Have a seat at the bar.

[TigerFan]

Firefly sweet tea vodka is my new best friend.  So far just John Daly's, but the other night I muddled some cut-up very ripe peaches, added a touch of OJ, and a couple of shots of FF.  Very very nice.

This is the real deal.  I can throw almost any amount of it into lemonade and it is wonderful. 

[HalfSmokes]

Just got one of these in the mail today. the wife is disgusted that I'm using it on a Thursday night

[tomterp]

Just got one of these in the mail today. the wife is disgusted that I'm using it on a Thursday night

I would be disgusted only if you put scotch in it.  Hopefully you're putting something a bit more manly in, not one of those needledick fashion statement ego beverages.

[HalfSmokes]

four roses Bourbon

[tomterp]

four roses Bourbon

 

[HalfSmokes]

The local Abc is steadily expanding their bourbon selection

[tomterp]

The local Abc is steadily expanding their bourbon selection

I hate Virginia ABC stores, total ripoff prices. 

Shop in Md pretty much exclusively for liquor.  DC is better but I rarely go there except to Nats games, and the Last Stop Liquors across So. Capitol Street doesn't stock the rare American whiskeys I prefer.     

[OldChelsea]

In the meantime, the Scotch whisky scene at London Heathrow Terminal 5 is better than ever...distillers are now producing whiskies for marketing exclusively at airport duty-frees - one such is Highland Park's Warriors series (http://www.highlandpark.co.uk/the-tasting-room/core-duty-free-exclusives/warriors-series) - I picked up a bottle of Einar on my last trip, along with a litre of 16-year-old from Orkney's other distillery, Scapa (I had their 12-year-old a few years ago and it was pretty good).

[GburgNatsFan]

That's a whiskey glass? It is, isn't it.

Just got one of these in the mail today. the wife is disgusted that I'm using it on a Thursday night

[HalfSmokes]

That's a whiskey glass? It is, isn't it.

yep, bigger than a shot glass, not quite a wine glass

[OldChelsea]

yep, bigger than a shot glass, not quite a wine glass

Sometimes, at the aforementioned Heathrow Airport duty-free shops (where they offer free tastings) you can get tasting glasses (with lids, so the bouquet can develop before you taste) - I've gotten several (free) over the years.

[Dave B]

 Japan makes some really good whiskey.  Had a bourbon like one a couple weeks ago (Nikka) that was very close  to as good as pappy van winkle,  which is the only high end bourbon I have tasted and blows away knob creek etc.  server said it costs about $50 a bottle.

 also really like bulleit rye.  granted it was my second whiskey of the night so things might just start tasting better at that point. I tasted a little bit of mint in it.  very smooth too

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

Bullet (Bullit?  Bulleit??) rye is one of my fave utility grogs.  I must try a flask on opening day. 

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

Japanese whiskey was sort of a runner-up to Johnny Walker red all over Asia back in the day when one wanted something other than the local hootch.  Suntory was widely available and considered to be quite respectable.  That was before every big Asian city had daily A380s flying nonstop from Heathrow full of duty-free single malts. 

[HalfSmokes]

I like bourbon on the rocks in summer, and single malt straight in winter- I see no need to broaden my horizons, every time I do (be it virginia rye, canadian or irish whiskey) I end up returning to the old stand byes, that and the good japanese stuff seems really expensive compared to scotch 

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

I watched a group of Japanese businessmen drinking Louis XIII...the boss kept ordering rounds for the 5 of them.  Shudder to think what that tab came to at the end of the night. 

[Mathguy]

I need a boss like that

I watched a group of Japanese businessmen drinking Louis XIII...the boss kept ordering rounds for the 5 of them.  Shudder to think what that tab came to at the end of the night. 

[Mathguy]

I feel the same way about IPAs

I see no need to broaden my horizons, every time I do (be it virginia rye, canadian or irish whiskey) I end up returning to the old stand byes 

[Galah]

So, beyond Sazerac, anybody got any good absinthe cocktails I should try (or have we already covered the topic)

[tomterp]

 also really like bulleit rye. 

Finally somebody else here wakes up to the glory that is American rye whiskey.

Bulleit is middle of the road quality for rye, quite drinkable but not quite memorable.  I suggest you taste every rye you can find for the next couple of years, and then let's discuss.

Let me know if you need help in this quest.   

[tomterp]

I like bourbon on the rocks in summer, and single malt straight in winter- I see no need to broaden my horizons, every time I do (be it virginia rye, canadian or irish whiskey) I end up returning to the old stand byes, that and the good japanese stuff seems really expensive compared to scotch

How about trying a Virginia single malt?

[HalfSmokes]

How about trying a Virginia single malt?

sounds intriguing - any suggestion (prefernably that I'd actually be able to track down)

[tomterp]

sounds intriguing - any suggestion (prefernably that I'd actually be able to track down)

Pretty sure there's only 1, brewed and distilled in Sperryville.

Here are a couple of reviews. 
http://spiritedremix.blogspot.com/2009/12/wasmunds-single-malt-review.html
http://beveragebaron.net/2011/02/13/wasmunds-single-malt-whisky-redefining-american-whiskey/

[HalfSmokes]

irnoically, it doesn't appear to be carried by Abc stores

[tomterp]

irnoically, it doesn't appear to be carried by Abc stores

It is sometimes, I've found it in Reston (South Lakes) before.

They give a nice little half-hour tour if you go to the distillery, and you can buy it there slightly discounted.  Unfortunately, you can't actually taste it there, under Virginia's oh so intelligent liquor laws.   

Unless you go down during the week when nobody's around, and the proprietor likes you, and you become his "guest", and step out behind the back barn and he might then offer you a tasting.   

They also have a rye, even more expensive (and pretty good in its own right) but I recommend the Single Malt.  Note this has little resemblence to the refined and smooth taste of scotch.  It is aged only 16 months, but gets a ton of flavor from first the smoking process (wood chips in a wood stove with the malted barley suspended overhead above a perforated tin floor), then the aging where they put apple and cherry chips in the barrels.  It's not "smooth", but not harsh either and it is packed with a swirling melange of flavors.  I really love this whiskey.  Bold, proud, loud, a bit coarse, American.