Need Alcohol Advice

"Sam" (samwellington)
02/12/2016 at 12:48 • Filed to: None

The only type of “driving” when alcohol is involved

So, my friend is turning 21 in August, but he’s already planning his weekend birthday ‘excursion’. This involves cigars, leather chairs, and several fancy glasses.

What I need advice on is what to put in the glasses. I know a few of you know about liquor, but I now nothing. I need one of each of the following types that is good, but can also be bought at some form of a liquor store. Price is not really an issue, but maybe keep it below $100 a bottle.

Whiskey

Gin

Scotch

Vodka (bonus points if the brand is Polish, since he’s Polish)

Rum

Brandy

DISCUSSION (40)

bob and john > Sam
02/12/2016 at 12:54

dude, 200$ a bottle is PRICEY shit. i’ve never spent more then 30$ for a 750ml bottle

Sneaky Pete > Sam
02/12/2016 at 12:55

21 year Olds spending $200 a bottle on liquor? Why, you won’t know the difference for a decent cheap bottle and a ridiculously overpriced bottle...

Sam > bob and john
02/12/2016 at 12:55

He has a savings account with ~$1,000 in it, just for this occasion.

Übel > Sam
02/12/2016 at 12:57

That is WAY overkill on the price. Like, absurdly so.

Sam > Sneaky Pete
02/12/2016 at 12:57

He will, he’s been [allegedly] drinking random, shitty stuff for a year or two. Plus, disposable income is great.

bob and john > Sam
02/12/2016 at 12:58

if he has never drunk before, he isnt getting much past 50$, let me tell you this right now.

450X_FTW > Sam
02/12/2016 at 12:58

well it’s his 21st birthday, and if he’s going to be mixing a bunch of booze in his stomach with cigars, don’t bother getting expensive stuff he’ll just puke it up. Gaurentee that at some point during the night he’ll be drunk enough that he won’t know if he’s drinking 5 O Clock Vodka or Grey Goose

Sam > bob and john
02/12/2016 at 12:59

Oh, he has, frequently. On random, shitty booze. He wants the actual stuff now.

Aaron M - MasoFiST > Sam
02/12/2016 at 12:59

Whiskey: Bourbon is the American national beverage, and also happens to be a bit easier to drink than Rye (at least in my opinion). Evan Williams Single Barrel, Buffalo Trace and Elijah Craig 12 year are all nice but reasonably priced.

Gin: You can go weird, but chances are you want a bog-standard English dry gin to start. Tanqueray and Bombay Sapphire are solid choices.

Scotch: Also whiskey, but different whiskey. Go single malt, pretty much all of the blends are mediocre. Glenlivet or Macallan are solid choices, the lowest age statement is perfectly fine (usually either 10 or 12 years). If you like really peaty stuff the only Islay scotch that’s close to affordable is Laphroaig.

Vodka: There’s very little variety here. My favorite is Luksusowa, which is Polish, but virtually anything in the $30ish range will be more than fine.

Rum: Dark rum and not white rum. Kraken is the one we buy in my house.

Brandy: This is a pretty wide range, brandy is a catch-all for many types of fortified wine. I know nothing about it.

Bonus round, tequila: For sipping, there are some interesting Anejo tequilas out there. Reposado is better than blanco, but even a reposado I’d limit to mixing. My household’s favorite budget brand of tequila is Espolon, and we had a little blind taste test where it beat a $70 bottle one of my roommates bought.

Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection > Sam
02/12/2016 at 12:59

Get a $35 bottle of Maker’s Mark. You’ll be glad you did. Anything pricier than that is just a waste of money and good liquor.

Übel > Aaron M - MasoFiST
02/12/2016 at 13:02

I’ll throw Knob Creek and Woodford Reserve into the bourbon pile, and double up on that Bombay Sapphire recommendation for gin

Sam > 450X_FTW
02/12/2016 at 13:02

Nah, we won’t be mixing everything, or even getting very drunk. It’s going to be multi-day for that very reason. Also, he’s of Eastern European origin, so that helps.

Sam > Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection
02/12/2016 at 13:04

He was looking at getting some Maker’s Mark, if only because the bottle is cool.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Sam
02/12/2016 at 13:04

Way too much bro.

Pick maybe a bottle or maybe 2 if you’re going to do all this. You don’t spend this much on that much booze for one night.

Skip the brandy - not worth it.

