Best Value Booze

[Flatouthruthefog]

It IS possible, if you know your stuff and really believe in spirits!

For instance, in one of the first BBC radio consumer programmes that (horror of horros!) mentioned PRODUCT NAMES, c. 1994, a panel of experts in 'blind' tasting could NOT tell the difference between the (then) new Rubiskaya vodka and Smirnoff. Really! Neither can I, but I do know that Rubiskaya can be found in Chiang Mai (the bottle shop opposite Thai Airways for eg) and it's less than half the price of Louis' hooch.

Side note: interesting that despite it's name, Rubiskaya comes from France, as did Monsieur Smirnoff all those years before he landed in Russia!

Shame that Rubiskaya's attempt at gin is so very very bland.

Some years back in CM (and Mae Jo Man will bear me out here if his memory is up to it) a dynamic duo of Aussie and Pom liquor marketing men came up from the Big Mango to do a promo. One product they were pushing was the excellent Ballantynes blended Scots whisky. Less than half the price of Johnnie Walker Black and they claimed NO-ONE could tell the difference. What do you think to that, scotch drinkers? I only touch the stuff when there's no powerful colourless liquids around, like earlier this week.

Who on EARTH would pay for J.Walker Red (undrinkable in my view) when High Commissioner is being virtually given away free??!! Great stuff at under 250b a bottle!!

So what do all you x-perts think?

And what do the winos have to say?? Come on! Sup up and speak up!! 'Scuse me now. Just off to (hic) drive home.........

[Ulysses G.]

My theory is that most alchohol tastes like sh1t and everyone pretends the opposite. I do enjoy an ice cold lager beer when it is hot outside, but, other than that (and some flavored liquors), most alchoholic beverages taste horrible.

[Ajarn]

My theory is that most alchohol tastes like sh1t and everyone pretends the opposite. I do enjoy an ice cold lager beer when it is hot outside, but, other than that (and some flavored liquors), most alchoholic beverages taste horrible.

All alcoholic beverages taste terrible to me

[anonymouse]

My theory is that most alchohol tastes like sh1t and everyone pretends the opposite. I do enjoy an ice cold lager beer when it is hot outside, but, other than that (and some flavored liquors), most alchoholic beverages taste horrible.

All alcoholic beverages taste terrible to me

Well it looks like UG and Ajarn are both cheap dates

[Ajarn]

My theory is that most alchohol tastes like sh1t and everyone pretends the opposite. I do enjoy an ice cold lager beer when it is hot outside, but, other than that (and some flavored liquors), most alchoholic beverages taste horrible.

All alcoholic beverages taste terrible to me

Well it looks like UG and Ajarn are both cheap dates

I may be a cheap date, but I'm pure.

[cmsally]

My theory is that most alchohol tastes like sh1t and everyone pretends the opposite. I do enjoy an ice cold lager beer when it is hot outside, but, other than that (and some flavored liquors), most alchoholic beverages taste horrible.

All alcoholic beverages taste terrible to me

Well it looks like UG and Ajarn are both cheap dates

I agree most alcohol tastes like sh1t, except for most champagne. So maybe not such a cheap date

[Ricardo]

Shame that Rubiskaya's attempt at gin is so very very bland.

Try Gilbey's Gin, produced under-license in the Phillipines, and available at Rimping for about 350B for a 1-litre bottle ! Bottoms-Up , old chap !

[cnxmike]

"All alcoholic beverages taste terrible to me "

you probably never had a "Riesling Schorle".

Riesling is a dry white wine and mixed 50/50 with mineral water makes it a Schorle . I don't mean this liquid sold as soda water in Thailand. I think more of "Perrier".

On a hot day there is no better drink.

[Crow Boy]

Side note: interesting that despite it's name, Rubiskaya comes from France, as did Monsieur Smirnoff all those years before he landed in Russia!

Shame that Rubiskaya's attempt at gin is so very very bland.

This is not correct. Piotr Smirnov first founded his vodka distillery in Moscow in the 1860s, under the trading name of PA Smirnoff. He died in 1910 and was succeeded by Vladimir Smirnov. The company flourished and produced more than 4 million cases of vodka per year.

During the October Revolution, the distillery was confiscated and the family had to flee. Vladimir Smirnov re-established the factory in 1920 in Istanbul. Four years later he moved to Lwów (formerly Poland, now Lviv, Ukraine) and started to sell the vodka under the contemporary French spelling of the name, "Smirnoff". The new product was a success and by the end of 1930 it was exported to most European countries. An additional distillery was founded in Paris in 1925.

In the 1930s Vladimir met Rudolph Kunett, a Russian who had emigrated to America in 1920. The Kunett family had been a supplier of spirits to Smirnoff in Moscow before the Revolution. In 1933 Vladimir sold Kunett the right to begin producing Smirnoff vodka in North America. However, the business in America was not as successful as Kunett had hoped. In 1938 Kunett couldn't afford to pay for the necessary sales licenses, and contacted John Martin, president of Heublein, who agreed to buy the rights to Smirnoff.

