On Sep 27, 7:36*am, riverman wrote:
On Sep 21, 12:14*pm, George Cleveland
wrote:



So my question to the ROFFians here is what else is there that is
tasty and less than $50/bottle? Anyone have a favorite? Does this make
me another elite, snobbish, flyfishing poseur, the kind I used to pity
and mock? And how should I feel about that?
Geo. C. *

Plenty have gone before me, Geo. but there are a LOT of whiskys for
less than $50 a bottle. I'd suggest, without becoming too elitist or
snobbish, just cruise your local duty free next time you fly, and take
a chance. Some of my favorite bottles, before I got inexorably and
inevitably tangled up in name recognition and Jackson's Whisky Book
ratings, were products of unknown little mock distilleries.

It might be easier to ask what is worth avoiding rather than what's
worth targeting...the list is considerably shorter. As a whisky
beginner, I'd avoid any of the peatier Islays (BTW, if your talking to
the seller, its pronounced "EYE-luh", not "eye-LAY"). That includes
some well-bantered brands such as Lagavulin, Laphroaig, Bowmore,
Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain and Coal Ila. These are excellent brands,
but unless your palate is ready for the salt and peat, they might have
too much character for you. Of course, I could be entirely wrong...try
a few drams and see if they appeal to you. My own palate wanders
around fiercely, but if I were to have only one bottle on the shelf,
it would not be an Islay.

My suggestion: start with a least-pricey Speyside or Highland. These
tend to be more 'feathery' and easier to drink, especially when cut
with cold water (the distillers suggest 1:1, although that seems to be
a bit watered down for me: I tend to cut it to 1 part water to 3 parts
whisky.

Again, the only criteria...beyond price, beyond name recognition, and
beyond snob factor....is if you like it. And if you find yourself
acquiring several bottles of under-$50 whisky that you picked up and
really were not enamored with, then consider that you are merely
stocking your cabinet for a later time when your tastes change.

YMMV, of course.

--riverman

I've heard that a boy can get some pretty good fares from Tomah to
Black River Falls these days.

g.
course, that's prolly just hearsay.