From my experience if you’re dropping cash go Irish and get an 18 year Jameson. Saint Patrick himself must have bottled it.

For Scotch definitely stick to something like Macallan or Glenlevit like others have recommended they’re a lot easier to drink, and avoid blends, especially first time drinking Scotch. DO NOT buy an expensive Johnnie Walker, you probably won’t enjoy it.

Get some good Bourbon, many, many options.

You should be shooting to the 40-50$ a bottle price range for quality liquor that tastes great. those 150/200 bottles are special occasion have a glass and tuck it away kind of booze.

RX > Sam
02/12/2016 at 13:07

Pappy Van winkle bourbon is the best of you can find it. Weller 12 year is a good substitute.

Biggus Dickus (RevsBro) > Sam
02/12/2016 at 13:11

Put some Hair on his chest, get him a bottle of Laphroaig 10.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Sam
02/12/2016 at 13:12

Seriously, I’d not spend anywhere near that much. First off, you can get good alcohol for a lot less than $150-200, even scotch. Also, you could honestly take about a sip... not even a shot... just a reasonable sized sip of each. At that point you’d be lest interested in taste and more interested in either going to sleep or just getting hammered. So my advice is either pick one or two really nice things, or just get a bunch of cheap stuff, mixers, and have fun.

All that said, here are my thoughts:

I don’t know of any realllly fancy gins. I grew up drinking Beef Eater because it’s what my dad drank. Most people consider it junk but I actually prefer it over brands that most people consider fancy, like Bombay Sapphire or Tanqueray. The one “botique” gin I like is Blue Coat.

Whiskey is en vogue right now so you have a lot to chose from. Gentelman Jack (Jack Daniels premium brand) is actually pretty good, as are the higher end Crown Royals. I also like Blanchards and Woodford Reserve.

Scotch can be a money pit, but there’s a point of diminishing return. Also, I would suggest avoiding Johnnie Walker. I think everything they make tastes way too smokey, like a liquid camp fire, and I’ve had just about everything of theirs, even blue label which is the most expensive. Glen Livets 12 year is on the cheaper end for scotch and it’s surprisingly good and drinkable. If you want to be fancy, shoot for something in the 15-18 year range from Glen Livets, Glen Morangie, or Macallen. Mostly these will hover around the $100 mark and are fantastic sctoches. My current favorite is the Glen Livet Nardurra 16 year in the green and red box. It’s one of the most complex scotches I’ve ever had. Be warned, it’s cask strength (110 proof) so it will knock your ass out. But at around $80 it’s an unbelievably good value in scotch.

I don’t know anything about Vodka. I’m still stuck in the day when Grey Goose was popular and considered premium. I don’t know if anyone drinks that stuff anymore.

I’m not a brandy or rum person, I think it’s too sweet. Although I did get some bois bande (rum) from my honey moon - it’s 151 proof and they call it “island medicine” in the Caribbean. It will rock your world, and some of my friends who have tried it said it made them hallucinate mildly, like absinthe.

PorkchoPlissken > Sam
02/12/2016 at 13:12

Go for Bullitt bourbon or rye. Jameson is a great whiskey. Scotch is great with cigars, but it’s an acquired taste. I was in the cigar industry for 5 years, so I can help there also. If you read my grey comment!

Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis > Sam
02/12/2016 at 13:12

If you really want to be fancy I’d say $40-75 is more than sufficient.

Also, this is a major point: The moment you make most mixed drinks the value of quality of liquor drops massively. Unless you are doing drinks like Gin/Vodka and Tonic, or Manhattans where the taste of the booze is important.

These options are gonna be more college fancy, so they fit into the range above.

Whiskey/Bourbon: Angels Envy is very good, the best I’ve ever drank, and I am not a huge bourbon guy. And while I havent had it yet, the way my roommate raves about Blanton’s I assume its probably better.

Gin: While I haven’t had anything nicer than Sapphire, Hendricks is commonly found on the lists as being very good.

Vodka: Belvedere, honestly its the fanciest Polish vodka I know off hand.

Rum: Kraken is fantastic and only $20.

Scotch: Idk, Dewars?

Brandy: Not a clue.

If you want to amplify the fanciness go for a bottle of Hennessy.

Aaron M - MasoFiST > bob and john
02/12/2016 at 13:16

The only category here where you *might* get to the point of tasting a difference in price is Scotch, and maybe Brandy if you decide to double down on some really expensive cognac. That said, I couldn’t tell the difference between Hennessy and Courvoisier 21 year, but I’m not a brandy guy.

