La Salle Explorers

[AlabamAlum]

Because good scotch is already multilayered in its taste profile. It's a rich tapestry of unique flavors woven into one perfect single body. It is Miles Davis. Or Mozart, if you prefer. A masterpiece that needs no further embellishment. I guess we could paint a handlebar mustache on Michelangelo's David and exclaim that we've added to it, but the original product is better; and best left unadulterated.

[hedge]

Also I feel compelled to mention I have never had an easier, quicker airport experience than at La Guardia this weekend. Off the plane and to my hotel in 20 minutes and no lines at the counter or thru the TSA line on the outbound. Very nice...

[AlabamAlum]

Philistine.

[hedge]

Have you ever had a cocktail with good scotch made by somebody who knows what they are doing (and almost guaranteed knows more about scotch and the art of mixing cocktails than you)? And even if you have and didn't like it, would you say that one bad experience is a basis for scientific causality? Just wondering...

[hedge]

The world needs metaphysicians, I guess, but in general I have found empiricism more rewarding...

[AlabamAlum]

Hedge,

Look, as I said, if you want to add catsup to a great steak (and cook it well done, I'm sure), it's your business, your cash, and your taste in such things which matter. So add Sprite and ice cubes to a Chateau Lafleur. Mix some diet root beer with your Louis XIII. Find the finest bluefin sushi in NYC and ask for it to be battered and deep fried and then dip it in Wal-Mart tartar sauce to your heart's content. On that, and any of the above, I will not attempt to dissuade you. I shall not lift a single finger to stop you. Your affairs and tastes are just that: Yours; however, return the courtesy and do not task me to join you in your chosen repast, for I will not.

[hedge]

I neither asked nor tasked, I merely mentioned an enjoyable experience I had this weekend, only to be swooped down upon by the Batman of scotch. In fairness, part of the enjoyment I felt as I sipped those glorious scotch cocktails (a very small part, but still a part) was knowing that when I came in here to tell it, you would react just as you have...

I seem to recall a similar conversation (if one can be allowed to call such things conversations) about the glories or damnations associated with the use of ranch dressing on chicken wings or some such. Can't recall who fell out on which side of that one (as if it matters). Same with the general merits or lack thereof of GWTW or any other movie. Certainly such conversations validate the old adage about opinions and assholes, but I'm not sure whose side they validate, i.e., the idea that everyone's opinion is just as good as everyone else's, or that there is a ideal Platonic standard, the slightest deviation from which leads to the road to Hell (or being called a philistine)...

[hedge]

All that said, you would have enjoyed any of those scotch cocktails I had this weekend, which is just as true a fact as the fact that you most likely will never try one. I'm not sure if that qualifies as ironic, but it seems like it somehow...

[SnoodGator]

Reading your posts always brings a smile to my face. Thank you and have a happy new year!

[bluetick]

Me like hot wing dipped in blew cheese.

Is good.

[AlabamAlum]

I have had one, hedge. I did not enjoy it. I found it cloying. As if they were trying to mask the flavor of the scotch with sickeningly sweet adulterants.

As to the Great Wing Debate, I generally avoid ranch, but I will occasionally use bleu cheese. How I came down on that matter is how I view this conversation: if you want to mix egg whites and Kool-Ade into your scotch, it is not for me to forbid or permit. Ditto any food or beverage choices. I, however, do not have to share your love of such things.

Also, hello snood.

[crashcourse]

I drank a bottle of glenlivet with a splash of water on the rocks over ther prior couple of days

enjoyed it thoroughly--didnt think once that i should drink it neat--philistine that I am

[AlabamAlum]

I'm okay with a splash of water. I find it unnecessary, and a bit silly. But many of my scotch snob friends swear by it.

[hedge]

What about ice? At any rate, I would think a person would have to do some investigation (one bad drink made by an amateur doesn't count) before they would know if they even liked something, much less loved it. But apparently one can hate something one has never even tried (or tried once). And really, I don't ask that you like a good scotch cocktail, I'm just telling you that you would like it if you ever tried one. Not saying you would prefer it to your usual (or perhaps I should say unwaveringly steadfast) way of imbibing, but you would like it, perhaps very much, and at the very least find it interesting in a good way...

[AlabamAlum]

Ice is like the water. I choose not to usually, but have had a cube or two on especially hot, humid evenings.

I've had more than one scotch cocktail. Usually from well meaning friends who gleefully exclaim, "You have got to taste this pomegranate, scotch, and heavy cream cocktail!" (or whatever). There is little in the way of booze I haven't tried.

But the idea that one must engage in every imaginable experience to decide if they are worthwhile is wrong. I have never had gay sex. The thought of it is unappealing and I will not try it just to see if I like it. Likewise, for example, I've never tried ice cream topped with beef jerky and yellow mustard. I can imagine how it tastes because I am familiar with all the separate components, though, and it is not something I wish to explore.

Now, my intrepid friend, you may have your ice cream with mustard and jerky and you may experiment with homosexuality, etc, and I will wish you well. Just do not expect me to celebrate or follow your innovations.

[hedge]

See, the thought of ice in scotch seems way worse to me than having an expert bartender make me an excellent cocktail that plays on the inherent properties in the scotch, brings out or mixes well with the smoky character or accentuates or melds with some other aspect (in other words, no Dr. Pepper or Nehi or other absurdity). I don't really need a sipping drink to be cold, and it seems to me that after the first few sips, the ice melting would water down the scotch so much that it wouldn't even be that good. Not unpalatable, just an unnecessary denudation of a perfectly good product. Nothing added, no enhancement or interesting twist (unless you call a colder temperature an interesting twist), but just pure subtraction. I would think the last few sips would be nothing much more than slightly scotchy tasting water. Seems a waste, unless we're talking about Dewer's or some such...

Crash, FWIW, I saw in several stores over the holiday season these ice cube sized drinking stones, you basically freeze them and put them in your drink if you want it cold, but without the resulting waterdown due to ice melting. I should have gotten some and probably will end up getting some, just b/c I kinda like bar accoutrements whether they are in heavy rotation or not. But I still think I would prefer scotch at room temp. Not sure why. Maybe just habit, but I would give the rocks a try...

[bluetick]

AA is so right - ice/water is an unwelcome guest when it comes to a premium single malt. A watered down Glenfiddich and coke is an absolute abomination.

Need I say....whiskey stones!

[AlabamAlum]

No, I'm talking a sliver or single small cube or two of ice. And it would certainly be consumed before much of that ice melts, but I generally agree with you, though, in that ice usually has no place in scotch.

And what were the components if your scotch cocktails? Egg whites? Some fruit juice? Wine or another spirit? Soda? Fruit? Just none of that sounds appetizing in scotch.

[hedge]

"But the idea that one must engage in every imaginable experience to decide if they are worthwhile is wrong."

Of course not, and you give the obvious examples, which are also the extreme cases. But there is a big difference b/w something made by a friend (however well-intentioned) and something made by an expert that many other people with similar preferences as yourself have enjoyed and recommended (which leaves out every jerky and ice cream, Nehi/Dr. Pepper/Sundrop absurdity that you seem to rely on to make your point). Or would say there is no difference there?

[hedge]

I know I had this one:

B.A.F. ($15) at Death + Company

Scotch and sherry together—makes sense, right? The B.A.F. is a polished, beautifully integrated cocktail featuring Macallan 10 Year and Lustau "Don Nuno" Dry Oloroso Sherry, which contributes gentle nutty notes that linger in the background. Aperol and Gran Classico round out the sweet-bitter balance.