Whiskey Snobbery In Thailand.

[elkangorito]

Any of you noticed some thais walking into a restaurant with an expensive whiskey box,inside of which is a not so expensive brand bottle?

Last night i was impressed to see a group of thais sitting down for a meal near me,& opening a bottle of cheap & cheerful Mekong whiskey,which brought back hazy memories of holidays in thailand around 15 years ago.

Surely its going to be hard to appreciate the difference between whiskey brands once they have been diluted by soda & ice,so is it only image?

The same thing with Jack Daniels & coke in the west.After you put the sugary stuff in can you really tell whiskey apart?

Hmmmmm. I thought Mekong was Rum & not whisky. So many Thais think that Sang Som is whisky but it is actually Rum. Unless Mekong now make whisky, it is & always has been, Rum.

[Heng]

WL Weller 7 year old bourbon, thanks. 600 Baht a bottle (not including the 189,000 Baht plane ticket it costs me to run down to the store and get a bottle in Austin).

[Ijustwannateach]

I fancy a wee dram of Laphroaig from time to time myself....

If I'm spending actual money on something good to drink, I'll go a bit of the extra mile. But if it's just a tipple to enjoy with the evening, for my (nearly no) money, I'd buy Benmore- it's drinkable (better than 100 P's to me), it's barely more expensive than the much, much worse alternatives beneath it, and it apparently was actually bottled in Scotland (though not sold there).

It's certainly not worth the extra money to "upgrade" from there to JW- might as well spend double or more again and start looking at some nicer spirits. So I guess if I'm going to spend any real money, I'm a whisky snob, but otherwise I'm not hard to please.

"S"

[Nignoy]

Well, I think the restaurants are the snobs. I can't get Lao Kao in any of them so I don't go anymore. I drink it straight but after two glasses I have got to go home. Any more than that and I can't find my house anymore.

I used to enjoy Lao khao too,For years I have distilled my own brand, dont drink it so much these days but the mates love it, its real smoov and sweet real good sipping alcohol and it makes pretty good outboard motor fuel Too, but has too be bottled in glass as it dissolves plastic, and the thought of diluting it with coke or water still makes me cringe Nignoy

[surface]

Coke clearly becomes needed.

[rick75]

Well I have had the joy of both good and bad Scotch, when I fly I will always pick up a nice bottle duty free, whether it costs $50au or $500au it pretty much tastes the same to me, under $50 a bottle and its a different story, but its nice to crack open an expensive bottle when the mates come around. As for drinking it with a mixer one word, philistine. I am not a snob, I usually love to tuck into a bottle of bundeberg rum, but its nice to spoils oneself on occasion.

[Gary A]

I'm a beer drinker but on occasion, especially with friends, change over to the hard stuff. Anyone who says that Canadian whiskey, scotch and bourbon tastes the same has dead taste buds for sure. I normally mix coke and soda together with my hard liquor. About half and half soda and coke because coke by itself is too sweet. That mixture gets mixed with an equal amount of liquor. Rum is an entirely different animal. Mekong and Sang Som are in the rum class. Actually I can drink about anything EXCEPT Lao Kao. I have discovered a "blended spirits" called Cooper that is available in some stores here. It is cheap and the taste is similar to Canadian whiskey. Scotch tastes like whiskey that has been burned, It must be an acquired taste that I never acquired.

Edited June 12, 2008 by Gary A

[Ulysses G.]

It is true that different people have different palates. For some, expensive gourmet foods, wines, and spirits are a complete waste of money because they lack the genetics combined with experience to appreciate them. For the super tasters among us (I am somewhere in between) low quality food and drink is a kind of torture.

"Lack the genetics"? Do you really buy this bullsh*t?

I enjoy good food from McDonald's to Chez Panisse, but I don't think it is anything to do with genetics. My mother was a great cook who liked to experiment with different styles and different cuisines and when I moved to San Francisco, I immediately appreciated "good" restaurant food because I had been eating it at home all of my life.

"Low quality" food is a combination of bad ingredients - think Thai beef - and a lousy cook. A good cook can figure out how to make almost anything taste good. That is how the French became so famous for their sauces even though their meat wasn't up to much.

Edited June 12, 2008 by Ulysses G.

[mmushr00m]

Sang Som is Rum??? I did not know that.

Its my drink of choice when Im out at the bars for a lads night out. <deleted>, no need to pretend to be high brow and order cognac, johnny green etc when the purpose is to have a piss up. Bloody waste of good liquor if you ask me.

Would love to find some CC here but have to settle for Chivas on more formal occasions.

[Johpa]

It is true that different people have different palates. For some, expensive gourmet foods, wines, and spirits are a complete waste of money because they lack the genetics combined with experience to appreciate them. For the super tasters among us (I am somewhere in between) low quality food and drink is a kind of torture.

