I have been given bottles of scotch and cognac over the years and they have sat on a shelf because I do not drink as much as I did when I was younger. Back then I did not have Scotch or Cognac too often unless it was offered to me. I have tried drink some of these drinks of the connoisseurs but I am not enjoying or appreciating them as other people seem to do. I have to power them down with vodka which has a almost neutral smell and taste. I use triple distilled Smirnoff vodka. I cut the Scotch or Cognac down 2/3 Vodka to 1/3 Scotch or Cognac. It is good on the rocks or mixed with orange juice a splash of 7 up and a slice of lemon. My questions are : Do other people find Scotch and Cognac too strong out of the bottle? Do other people cut them down in flavor with Vodka and is it proper to mix Scotch and Cognac with mixes like orange juice and 7up?
Scotch, Cognac question.
- Thread starter HAMSTER INSPECTOR
- Start date
Don't know about Scotch which I hate but I love a good Cognac . I drink it straight up but I sip it . Cognac ... yum yum . Mixing Cognac with orange juice or 7-up , never .
In a large glass, iced tea and a shot of Grand Marnie with a twist of lemon. A perfect summer's drink. It's a sin to mix Scotch with anything but water. Anything under 18 years is unacceptable.
Hamster....i used to be a bartender. And while I personally would never mix Scotch Or Cognac with anything here is my advice.
If you personally like it and it's your booze go ahead and do it.
Any other opinion is snobishness and affectation.
A few hints. Try Scotch with Drambuie(called a Rusty Nail). It's a sweet Scotch derivative that might help to cut is for you.
As for the Cognac it's essentially brandy. Just aged longer. So you can use it say in coffee or other brandy drinks(use google) just as well.
Cheers!
If you personally like it and it's your booze go ahead and do it.
Any other opinion is snobishness and affectation.
A few hints. Try Scotch with Drambuie(called a Rusty Nail). It's a sweet Scotch derivative that might help to cut is for you.
As for the Cognac it's essentially brandy. Just aged longer. So you can use it say in coffee or other brandy drinks(use google) just as well.
Cheers!
I say, you drink your stuff the way you like to drink it. That is the proper way. If the drink is too harsh or concentrated you can tone it down so you can appreciate the aromas. There are many scotches and cognacs that people can not appreciate unless they are comfortable with the level.
FYI - In Spain they mix Coca-Cola into their brandy.
It is like fine music. How can anyone enjoy even the finest of music if you blow their ears off? They may not appreciate it the first time and not give it a second chance.
If these bottles were gifts you have no control of the intensity of these drinks, so to enjoy them you can tone them down. If you are buying these bottles for yourself. You can buy a Larsen or a Camus VSOP which is mild. Sadly, they are not available at the LCBO, you have to cross into Quebec to get these mild cognacs. You can get Gautier VS, at the LCBO
There are lesser know but excellent quality scotches like Aberfeldy 12. that can rival any well know brand or better it.
FYI - In Spain they mix Coca-Cola into their brandy.
It is like fine music. How can anyone enjoy even the finest of music if you blow their ears off? They may not appreciate it the first time and not give it a second chance.
If these bottles were gifts you have no control of the intensity of these drinks, so to enjoy them you can tone them down. If you are buying these bottles for yourself. You can buy a Larsen or a Camus VSOP which is mild. Sadly, they are not available at the LCBO, you have to cross into Quebec to get these mild cognacs. You can get Gautier VS, at the LCBO
While Grand Marnier and Cognac is quite nice, I prefer Cointreau and Cognac. There is less of a herb and spice taste and Cointreau is lighter and fruitier.
I am not so particular that I require a 18 year old scotch. ( all the time ) Chivas Regal 12 and Glenrothes are reasonably priced. Aberlour 10 & 12, Glenmorangie Original 10 are fine scotches at slightly higher prices.
There are lesser know but excellent quality scotches like Aberfeldy 12. that can rival any well know brand or better it.
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Hate scotch
way too strong, I stick with CC whiskey
must be an acquired taste
Does not scotch mix with soda?
Here is a man who loves his scotch
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...0DCA53B16AFD2D0AC4200DCA53B16AFD2&FORM=VRDGAR
way too strong, I stick with CC whiskey
must be an acquired taste
Does not scotch mix with soda?
Here is a man who loves his scotch
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...0DCA53B16AFD2D0AC4200DCA53B16AFD2&FORM=VRDGAR
I agree with what else you say but not with this.
