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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsThe 20 Absolute Best Whisk(e)ys for Your Money
Top shelf booze with mid-shelf prices.https://www.thrillist.com/drink/nation/the-best-whiskeys-for-your-money
When it comes to our beloved brown spirit, going big doesnt have to mean dropping half your tax return on 750 millilitres of the good stuff. Because for every dusty bottle of black market Pappy van Winkle, theres a whole hoard of ambitious anklebiters ready to flex atop your home bar for a fraction of the price. Good whiskey doesnt have to be expensive, concurs John McCarthy, the man behind the swanky sticks at San Franciscos Gibson and the co-author of Be Your Own Bartender: A Surefire Guide to Finding (and Making) Your Perfect Cocktail. Just because a bottle is labelled as 18 years, it doesnt necessarily mean its better than something labelled 15 yearsoften, I actually prefer a younger whiskey. Spending more time in wood doesnt always make whiskey better, but it does make it more expensive. We enlisted McCarthys expert help to compile these readily available picks, each studded with international awards, so you can safely leave those shady Craigslist Pappys for the suckers.
Price: $59.99
Kavalan, out of Taiwan, is making some really elegant, sophisticated whiskies, McCarthy says. While most of this polished fleet sports top shelf prices to go along with their top shelf pedigree, this entry level, cocktail-friendly expression provides all the tropical bang for less of the buck. The islands balmy climate accounts for much of the juices enticingly fruit-forward aroma, which is backed up by rich praline, dried fruit, and lightly toasted oak on the palate.
Price: $33.07
This blended whisky shows off the best of Suntorys three distilleries is Yamazaki, Hakushu, and Chita. Toki, which translates to time in Japanese, blends the single malt from Hakushu and the grain from Chita for form a subtly sweet, clear gold product. Tasting notes include green apple, grapefruit, white pepper, vanilla oak, and ginger. Ideally, youd have this whisky on hand to whip your friends a classic Japanese highball.
Price: $64.99
This unique addition hails from Frances Cognac region and, as one might imagine, carries over some of the profiles found in the areas beloved spirit, most notably crème brûlée, almond, and Bananas Foster thanks to its sojourn inside used Cognac barrels. As if that werent enough, a distinctly floral, coconut-laced aroma ensures this is a far cry from anything birthed on American shores.
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doc03
(35,143 posts)Jim Beam or Old Crow. It's like beer you say you drink a certain beer and there is a "beer expert" that would die of thirst before drinking it.
Celerity
(42,636 posts)or any of the ryes.
Extremely different flavour profiles and noses.
As for beer, it is also so easy to differentiate between a can of American industrial adjunct-laden pisswater like Budweiser or Miller and a great IPA, let alone a stout or porter. Hell, even with a superb German lager is easy to tell versus the giant selling US swill. There are so many crazy good American breweries as well, it has nothing to do with simply the country.
Outstanding American IPA, easy to find, not at all expensive:
Bell's Two Hearted Ale
from Michigan
doc03
(35,143 posts)NO! Scotch NO!
Celerity
(42,636 posts)https://vinepair.com/articles/neipa-beer-questions-answers-guide/
Few things in this world command hours-long lines, truck-chasing juice wolves, internet economies, and endless debates quite like juicy and hazy IPAs. Commercially known as New England-style IPAs, or NEIPAs for short, these beers are booming. According to IRI Worldwide, from July 2017 to July 2018 the style grew more than 200 percent in dollar sales, and sales by volume were up 50 percent. At the Great American Beer Festival this year, held Sept. 20 to 22 in Denver, contest entries for American-style IPA were outnumbered for the first time ever by a Brewers Association newcomer: Juicy or Hazy IPAs. No longer written off as a fad, NEIPAs are here to stay. If your understanding of the style is a little, well, cloudy, youre not alone. Here are six questions you might have about NEIPAs, answered.
1. ARE NEIPAS FROM NEW ENGLAND?
Yes and no. The nascent style traces back to New England, where brewers like the Alchemist and Hill Farmstead in Vermont, and later Tree House and Trillium in Massachusetts, introduced hopped-up, hazy IPAs to the marketplace. Now, however, NEIPAs are produced all over, from tiny taprooms in Texas, to nationally distributed craft brands like New Belgium and Samuel Adams, to other continents like Europe and Asia. In fact, New Belgiums Voodoo Ranger Juicy Haze and Boston Beers Samuel Adams New England IPA claim the top two performing NEIPA brands of the year.
2. WHAT MAKES NEIPAS JUICY?
NEIPAs are called juicy or juice bombs because they literally taste, smell, and look like juice. Hops are added late in the brewing process, as well as during primary and secondary fermentation, which enables brewers to coax out fruity aromas like passion fruit, peach, and mango with little perceivable bitterness on the palate, so they go down sweet and easy. NEIPAs can also be visually indistinguishable from a glass of orange or mango juice because of their bright yellow color, thick texture, and low carbonation.
3. HOW ARE NEIPAS DIFFERENT FROM REGULAR IPAS?
As silly as it may sound, NEIPAs are different from IPAs in pretty much every way. While a regular old IPA is clear orange-gold in appearance, piney and citrusy on the nose, and bitter in flavor, NEIPAs are unfiltered, murky, and yellow. They smell like a fruit basket and have almost no perceptible bitterness. Ingredients vary, but most NEIPAs are made with grains like pale malts, wheat, and oats; adjuncts like lactose; and other additives to boost their creamy mouthfeel and cloudy optics (some brewers even use apple purée!). NEIPAs are over-the-top hopped like their IPA parents, but in a very different way. Brewers accomplish the tropical aromatics sans astringency by adding lots of hops after the wort is boiled, or during the whirlpool, and during primary or secondary fermentation (this is also known as dry-hopping). This way, hops are not exposed to heat, so juicy notes abound without any bitterness.
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panader0
(25,816 posts)It's the only one I can afford.
Celerity
(42,636 posts)https://heavenhilldistillery.com/evan-williams-single-barrel-vintage.php
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/evan+william+single+barrel+vintage+straight+bourbon+whisky+kentucky+usa
tack on another 5 usd or so
and here is another superb inexpensive bourbon
Four Roses Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
https://fourrosesbourbon.com/bourbon/small-batch/
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/four+roses+small+batch+straight+bourbon+whisky+kentucky+usa
yellowdogintexas
(22,114 posts)Perfect because it doesn't cost much and has magnificent aroma and taste; blends nicely with the cake flavors without overpowering them.
*basically a rum cake with Bourbon substituted for rum.