And I am sure that is why "Two Buck Chuck" won top awards at a national wine competition judged by people we can only assume who are even more genetically blessed and even more experienced than the Jing Thingy. Sorry Jingy, the concept of a super taster is a hoax.

[kmart]

Are you talking about whisky or whiskey? There's a big difference!

What even if you mix them with coke?

being a old grandpa might mean that you lose your taste. but as a youngster. i do not.

Coke does not dilute the taste of any kind of whiskey. of course if you'Re a light weight, you will put too much cola but 1/3 whiskey and 2/3 cola (or more whiskey) is enough to taste the difference

There is a HUGE difference in quality over the 350 baht whiskey at 7/11, the 800baht (100 piper) sewer whiskey, and the delightfull Chivas 12years old whiskey.

im not sure which blue label is the cheapest. but one time with my friend they ordered it(blue i think) without me knowning since i asked for the average or expensive one, well i got sick after 1 glass.. had to buy my own bottle.

of course ive never been poor and have always drank or ate great food, so my taste is developed. if you come from a regular american family eating cheap hamburger steaks nightly, its normal that you dont and are just jealous of people with more money than you enjoying themselves to a nice alchool.

Funny stuff. I'll have a glass of what you just drank, thanks.

[PhilHarries]

Jeez, what is a french guy doin' talking about whisky? He should stick to burning cars in paris or blockading motorways with tractors.

I do not generally like whisky but one I have enjoyed slipping down the throat is Isle of Jura 21 year old malt.

In terms of Thai drinking habits with respect to whishy I have noticed a group come into a restaurant bearing a Johnny Black box that looked like it was on it's second world tour. But the bottle that comes out is 1/2 to 3/4 full and the reason for this is obvious when you see them pour. A smallest splash of whisky in a glass of ice topped right up with soda, there's probably more alcohol in a packet of cornflakes. Not that there's anything wrong in this each to their own and I bet their liver is not in danger but hel_l the stuff must evaporate faster than it is drunk.

[Jingthing]

It is true that different people have different palates. For some, expensive gourmet foods, wines, and spirits are a complete waste of money because they lack the genetics combined with experience to appreciate them. For the super tasters among us (I am somewhere in between) low quality food and drink is a kind of torture.

"Lack the genetics"? Do you really buy this bullsh*t?

I enjoy good food from McDonald's to Chez Panisse, but I don't think it is anything to do with genetics. My mother was a great cook who liked to experiment with different styles and different cuisines and when I moved to San Francisco, I immediately appreciated "good" restaurant food because I had been eating it at home all of my life.

"Low quality" food is a combination of bad ingredients - think Thai beef - and a lousy cook. A good cook can figure out how to make almost anything taste good. That is how the French became so famous for their sauces even though their meat wasn't up to much.

Yes, I buy it, of course! Different people taste food differently. Too lazy to google for you but it should be no problem to find scientific studies about the influence of genetics on food taste. Of course, that combines with the environment, and a person's motivation to seek out wonderful tastes, and then you get a particular individual's taste at adulthood. BTW, I find McDonald's disgusting, but am definitely not a supertaster as evidenced by my love of strong coffee.

I see low quality food as bad tasting food and/or junk food, which is of course subjective. Of course its true a good chef can make the most of all kinds of ingredients. If the ingredients are top notch you don't always have to do very much with it at all.

OK, here is a start, note the discussion of GENETICS and taste in it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertaster

Edited June 12, 2008 by Jingthing

[Ulysses G.]

It is true that different people have different palates. For some, expensive gourmet foods, wines, and spirits are a complete waste of money because they lack the genetics combined with experience to appreciate them. For the super tasters among us (I am somewhere in between) low quality food and drink is a kind of torture.

"Lack the genetics"? Do you really buy this bullsh*t?

I enjoy good food from McDonald's to Chez Panisse, but I don't think it is anything to do with genetics. My mother was a great cook who liked to experiment with different styles and different cuisines and when I moved to San Francisco, I immediately appreciated "good" restaurant food because I had been eating it at home all of my life.

"Low quality" food is a combination of bad ingredients - think Thai beef - and a lousy cook. A good cook can figure out how to make almost anything taste good. That is how the French became so famous for their sauces even though their meat wasn't up to much.

Yes, I buy it, of course! Different people taste food differently. Too lazy to google for you but it should be no problem to find scientific studies about the influence of genetics on food taste. Of course, that combines with the environment, and a person's motivation to seek out wonderful tastes, and then you get a particular individual's taste at adulthood. BTW, I find McDonald's disgusting, but am definitely not a supertaster as evidenced by my love of strong coffee.