For your claim that most people cannot tell the difference between one brand of whisky to another I am doubtful. Perhaps amongst the clan who add coke to it then yes the difference between one and another is hard to detect but not impossible. I can tell the difference between Jack Danials and Jim Beam as can most who like the spirit by the characteristic smell but I drink mine straight as was intended by the maker. Similarly most drinkers can tell the difference between their brand of whisky and say for example Bourbon v Whisky v Whiskey.

If you can't tell the difference and enjoy what you are drinking then there are plenty of different brands such as Benmore, 100 Pipers, and anything sold in a 7-11 store with you in mind.

CB

[tigerbeer]

i reckon Lao Kao gives you the best bang for the buck !

[p1p]

The most important thing about any drink is that you enjoy it. It matters not if it is a famous/expensive brand or an ultra-cheap rot-gut. As long as it does not adversely affect your health, go for it.

I am a drinker of good whisky, or I would be if I could still afford or, for that matter, find them. (Whisky - from Scotland. Whiskey - from Ireland, the USA and elsewhere.) Blended grains have their place and generally deserve to be mixed with something to be best enjoyed. Malts should always have a few drops of a pure mineral water added to release the special smoky aromas and the true complexity of the drink. If you like the deep smoke flavours, and for an after-dinner digestif, you could not go too far wrong with an island Malt, such as Lagavullin from the Isle of Islay. For a lighter drink, an aperitif with a different set of complex, subtle aromas, try a Speyside Malt such as one of the products from the sister distillery to Glenfiddich, The Balvenie.

As for good value - That is such a difficult thing to quantify. A cheap rot-gut gets you drunk, but it provides you with the perfect storm of a hangover too. Is that value?

I wish I hadn't started reading this thread now!

[Samuian]

.....edit........such as Lagavullin from the Isle of Islay. For a lighter drink, an aperitif with a different set of complex, subtle aromas, try a Speyside Malt such as one of the products from the sister distillery to Glenfiddich, The Balvenie.

I wish I hadn't started reading this thread now!

Haven't come across a blended whisky/ey that exited my tastebuds yet, except some VSOP Brandies like Cognac or Armagnac.

Some of the flavors are simple instant bliss and enlightenment!

Add Bombay Sapphire, Tanqueray,Havana Club, Cardhu and we are talking... for wines... hmmmm... Pinot Noir from NZ Cloudy Bay, Shiraz from Australia or SA... or a nice fruity Gewuerztraminer from Alsace or the Moselle Region of Germany, for a perfect after dinner treat, try "Huxelrebe" from Pfalz...if I hear the talk about "pricey" spirits matched by cheapo's... it's like comparing a Kobe Steak with an ordinary piece of beef from the local breeders..

[p1p]

Haven't come across a blended whisky/ey that exited my tastebuds yet, except some VSOP Brandies like Cognac or Armagnac.

Huh?!

Oh well - never mind.... Not today....

[Samuian]

Haven't come across a blended whisky/ey that exited my tastebuds yet, except some VSOP Brandies like Cognac or Armagnac.

Huh?!

Oh well - never mind.... Not today....

O.K. tomorrow then..

[Rasseru]

. . . . . If you like the deep smoke flavours, and for an after-dinner digestif, you could not go too far wrong with an island Malt, such as Lagavullin from the Isle of Islay. . . . .

Aaaahhhhh (falling tone, followed by rising tone). Lagavulin, one of my all-time favourites, although I haven't had it in years. Then, on a completely different note from the same isle, another favourite, Laphroaig. Mmmmmm.

. . . . . I wish I hadn't started reading this thread now!

Me three.

[Bananaman]

Shifting slightly from the theme of spirits, I'm quite partial to a drop of Archa Beer myself. The missus laughs at me for drinking it and says it's "lo-so beer" but I couldn't give a toss cos it's B25 a big bottle from most Mom & Pop shops (B21 if you buy a crate of 10 from the right place) and tastes pretty much like any other beer when you're parched. The beer connoisseurs will come out and tell me it tastes like horse p*ss now but it won't stop me drinking it!

[Rasseru]

Shifting slightly from the theme of spirits, I'm quite partial to a drop of Archa Beer myself. . . . . The beer connoisseurs will come out and tell me it tastes like horse p*ss . . .

Ah yes, and no higher praise is possible from true connoisseurs of the stuff!

[p1p]

Haven't come across a blended whisky/ey that exited my tastebuds yet, except some VSOP Brandies like Cognac or Armagnac.

Huh?!

Oh well - never mind.... Not today....

O.K. tomorrow then..

I am sorry, but you are comparing turnips and toucans. You could, if you wished, eat either of them, but they are in no way related.

