When someone gives you bad whiskey as a gift,

[bort]

Sound like a down-South problem to me... I have never received whiskey as a gift. Actually, what the hell are you talking about, bad whiskey? Just don't make it the first thing you drink. Why pull the top shelf stuff for drink #__?

Reminds me of Schaefer beer... The beer to drink, when you're having more than one.

[opus37]

Bad whiskey is not a gift but an insult. Bloke is right that it happens and there are names for "rot gut". Giving or re-gifting of bad whiskey is just wrong. A small quantity of good stuff is greatly appreciated. A jug of poor stuff is not forgotten.

Southerners may be a bit rough around the edges, but I have found them to all be gentlemen and mostly honorable.

[bort]

Oh... I didn't realize you were talking about THAT kind of stuff. Brian is right -- that's not much of a gift!

[iiipopes]

There is only one use for bad whisky: mix it half-and-half with generic cola, slightly flat, consume in quantity, and check out for the rest of the weekend with the worst hangover possible!

[chronolith]

Everyone will have a different standard for bad. Mine has regularly moved up over the years. I like the idea of bad whiskey becoming good cleanser though. Thanks for the tip. I have a bottle in the cabinet that even my wife's younger coworkers avoid.

Say what you will about the south, some of the best whiskey to be had anywhere comes from down there. And if you have any manners at all they might be kind enough to share it with you.

[chronolith]

Yeah the high peat stuff puts me off. That and the burn into the tongue and evaporate stuff. It's like licking an ashtray and trying to convince yourself it's good (it isn't).

JW (upper shelf stuff) is no joke. Pricey yes but well worth it. Another favorite of mine is Pappy Van Winkle family reserve. Kind of a dumb name but oh so good, especially the 21 and older. Always neat. Uppity culinary types agree with me. If someone offers you some they are a true friend.

Scotch... (name does not mean anything other than to mean whiskey from Scotland - there is no standard) is another ball of wax. I like many and hate many more. Current favorite is Aberlour 18. I don't share it.

[Donn]

Do you think, if someone walked in and asked for a Scotch and soda, he or she'd be making a gigantic error not to specify the brand? Even on the rocks, would people be able to identify Ballantines vs. J&B vs. Johnny Walker ...? (I'm asking, don't know - I'd as soon spend my money on American rye, and anyone I know who favors Scotch these days is some manner of connoisseur who wouldn't dream of putting Ballantine's on the table.) But you'd sure know the difference if someone subbed in bourbon in that Scotch and soda, I reckon.

[Donn]

Or for in fact for generations of Scotch drinkers who aren't such connoisseurs as yourself.

Irish whiskey is about as similar as anything, also featuring barley and roughly part of the same tradition, but I bet anyone could sort out Irish whiskey from Scotch whisky given unmarked samples of common brands, with a fair degree of accuracy considering how similar they are. It's like saying there's no such thing as white wine, since it could be anything from Riesling to Cabernet Sauvignon. And there was a famous trick experiment that supposedly proved it - the tasters were describing wine with words like "cherry" and "peach", and they used red words ("cherry") for a white wine dyed red. That shows those words are a little dubious as a guide to flavor, which anyone could tell you (I personally liked "garrigue" but it seems to have fallen out of fashion, so now I drink just anything), but does red wine taste the same as white? Sure doesn't!

[Donn]

...and - for the very last time, the oft-heard statement, 'I only drink single-malt' is a b.s. statement without NAMING (at least) one, as - again - there's no predictable relationship from one to the next in flavor.

Who cares? Drinking only single malt is not about being attached to a specific flavor, it's about drinking for self-improvement, as opposed to drinking to get drunk as one does with blends.

We have a Scotch distiller here in Seattle. They aren't allowed to call it that, of course, but everyone knows. It's quite good, if you like Scotch.

[opus37]

Scotch is supposed to be made in Scotland but Japan has been marketing several highly rated products for years. Within Scotland, there are 5 regions each having a distinctive character, think taste profile, from the others. Within each region are several distillers each having a slightly different profile. Then there is aging which generally mellows the taste and adds other flavor elements. All this makes single malt Scotch very complicated. It's a lot like wine or microbrewery beer. Blends like Johnny Walker are less expensive and can be very good. (I like black label) with all this, Cutty Shark is bad whiskey and should not be gifted regifted or drunk (unless you are already quite drunk and don't care.)

[Three Valves]

I put Drambuie in Scotch so it really doesn't matter.

I save the Glenfiddich for ice cubes only.

I know.

I'm a Scotch heretic!!

[basslizard]

Try it in Diet Dr. Pepper.
Twelve years ago or so, that's what our daughter (and one of her girlfriends) did with some very expensive scotch. We arrived home to find them crawling around on the floor in their underwear, because they were too drunk to stand up, and had thrown up all over their clothes.

A diet soda mixed with hard liquor will get you drunk faster than mixing with anything else, especially women. There's some scientific explanation that I am too lazy to look up to quote. (Diet 7&7)

I've made it a mission to find whiskey that I like. It's hit and miss all over the world. I don't like it too smoky. I've like a peaty scotch and hated an expensive peaty scotch. All I really know is that if I can't drink it neat, I don't need to drink it.

[Three Valves]

The last, and I mean THE LAST time, I had a Blackout drunk was mixing Stroh Rum and Coke!!

[Three Valves]

Kahlua on ice cream is pretty darn good too!!

BTW~If you never passed through a "drinking phase" of your life, more power too you!!

(Not worth it)

[Donn]

I've made it a mission to find whiskey that I like. It's hit and miss all over the world. I don't like it too smoky. I've like a peaty scotch and hated an expensive peaty scotch. All I really know is that if I can't drink it neat, I don't need to drink it.

Your sacrifice does not go unnoticed.

Don't neglect to try some rye at some point. (American - not Canadian whiskey, which isn't required to even have any rye at all in it.) Old Oberholt is quite economical and not terrible, and there are lots of fancier brands these days. I see Pikesville is back in a well received 110 proof version, after they discontinued the cheap white label version I liked, and there are a lot of small distilleries giving rye a shot. There are also some sort of poser brands, bottling someone else's whiskey - I mean, not that there's a Pikesville distillery any more, it's a Heaven Hills line, but these guys seem to be just cashing in a recent interest in rye where people don't know the brands.

[Ltrain]

The best solution for bad whiskey is good pickle brine.

[Three Valves]

This (as an equal parts mixture) would be considered to be "92 Proof", would it not?

Just add Ginger Ale!!

[iiipopes]

The best solution for bad whiskey is good pickle brine.

Yes: a shot of cheap whisky chased with a shot of pickle brine. I prefer a good dill kosher brine, not the nothing-but-salt-and-vinegar hamburger pickles brine. And leave the olive brine to a dirty martini with cheap gin.