I see low quality food as bad tasting food and/or junk food, which is of course subjective. Of course its true a good chef can make the most of all kinds of ingredients. If the ingredients are top notch you don't always have to do very much with it at all.

OK, here is a start, note the discussion of GENETICS and taste in it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertaster

Not to be snotty, but you are using the term "super taster" incorrectly.

They have a stronger sense of taste than other people, but not a "better" sense of taste.

A bag of potato chips that taste great to you or I, would probably be way too salty for a "super taster", but he/she won't necessarily appreciate caviar or champagne any more than bangers and mash and a good beer.

Edited June 12, 2008 by Ulysses G.

[Ijustwannateach]

I've removed an annoyance from the thread- please do carry on.

[bonobo]

I am not much of a whiskey drinker. I use Jack Daniels (is that whiskey or bourbon?) for cooking sometimes such as sauteeing onions and mushrooms in it for burgers. While in Iraq, I had to go to Jordan where a woman introduced me to her collection of single malts (once again, is that whiskey?), and they pretty much sucked for me. I much prefered her mother's home-made lemon squash.

But when you mentioned Mekong, I had a wave of nostalia crash over me. Not for the drink, but for their calendars. I don't think I have ever seen such a great collection of photos in any other calendar.

Does Mekong make calendars anymore? Is there anywhere to get them?

[toptuan]

of course ive never been poor and have always drank or ate great food, so my taste is developed. if you come from a regular american family eating cheap hamburger steaks nightly, its normal that you dont and are just jealous of people with more money than you enjoying themselves to a nice alchool.

Deep insights into the Hi-So mind...

And, for your information, OUR hamburger steaks were EXPENSIVE!

[mizzi39]

Jack Daniels is a bourbon whiskey which differs from scotch whiskey. Being a yank, I miss JD. I know it is sold in the mall close to my home for around 950 baht per bottle. Hmm, maybe I will pick up a bottle after work.

Edited June 12, 2008 by mizzi39

[mr_hippo]

Jack Daniels is a bourbon whiskey which differs from scotch whiskey. Being a yank, I miss JD. I know it is sold in the mall close to my home for around 950 baht per bottle. Hmm, maybe I will pick up a bottle after work.

There is no such thing as Scotch Whiskey - it's Scotch Whisky!

[bonobo]

Jack Daniels is a bourbon whiskey which differs from scotch whiskey. Being a yank, I miss JD. I know it is sold in the mall close to my home for around 950 baht per bottle. Hmm, maybe I will pick up a bottle after work.

So what is the difference between bourbon and scotch? Besides the "whiskey" and "whisky" spelling i just read in another post. And then there is sour mash whiskey.

[jeffer]

You can look up all the details on Wikipedia but one difference is Scotch is based on barley, bourbon is based on corn. Jack Daniels is a Tennessee whiskey, not a bourbon as defined by U.S. Federal regulations, however many times you may see it advertised as bourbon in liquor store advertisments. If it was bourbon then they would state it on the bottle and they don't. The taste is noticably different, even mixed with coke (for our French friend).

[rgs2001uk]

Jack Daniels is a bourbon whiskey which differs from scotch whiskey. Being a yank, I miss JD. I know it is sold in the mall close to my home for around 950 baht per bottle. Hmm, maybe I will pick up a bottle after work.

So what is the difference between bourbon and scotch? Besides the "whiskey" and "whisky" spelling i just read in another post. And then there is sour mash whiskey.

jack daniels is whiskey.

whiskey and bourbon are one and the same thing, the difference being , only whiskey made in kentucky can be called bourbon, thats why jim beam is called a bourbon and jack daniels is called whiskey because its made in tennesse.

sour mash whiskey is the name of the mash used to make the whiskey, it sounds good,but its just like saying barley mash whiskey, all whiskeys start with a mash which is then fermented before being distilled, the process for all is basically the same, the reason for the different taste will depend on whether its a grain or malt whiskey coupled with the source of the water,the type of still used to distill the raw produce and finally the type of barrels the raw whiskey is stored in and where these barrels are stored.

typically these barrels are only used three times, each time they are used they are marked with an x, thats why in the cartoons you some times see whiskey bottles with 3 xs on them.

[alaina]

A snob is usually someone with more expensive taste and a rube is someone with less expensive taste.

Personally, scotch is completely different than whisky to me and I've never acquired a taste for scotch, but I do like whisky. I'm not really in the market for more expensive tastes so I turn down scotch but order Jameson or Jim Beam when I'm out. Jack Daniels is a little on the rough side for me but Jim seems much smoother. I like Tullamore Dew though, good to know that it's sold here. Sang Som really is rum and tastes like it to me so I avoid it and I swear that it gives a mean hangover (but, there are usually other drinks involved when I agree to drink it too.)