Basic Spirits 001:- Whisk(e)ys are distilled from a fermented alcoholic mash made from sprouting barley or, on occasion, other grains.

Brandies, whether VSOP or otherwise are distilled from fermented grape juice. Cognac and Armagnac hail from the eponymously named regions of France.

Whisk(e)ys and Brandies : Turnips & Toucans.

[ThaiPauly]

I do enjoy an ice cold lager beer when it is hot outside,

That'll be EVERY day then UG

[Ulysses G.]

[chiang mai]

And what might I ask is wrong with Song Sam Whiskey and supporting the Thai economy? The name of that flak jacket rental agency was, again please?

[adjan jb]

I agree most alcohol tastes like sh1t, except for most champagne.

I beg to differ. Most wines from Champagne taste like merde. Then the next day you wake up with a sore skull

IMO only the expensive ones are delicious and safe (Roederer, Bollinger, Krug,... )

[Ulysses G.]

adjan jb is French. He knows!

[adjan jb]

adjan jb is French. He knows!

Maybe. But unfortunately he can't afford any good or bad Champagne in Thailand. He's too poor and the price is always a joke. They want 4,000 THB for a bottle that costs 7-800 THB in France. Is it delivered by UPS ?

[Samuian]

Haven't come across a blended whisky/ey that exited my tastebuds yet, except some VSOP Brandies like Cognac or Armagnac.

Huh?!

Oh well - never mind.... Not today....

O.K. tomorrow then..

I am sorry, but you are comparing turnips and toucans. You could, if you wished, eat either of them, but they are in no way related.

Basic Spirits 001:- Whisk(e)ys are distilled from a fermented alcoholic mash made from sprouting barley or, on occasion, other grains.

Brandies, whether VSOP or otherwise are distilled from fermented grape juice. Cognac and Armagnac hail from the eponymously named regions of France.

Whisk(e)ys and Brandies : Turnips & Toucans.

Aha, Turnips & Toucans, thanx for that, now I know!

So what are the blended Whiky/eys then standing for?

My guess is for the turnips!

[Crow Boy]

adjan jb is French. He knows!

That sort of statement always intrigues me. It is akin to saying "he is Japanese and by virtue of birth a karate master" or "he is American so therefore knows everything about baseball" or "he is Australian therefore knows everything about everything" . Just because he comes from France doesn't mean he knows jack about champagne other than it comes from a province in France. He may be one of those few Frenchman that thinks they make decent beer there.

Ok when that guy with the Sangsom comes back ask him where he rented the flak jacket will ya.

CB

Edited February 27, 2008 by Crow Boy
Kevlar Jacket has been aquired and donned in preparation of replies to this post

[bergen]

I am sorry, but you are comparing turnips and toucans. You could, if you wished, eat either of them, but they are in no way related.

Basic Spirits 001:- Whisk(e)ys are distilled from a fermented alcoholic mash made from sprouting barley or, on occasion, other grains.

Brandies, whether VSOP or otherwise are distilled from fermented grape juice. Cognac and Armagnac hail from the eponymously named regions of France.

Whisk(e)ys and Brandies : Turnips & Toucans.

I thought Armagnac was made from apples

However, I do like cognacs, and single malts form Speyside, and fortunately my nearest bar have a small selection of both.

Though I usually drink Singha beer, a bottle of red wine now and then is also good!

[adjan jb]

adjan jb is French. He knows!

That sort of statement always intrigues me. It

Just because he comes from France doesn't mean he knows jack about champagne other than it comes from a province in France. He may be one of those few Frenchman that thinks they make decent beer there.

CB

Or I may be one of those few Frenchmen who know that Champagne, being a proper noun, deserves a capital letter.

[Who, me ?]

. . . . . If you like the deep smoke flavours, and for an after-dinner digestif, you could not go too far wrong with an island Malt, such as Lagavullin from the Isle of Islay. . . . .

Aaaahhhhh (falling tone, followed by rising tone). Lagavulin, one of my all-time favourites, although I haven't had it in years. Then, on a completely different note from the same isle, another favourite, Laphroaig. Mmmmmm.

. . . . . I wish I hadn't started reading this thread now!

Me three.

YES YES YES !!!! My taste exactly !!!

[Rasseru]

. . . . . If you like the deep smoke flavours, and for an after-dinner digestif, you could not go too far wrong with an island Malt, such as Lagavullin from the Isle of Islay. . . . .

Aaaahhhhh (falling tone, followed by rising tone). Lagavulin, one of my all-time favourites, although I haven't had it in years. Then, on a completely different note from the same isle, another favourite, Laphroaig. Mmmmmm.

. . . . . I wish I hadn't started reading this thread now!

Me three.

YES YES YES !!!! My taste exactly !!!

In that case, one more thought: Talisker. . . . sigh . . . .