I have had somewhat expensive whiskeys: Octomore ($150 scotch) and George T. Stagg ($100 bourbon), but they were not 3 times better than their cheaper cousins, and I would not have appreciated them without the exposure I already had.

Biggus Dickus (RevsBro) > Aaron M - MasoFiST
02/12/2016 at 13:16

Bowmore 12 is from Islay and is quite affordable (relatively) and is actually my favorite 12 year.

Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection > Sam
02/12/2016 at 13:17

It’s a good, smooth, reasonably priced whisky. Seriously - $200 can buy a whole party’s worth of booze for 10 21-year-olds

Aaron M - MasoFiST > Biggus Dickus (RevsBro)
02/12/2016 at 13:20

The 12 years range, but the first time I saw Bowmore in a liquor store it was $75. In my current liquor store I believe it’s either $55 or $60, but Laphroaig is $50. It’s actually ridiculous how wide the range on scotch prices can be; at my favorite liquor store Talisker is either $55 or $60, while across town it’s $80 and where my brother is in California it’s $100. For a 12 year.

willkinton247 > Sam
02/12/2016 at 13:21

Woodford Reserve is another great whiskey around the same price point.

Sneaky Pete > Snuze: Needs another Swede
02/12/2016 at 13:29

I don’t like Bombay. Do like Beefeater and Hendricks.

Biggus Dickus (RevsBro) > Aaron M - MasoFiST
02/12/2016 at 13:31

100 for a 12 year is absurd unless it is a special reserve

Aaron M - MasoFiST > Biggus Dickus (RevsBro)
02/12/2016 at 13:33

Don’t move to California, that’s all I have to say on that.

deekster_caddy > Aaron M - MasoFiST
02/12/2016 at 13:33

Thanks for this list, I’ll have to check out those Bourbons and Vodkas. I’ve never had a good one, never known what to buy. Therefore to me all ‘Whiskey’ tastes like Jack Daniels and all Vodka tastes like Absolut... so I’ve never gotten past the ‘blechyness’ of them. I keep thinking I would like a good bourbon, but never had any good names to try.

Biggus Dickus (RevsBro) > Sam
02/12/2016 at 13:33

most people that age like sweet sugary alcohol. I doubt he will appreciate a good peaty scotch.

Aaron M - MasoFiST > deekster_caddy
02/12/2016 at 13:35

I am pretty emphatic that Vodka just isn’t that different across brands. That said, my experience with Luksusowa was a college roommate handing my a glass of clear liquid with ice, and me drinking it not knowing it was Vodka...and *still* not knowing until I felt that unmistakeable warmth when it hit my stomach. It’s amazingly clean stuff.

whatisthatsound > Sam
02/12/2016 at 13:45

My favorite scotch distillery is Bruichladdich. Bottles can go from 50-200$. If you don’t drink scotch regularly try the Scottish Barley, if you like peat go for Octamore. Then again if you want my all time favorites and want to spend money then find a bottle of Old Rip Van Winkle and have the best 21st ever.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Sneaky Pete
02/12/2016 at 13:54

Good man.

OPPOsaurus WRX > 450X_FTW
02/12/2016 at 13:59

I went out for a bachelor “party” After a couple beers we got cigars and some whiskey or something like that. It was all returned about an hour later int he parking garage.

911e46z06 > Sam
02/12/2016 at 14:22

Boo for no tequila.

If you’re drinking the rum straight, Zacapa is the best in the world. Don’t splurge for the super fancy blended shit. The 23 year old Solera is the best despite being the cheapest they sell. Probably run you 60-80 bucks. If that’s too steep, Zaya is really good too for under $30.

boxrocket > Sam
02/12/2016 at 15:28

Pravda Vodka. Smoooooooooth, tasty, potato-based, and Polish.

Kinja'd!!!

Whiskey/Whisky is always a good choice, but know what he likes according to taste/flavors beforehand.

PartyPooper2012 > Sam
02/12/2016 at 15:54

I am sure your soviet friend is well versed in alcohols and what not... but let me tell you... if you spend about 200 on ALL the liquors, you boys will be lit for a week. Like the folks here said - buy one or two bottles of cheap stuff and it’s as good as any expensive stuff as far as 21 year olds are concerned. If you really want to have fun, take your money to a strip club and see some exotic dancing... no need to spend that much on booze