But I miss and always get a bottle of this when I am overseas:

yum

[JSixpack]

Jack Daniels is a bourbon whiskey which differs from scotch whiskey. Being a yank, I miss JD. I know it is sold in the mall close to my home for around 950 baht per bottle. Hmm, maybe I will pick up a bottle after work.

I used follow the old-time religion too. But now I know that Wild Turkey is far, far better. Also Jim Beam Black, to mention two bourbons readily available here in LOS--and for about the same price!

[JSixpack]

I fancy a wee dram of Laphroaig from time to time myself....

Me, too. Got a bottle on the shelf now and do have a shot once in a while.

But if it's just a tipple to enjoy with the evening, for my (nearly no) money, I'd buy Benmore- it's drinkable (better than 100 P's to me), it's barely more expensive than the much, much worse alternatives beneath it, and it apparently was actually bottled in Scotland (though not sold there).

I totally agree. I had once even thought about starting a thread about Benmore as a good value but didn't want to deal with all the trolls and idiotic responses.

Edited June 12, 2008 by JSixpack

[mrtoad]

I fancy a wee dram of Laphroaig from time to time myself....

Me, too. Got a bottle on the shelf now and do have a shot once in a while.

But if it's just a tipple to enjoy with the evening, for my (nearly no) money, I'd buy Benmore- it's drinkable (better than 100 P's to me), it's barely more expensive than the much, much worse alternatives beneath it, and it apparently was actually bottled in Scotland (though not sold there).

I totally agree. I had once even thought about starting a thread about Benmore as a good value but didn't want to deal with all the trolls and idiotic responses.

Laphroaigh is one of my favourites, and I've always got a bottle at home. I suppose it is a bit of an acquired taste though.

I quite like the Macallen Single malt as well, and there's a half empty bottle looking at me now.

As for drinking with mixers, nothing wrong with Benmore, 100 Pipers or Johnny Red for an evening session.

[mizzi39]

Jack Daniels is a bourbon whiskey which differs from scotch whiskey. Being a yank, I miss JD. I know it is sold in the mall close to my home for around 950 baht per bottle. Hmm, maybe I will pick up a bottle after work.

There is no such thing as Scotch Whiskey - it's Scotch Whisky!

Oh, so sorry, Scotch Whisky, my mistake! I deserve to be flogged, tared and feathered, so could you please spare some of that WHISKY to numb the pain?

Edited June 12, 2008 by mizzi39

[Jingthing]

Not to be snotty, but you are using the term "super taster" incorrectly.

They have a stronger sense of taste than other people, but not a "better" sense of taste.

A bag of potato chips that taste great to you or I, would probably be way too salty for a "super taster", but he/she won't necessarily appreciate caviar or champagne any more than bangers and mash and a good beer.

I agree with you totally on that point. Sorry if I confused the two issues: (1) supertasters and (2) the scientific fact that different people are genetically predisposed to have different food preferences. Considering the tastes that I love now, I would consider being a supertaster a curse. But I do think such tasters exist.

Edited June 12, 2008 by Jingthing

[swain]

I have picked up some Myanmar gin, and rum... The gin at 50 baht a liter bottle, and 40 baht for the rum... I gave some friends a gin and tonic and or a rum and coke and ask them what brand do they think their drinking... --I have a bottle of bacardi rum and tanqueray gin on the top of the fridge where anyone can see it.... so you know what their answers were...

To be honest I got their whiskey as well.. but it just tasted like paint thinner even in coke.

Edited June 12, 2008 by swain

[telaksslave]

Are you talking about whisky or whiskey? There's a big difference!

What even if you mix them with coke?

being a old grandpa might mean that you lose your taste. but as a youngster. i do not.

Coke does not dilute the taste of any kind of whiskey. of course if you'Re a light weight, you will put too much cola but 1/3 whiskey and 2/3 cola (or more whiskey) is enough to taste the difference

There is a HUGE difference in quality over the 350 baht whiskey at 7/11, the 800baht (100 piper) sewer whiskey, and the delightfull Chivas 12years old whiskey.

im not sure which blue label is the cheapest. but one time with my friend they ordered it(blue i think) without me knowning since i asked for the average or expensive one, well i got sick after 1 glass.. had to buy my own bottle.

of course ive never been poor and have always drank or ate great food, so my taste is developed. if you come from a regular american family eating cheap hamburger steaks nightly, its normal that you dont and are just jealous of people with more money than you enjoying themselves to a nice alchool.

ABSOLUTLY DISGUSTING COKE IN WISIKEY THE JOCKS WOULD CHOKE ON IT