible for the flavour of the gin.

ahaha i almost cried when i read this, classic shit

do they actually believe people will believe this

[philie]

That Sears gin looks like a bottle of aftershave.

it has 44 % you could try using it as aftershave xD

nowadays if you wanna get a grip on the gin market, your gin has to have something special and unique. the thing here is the "cutting edge" (tm): the botanicals used for the gin are cut with very strong and sharp knifes which is supposed to have a positive effect on the essential oils responsible for the flavour of the gin.

ahaha i almost cried when i read this, classic shit

do they actually believe people will believe this

guess so, yes lol