New Irish whiskey: Origine

I went to the grocery store the other day and wandering through the isles I saw a new Irish whiskey: Origine Irish whiskey. The label says it was established since 1780 but since this is a Cooley whiskey it goes all the way back to the 1980s. It was priced at 18.99. I'm not sure if it was for a fifth or a liter. My blood sugar was crashing and it looked like a huge bottle to me, so it could be a liter, but probably just a fifth and low blood sugar.



Upon careful inspection of the photo and sugar in my gas tank I can see it is 750 mL

Tasting reviews are sparse. There is this review that compares the flavor to Styrofoam and yet gives it 84 points. And that's why I don't like tasting reviews. The store jerk stocking the shelves shook his head and said "nasty". So there's that. I didn't buy any, but I will probably get a bottle eventually, and I'll let you know if it tastes of Styrofoam.

Regional treats

Yesterday I forgot to post the "regional treats" I mentioned in the header. Muh bad. Apparently there is a new Chicago whiskey:

The organic whiskey, named for the distiller's son, is aged in American oak barrels and comes in four different varieties: rye, oat, dark rye, and dark oat

Of course I won't be able to go to Chicago and have a drink and report. Fuck. I'm getting married that weekend. Also, I haven't researched to see if they are related but there is a new distillery in Evanston.

More Indian whisky and other regional treats

Maybe we were premature in declaring the 21st century to be the Chinese century. Maybe it is truly the Indian century. Another Indian whisky is looking to hit US shelves this year: Officer's Choice.



Guala cap!

I'm not sure what the officers are choosing. But there it is. I encourage you to go to the homepage and study it well. If hipsters get a hold of this everyone will be drinking "the OC". The amount of kitsch is perfect for the US market. Tasting reviews are non-existent, which is weird because there were loads of Amrut reviews before they hit the States. It is apparently a blend of "Indian malt spirits and the best selected Indian neutral spirits".

I'll keep an eye out for it and see if it the best Indian whisky I've ever had or only the second best Indian whisky I've ever had.

Czech beer

I went to the liquor store looking for some Polish beer. I couldn't find any in 6 packs, only 12 packs. I didn't want to gamble on that much beer, so I bought some Czech beer instead. Staropramen. Not bad, but I think it sat on the shelf too long and had started to sour a little. There was some dust on the bottles. I'd say it was a good beer 3 weeks ago.

Miami Fever is back!

So for a while my favorite photographer, Miami Fever, was missing on the internet. I thought he might be dead or something. But he's back, and some of my favorite pictures are back online too. Or maybe they never left and I am only finding them this time. Or I already posted them and forgot. Have a look:



Canon 200mm f1.8? That's crazy. Shot wide open in broad daylight? Crazy!



Oh Miami!



His photostream is still short a few thousand from the glory days, but definitely worth the trip.

Wine and Taco Bell, first try

Burritos and Black Swan Shiraz. Verdict? Fail. The Shiraz was too bitter for the sweet, sweet taste of burritos. You definitely need a sweet wine to go with Taco Bell.

New linky for you

I recently discovered a new blog that looks really promising. I usually don't pimp another linky like this, but I wanted to call out dsfcb by name. This is the blog that has the 33rpm Metallica rips that I sought and found earlier. Lots of good stuff there, check it out.

Lessons from the Dude

At least once a year I watch The Big Lebowski and, within a week, end up drinking White Russians and taking a bath. I don't usually do either. For some reason I try and compress the two activities into one.

Taking a bath while drinking a White Russian is a bad idea. The drink just sits in your stomach curdling in the heat. Remember that the Dude never drank in the bathtub, just smoked. So don't try and drink in the bathtub. That's my advice.

Wine and fine dining

Recently I posted the following question to my friends: what wine goes best with Taco Bell?

The answers were as follows:

-box wine
-Boonesfarm
-Old Lady white zin + fiber pills
-Calcu 2006 blend

I haven't given it a try, but I plan to soon and I'll definitely put a fine dining food and wine review up here when I do.

You'd think, with all the wines out there and all the stupid descriptions of their taste and what food should be eaten alongside, that there would be some food reviews with helpful suggestions for Taco Bell wines. Surprisingly, there is very little. I was able to find one good review and that's it.

It's enough to make you think that wine drinkers are a bunch of foul food snobs. Some people look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them I enjoy a good cheap Merlot to go with my pizza. Wine is cheap people. Less than ten bucks a bottle? Your dollar for alcohol ratio is comparable with Schlitz.

Field notes: the fruit of the vine

It came as news to me that one could distill vodka from grapes. But that's exactly what the folks at St. Julian winery have done. Now normally when you tell me you distilled a spirit from wine you're telling me you made brandy. But this raw, unaged brandy is being sold as "vodka". Don't ask me how it tastes, I didn't have time to stop in. I just spotted the billboard.

I'm curious as to the brandy though. Aged 2 years in Hungarian oak and 2 years in French oak. I might have some field research ahead of me.

more filler

Still busy, more youtube poop:



That is all