Rant/Rave: Bourbon

[33anda3rd]

I don't know how people do blind taste tests of multiple brands.

You spit most of it out.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

I don't know how people do blind taste tests of multiple brands.

You spit most of it out.

That....never crossed my mind.

[thrill]

I don't know how people do blind taste tests of multiple brands.

You spit most of it out.

That....never crossed my mind.

Some people might think this is dumb. I think it just means you value whiskey properly.

[jim]

I don't know how people do blind taste tests of multiple brands.

You spit most of it out.

That....never crossed my mind.

You did it right.

[33anda3rd]

He did it right if the goal was to get wasted.

He did it wrong if the goal was to taste and assess each bourbon.

[33anda3rd]

Some people might think this is dumb. I think it just means you value whiskey properly.

It's just whiskey. There's always more.

I can't speak for the guys who do whiskey judging and what their process is. For me, as a buyer, I'm usually in one of two situations.

The first is a big tasting thing, like the Independent Spirits Expo that happens every year in Chicago. You go in a hotel ballroom with, gosh, I don't even know how many distilleries represented, over 70 and under 100, offering everything from vodka to brandy to very old bourbon. You walk around and you taste. If you don't spit you're trashed when you're about 1/4 of the way through the room. Your friends see you and say hey come over and taste and it's like yeah, I carry your stuff, I can't taste it, I know what it is. You pass on drinking the stuff because you have to save room in your bloodstream and on your palette. If you taste the stuff you now already you'll get wasted drunk and then what's the point of the trip. You try vodka distilled from honey and 120 proof Japanese whiskeys and bizarro gin and the guy from Whistle Pig calls you over to try Boss Hog, and you have like 20 other things and you have to spit or you'll fall down drunk on the floor and defeat the purpose of the show.

The other scenario for me is: A brand ambassador makes an appointment at like 2pm on a Wednesday (because you can't do this stuff during service) and they represent a tequila and a mezcal line and you're having like 6 tequilas and 8 mezcals on a somewhat empty stomach. Or a whole line, like 'here's our vodka, our two gins, our rye, our bourbon, our wheat whiskey, our three liqueurs.." Or someone comes in from Giffard and wants to taste you out on like 20 liqueurs. Or the person who reps Chartreuse + Pigs Nose scotch + Whistle Pig scotch + a gin. You're drinking sometimes a dozen ounce pours of 80-110 proof booze. At 2 in the afternoon. And you have to be coherent at the end to understand what you just had to make a purchasing decision. If you don't spit, you'll be wasted and won't make a good decision. Plus you have guests coming in a couple hours.

At the end of the day, really, it's just whiskey. Or gin. Or whatever. There's more. Always, there's more. If you're tasting it, it's ok to spit. It's totally fine. None of it is so rare or so precious that you spitting out a quarter ounce during a tasting will stop the world spinning. Granted, I have not personally paid for whiskey in two years, and I have two cabinets full of the stuff that is all gifts from distributors/distillers, but the stuff is not that precious that when you are tasting to make a decision you have to be uptight or weird about spitting some in a bucket.

[Popeye_Card]

Well [expletive], I'd light $100 bills on fire too if they were given to me for free. There's always more.

I don't eat food to just puke it up and taste more. I don't drink beverages to just spit it out to taste more. I get it if you must taste dozens of varieties for your job. It would be stupid to do it at home with bottles that you paid good money for.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

Some people might think this is dumb. I think it just means you value whiskey properly.

It's just whiskey. There's always more.

I can't speak for the guys who do whiskey judging and what their process is. For me, as a buyer, I'm usually in one of two situations.

The first is a big tasting thing, like the Independent Spirits Expo that happens every year in Chicago. You go in a hotel ballroom with, gosh, I don't even know how many distilleries represented, over 70 and under 100, offering everything from vodka to brandy to very old bourbon. You walk around and you taste. If you don't spit you're trashed when you're about 1/4 of the way through the room. Your friends see you and say hey come over and taste and it's like yeah, I carry your stuff, I can't taste it, I know what it is. You pass on drinking the stuff because you have to save room in your bloodstream and on your palette. If you taste the stuff you now already you'll get wasted drunk and then what's the point of the trip. You try vodka distilled from honey and 120 proof Japanese whiskeys and bizarro gin and the guy from Whistle Pig calls you over to try Boss Hog, and you have like 20 other things and you have to spit or you'll fall down drunk on the floor and defeat the purpose of the show.

