What whiskey(s) were family favorites?

[Jono]

My father did not drink much whiskey...but we had a WT 101 in the pantry.

He also finished off a jug of McCormick as a vacation purchase.

A grandfather...an Italian immigrant...drank Corby's or 4 Roses in addition to wine.

[SBOmarc]

Old Grand Dad 86 proof.

Wild Turkey 101 8 yo.

These were the only two I ever saw in the house.

[cowdery]

Mattingly and Moore bourbon and nothing else. The only other alcohol in the house was beer and a tiny bottle of sweet vermouth, because my Aunt Joan likes manhattans.

[CorvallisCracker]

My father drank beer exclusively. My mother drank mixed drinks containing vodka.

They kept a bottle of Seagrams Seven on hand for guests wanting whiskey, usually to mix.

My wife's parents (New Orleans residents) drank bourbon. She's pretty sure it was Jim Beam.

[Jono]

"Mattingly and Moore bourbon"

Now there is a brand I have never heard of....a Heaven Hill product.

Prices I have seen online are "inexpensive"....$9-11.

[spun_cookie]

Jack Black in coke and Hamm's beer. Standard around my house growing up.

I still send my dad JDSB for a gift once in a while.

This year he gets PVW 15YR SB

[ratcheer]

My father usually drank vodka. The only whiskey I can recall seeing him drink was Canadian Club and that was rarely.

Tim

[Jono]

So far it is clear...us children have become whiskey snobs...liking that fancy top shelf stuff....we deserve a smack on the head. Now cut the grass you lazy .....

[OscarV]

No alcohol in my family's house growing up. They were evangelical Protestant Christians.

But I do remember going over to a buddy's house when his parents were out.

They had Old Gand Dad and Stroh's beer, couldn't beat that for sneaking it for free.

[cowdery]

"Mattingly and Moore bourbon"

Now there is a brand I have never heard of....a Heaven Hill product.

Prices I have seen online are "inexpensive"....$9-11.

Mattingly and Moore was my parents choice because it was the cheapest Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey available in Ohio's state-operated liquor stores, and they were perfectly happy with it so why spend more? I'm not sure who made it back then.

(Today, only my father is still living, and for some years I have kept the house supplied with bourbon.)

Mattingly and Moore is still Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, it's still available in every Ohio liquor store, and it's still cheap.

[jburlowski]

I grew up in Milwaukee, so it was brandy... for a "beer and a shot".

[MJL]

My parents were non drinkers, and frankly had no taste regarding food and drink. My Paternal Grandmother drank J&B. She had the crazy idea that if she drank alone she was a drunk so I can clearly recall her pouring me a ginger ale and J&B so she could have one. Many an evening we watched the sun set, her smoking Kools and drinking her J&B and I drinking my J&B with ginger ale. I cannot recall when this started but it was prior to becoming a teenager. When she died we found a few bottles of J&B and a number of bottles of what she said was "hootch" that she had bought in speakeasies in the New York City area in the late 1920s. We drank the J&B to her and tried the hootch but this stuff so vile that even an old inebriate like I was at that time, could not gag this poison down. I have not allowed J&B pass my lips since she died in 1991. To my memory it was terrible. I have since become fond of some blended Scotches but cannot bring myself to taking another sip of J&B. Perhaps it has gotten better and I should give it another try....hmm?

[cowdery]

I think your lovely memory of how your grandmother placed you firmly on the road to perdition is more valuable than knowing how J&B really tastes.

[gothbat]

In my family I think it's safe to say none. At some point before becoming pregnant with me my mom drank scotch, either Chivas Regal or Johnny Walker Red, but I've only ever seen her drink beer (The lightest she can find, these days she drinks Michelob Ultra...). I'm told my dad drank, beer I assume, but I've never seen him drink; he stopped before I was born. I think my grandmother is the only one I ever heard of drinking American whiskey, I recall a story about a bottle of JD and a turkey being cooked upside down on x-mas one year, probably also before I was born, and I also got a tax sealed bottle of Four Roses (blended) from the house her and my grandfather used to live in which I'm told was probably hers. Finally, my grandfather, on my dads side, used to drink scotch be he also stopped long before I was born, I think.

[Whiskey Willie]

My folks were not big drinkers. Dad used to make a 6-pack of Miller last all year long! He usually had the standard JB or Kessler in house for the holidays for those who did partake.

[MJL]

I think your lovely memory of how your grandmother placed you firmly on the road to perdition is more valuable than knowing how J&B really tastes.

Chuck,

No doubt this is true. My grandmother was the only person in my family who I cared about and cared for me. Now, as to showing me the way to the road to perdition, the truth of this statement is worse than you could imagine. Witness, for example, that this same grandmother was friends with Myer Lansky whom I spent quite a bit of my childhood with. At the time I had no idea why Mr. Lansky never was given a bill in restaurants but always gave the waitress a $100 tip (this was the 70s). Why he would pick up a handful of cigars from Mike's Cigars and never seemed to pay for them but did send me in to deliver a case of booze and a suspiciously thick envelope for Hanukkah never seemed to sink in with me. Imagine my surprise, later in life, when it dawned on me who Mr. Lansky was!

[cowdery]

It sounds like a best seller to me.

[SBOmarc]

You need to take Chuck's advice. Find a ghost writer and get busy!!

[Exoticruler]

Charter and he came back with a bottle of Charter Oak. She complained about the taste but as I remember she kept it.

[Exoticruler]

First part of the last thread was about an older lady who was a friend of our family when I was a kid. She was a widow of about 75 (old for 1970) who drank Old Charter because it had been her late husband's favorite brand. She enjoyed having a "horn" now and then (probably more often than we knew). A fellow she sent to the State store (many women enen then would not walk in by themselves) came back with a bottle of Charter Oak instead once. She complained if it's inferior taste but drank it anyway!

[MJL]

You need to take Chuck's advice. Find a ghost writer and get busy!!

Maybe when I get out of grad school I will have the time to do the writing myself. Hopefully, I will also have the inclination to do so as well.

[Treeguy]

Alas, my father was not a whiskey drinker. Red wine and beer for him.

My grandfather drank scotch. (And not very good scotch at that.) But he drove a tank in France in WWI for the American army and lived to be 95, so who am I to pass judgement on him?

[p_elliott]

My father was not a big drinker in front of us kids. He kept a 6 pack in the fridge in the summer and a bottle of Jack that seemed to last for ever. I think I drank more of it ( behind his back) than he did. Now on the opposite note he would take me into a bar while he had maybe 3 beers I had pop maybe it was his way of teaching moderation. I think it back fired it just made me like bars I've always just loved small town neighborhood bars.

[Thesh]

I don't know of any other whiskey drinkers in my family. Father drank beers, mother likes fruity drinks. Rest of my family is beer and wine. My brother drinks whiskey with friends, but usually not in anything other than a shotglass.

[Uncle Oswald]

Until he stopped drinking entirely, my dad was a Budweiser and Jack Daniel's kind of guy. He didn't care about the taste, just the effects. Not exactly what you would call an astute imbiber.

I, on the other hand, am the complete opposite. I prefer to take the time to appreciate the taste and refined craftsmanship that goes into a spirit. It can be just as beautiful as the best art -- be it visual or auditory. It takes masterful skill to create just as anything else and, to me, that's a truly spectacular thing worthy of admiration and respect.

What I'm trying to say is, my father thinks I'm a pussy.