Good Scotch and Cognac are carefully distilled, very high quality beverages. As buyers we pay high premiums to buy the best, and the best delivers exceptional flavors and tastes. To drink them in a way that best delivers their unique flavors is not affectation but the exact opposite.
It is true that we are each entitled to spend our money in whichever way we choose, but to pour Coke on top of a $250+ bottle of Scotch or Cognac is plain, simple, stupidity.
Want to have Scotch and Coke? Buy a $20 bottle.
Real affectation is blending them with Vodka, which is a waste of all the liquor.
Perry
I agree on all points about the process, the aging, the taste etc.
However in this case he was gifted most likely with scotches in the 40 buck range and I'll bet V.S.O.P cognac. So no great loss.
If it was a 25 year scotch then by all means invite over friends who appreciate it and let them drink it. I don't think this is the case here.
And as to the affectation part the way I've seen some who claim to be connoisseurs swill the good stuff after a couple I suppose I'm a bit jaded.
Whilst I personally prefer both on their own, I know of others that do cut them down; however, they do it mostly with water, club soda, ice cubes or Cointreau (for Cognac at least) but never with vodka.
My bottle of 15 yr old Yamazaki begs to differ with that statement.
I like the unique taste of Scotch and Cognac, neither of them is too strong neat for me. There are an infinite amount of new fusion drinks where anything and everything is acceptable but don't ask the advice of purist or connoisseurs on this one.
Can't drink rye whisky, it turns me into a surly drunk, and I never developed a taste for Cognac.
I drink single malt neat as a digestive after a meal. I like it best after consuming red meat. I opened a bottle of Talisker 18 Years, the heavenly aroma is wafting through my nostrils as I type.
jcpro your statement than anything under 18 years is unacceptable, is unacceptable. I'm very fond of Glen Cardhu 12 Years Old.
I drink single malt neat as a digestive after a meal. I like it best after consuming red meat. I opened a bottle of Talisker 18 Years, the heavenly aroma is wafting through my nostrils as I type.
jcpro your statement than anything under 18 years is unacceptable, is unacceptable. I'm very fond of Glen Cardhu 12 Years Old.
The truth of the matter is that distilling and aging a good scotch or cognac is not that difficult. The difficulty is marketing and popularizing the product. The rarity of a scotch or cognac is a conspiracy of these distillers to limit production of their products to just barely meet demand. With more demand coming from China for scotch and especially cognac, these distillers have to ramp up production, but just barely to the level where they get premium prices but not flood the market. Canada, US France India and Japan produce whiskies in unlimited quantities, but they lack the reputation and prestige of scotch whiskies. Even though produced in the same manner as Scotch whiskies Indian and Japanese whiskies can not be called scotch. In some taste test Japanese whiskies equal or exceed the quality of scotches produced in Scotland.
There is nothing wrong with adjusting a drink to suit your taste no matter how you do it. I was gifted a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue a few years ago. No matter what I did to it I just did not enjoy the smokey / peaty flavor. I added other scotches to modify it and vodka to tame it down but it never suited me. So in the end I butchered a $250+ bottle without satisfactory results. Modifying a drink to suit your taste is not an affectation. Putting cognac in a snifter and requiring three nosings
and a slurping to take in the aromas is an affectation. Refusing Chivas Regal, Ballantine's or Johnny Walker scotch because it is not single malt is an affectation. Drink it the way you like it. It is affectation that causes people to prefer the Rémy Martin X.O. @ $250 or Hennessy X.O. @ $290 merely because the crowd tells them that these are the best, when a A. de Fussigny X.O. @ $150 or a bottle of Jean Fillioux Cep d'Or X.O. @ $123. Lessor known distillers can craft just a high quality a product as the big distilleries.
Different strokes and all that... I just find older Scotch a bit more smooth.
I don't want to be unkind, but the fact is that you frequently express opinions on subjects you know nothing about -- or based on half truths from which you infer nonsense.
This is a typical example.
Perry
Is this a case of: he don't drinks his drinks like I drinks my drinks so he can't be a man 'cause he doesn't smoke
the same cigarettes as me.
I would appreciate it if you do not weasel word it and answer directly.
I await your answer.
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Perry,
Where are my half truths and / or nonsense?
Is that a nolo contendere, Maitre 'D?