The other scenario for me is: A brand ambassador makes an appointment at like 2pm on a Wednesday (because you can't do this stuff during service) and they represent a tequila and a mezcal line and you're having like 6 tequilas and 8 mezcals on a somewhat empty stomach. Or a whole line, like 'here's our vodka, our two gins, our rye, our bourbon, our wheat whiskey, our three liqueurs.." Or someone comes in from Giffard and wants to taste you out on like 20 liqueurs. Or the person who reps Chartreuse + Pigs Nose scotch + Whistle Pig scotch + a gin. You're drinking sometimes a dozen ounce pours of 80-110 proof booze. At 2 in the afternoon. And you have to be coherent at the end to understand what you just had to make a purchasing decision. If you don't spit, you'll be wasted and won't make a good decision. Plus you have guests coming in a couple hours.

At the end of the day, really, it's just whiskey. Or gin. Or whatever. There's more. Always, there's more. If you're tasting it, it's ok to spit. It's totally fine. None of it is so rare or so precious that you spitting out a quarter ounce during a tasting will stop the world spinning. Granted, I have not personally paid for whiskey in two years, and I have two cabinets full of the stuff that is all gifts from distributors/distillers, but the stuff is not that precious that when you are tasting to make a decision you have to be uptight or weird about spitting some in a bucket.

Ha. You and I are the yings to each others yangs, or something like that.

I haven't been gifted a bottle of whiskey....ever. Well, I take that back, the Mrs gave me a bottle of Woodford that she bought out of our joint account for my bday a while ago, so take that fwiw.

And, AND, the only purchasing decision I'm making is based more on what I read on the internet, in here, what the guy at the liquor store says, and then, lastly, what I have personally tasted (because I've tasted so little, I'd be severely limited)....and I won't be buying MM, Woodford, BT (well, maybe), OF, or Beam again within a year, most likely. As a matter of fact, the one I'm most likely to buy is Beam, which easily was the worst to even our untrained senses, in case I need a cheap whisky to mix w/ diet cokes for people. That's how little the little experiment had to do with buying.

Personally, I could never buy a whisky and then put myself in a situation where I'm taking a drink and then spitting it out. I guess, when you look at the numbers, even on a bottle of Mastersons Rye, which I really want but am just to cheap to spend that much, you're paying ~$60/26 oz? So, $2.3/ounce and about $0.50 for a sip. Do that 5 times and at most a taste test of 5 whiskeys costs $3 in wasted booze. It's not the money, it's just the principle. But, if I'm spending hundreds or thousands of dollars based on the results and/or I'm working 2 hours later, that is a completely different ball game, obviously.

[lukethedrifter]

Isn't the spitting just happening at whiskey tastings just like it does at wine tastings?

Is anyone advocating sitting down after dinner and swirling and spitting bourbon while reading a book? I hope not.

[33anda3rd]

And, AND, the only purchasing decision I'm making is based more on what I read on the internet, in here, what the guy at the liquor store says, and then, lastly, what I have personally tasted ...

That's a prerequisite for me as a buyer. If I haven't tasted it, I'm not buying it for my bar. So we're very similar in that regard. Exceptions, of course, apply.

Personally, I could never buy a whisky and then put myself in a situation where I'm taking a drink and then spitting it out.

Yeah, that would be silly. You'd be better off tasting 1-3 at a time. Or going through a bottle of something over however long, then switching, then repeating, so you get used to different brands.

What I was alluding to is spitting at the distiller's/distributor's cost, and to them that cost....like I said, it's just whiskey*. They can (and do) make more any day. They want a bar owner/bar manager/retail buyer to buy. They REALLY want to be on the back bar at Longman & Eagle, Big Jones, Delilah's, anywhere that's known for it's whiskey selection. The cost of space on that back bar is an ounce for the decision maker to taste and an hour of your time. That's a very small price to pay for back bar space at Longman & Eagle, especially if Phil really likes it and gets his staff behind it. Heck, the whiskey is worth less than the hour of the distillery/distributor rep's time.

*This is a phrase it took me a long time to get used to and be comfortable with. My first trip to one brewery, they gave me like 4 growlers and a case of bombers to bring home, and I was like "please let me pay for this." The reply was a shrug and "It's just beer." It was about $100 in beer. Just, here you go, no big deal. Every time I'd walk into a brewery or a distillery either to get to know someone or meet someone new, I'd have a drink in my hand in a matter of minutes. I always felt weird--you're giving me your stuff for free. I should have to pay for this. But that's also when I dumped my life savings into a business that the odds said wasn't likely to last 2 years and so I was kind of in micro-managing of finances mode personally and had a hard time wrapping my brain around a sincere "here's $100 of product, I hope you like it." Now I'm kinda used to them just giving it away like they're passing out tap water. It's just whiskey. It's just beer.