In defense of whiskey

[yjb]

My friend at Fishbeer just posted a little rant. Thoughts?

http://fishbeer.com/post/in-defense-of-whiskey/

[OscarV]

He does seem to have an opinion.

[callmeox]

He does seem to have an opinion.

Can you summarize in a few sentences?

One of my new years resolutions is to not give away clicks to blind blog links.

[yjb]

Basically he's saying (with much color and expletives) that whiskey's getting run over by what he considers to be pretentious old school cocktails, and that shit sucks.

I may be with him, although cocktails have probably on the whole been a help to whiskey lovers

[Josh]

He does seem to have an opinion.

You're such a gentleman, Oscar.

I broadly sympathize with the blogger, but the mint julep is a classic drink and muddling is a classic technique used in a wide variety of cocktails. So he's welcome to prefer JB-flavored vomit to mint, but to say that anyone who enjoys mint juleps is a hipster douchebag or worse yet, a member of the NY Yankees organization, is dumb.

[squire]

It's my toddy and I'll drink like I want to.

[Scrub]

He's entitled to his opinion ................ glad he could express himself.

[sku]

It's either tongue in cheek or just idiotic. This is very typical of the internet, hating for the sake of it. He's not saying anything productive. It would be one thing to launch a critique of the modern "mixology" culture, which could easily be done, or cocktails at certain establishments or even certain cocktails, but he seems to dismiss the entire concept of cocktails based on a steretype of the hipster mixologist. What's the point? Hate cocktails? Don't drink them.

While I drink the vast of majority of my whiskey neat (not with ice as he demands), I think there are many cocktails that highlight whiskey in an interesting way, including some of the newer potions. And as for the new breed of hipster bartenders, sure there is something silly about what has become the stereotype, but a lot of these folks are people like many of the posters here, people who have an obsession with quality, know their stuff and are trying to create better products.

And as for his macho shithead story about drinking Beam until he hurled, I got over binge drinking (and Beam) when I turned 21, maybe he'll age out of it soon too.

[DeanSheen]

SB Hit Again by the Drive by Social Media.

[callmeox]

Rob, you would probably feel better if you penned a scathing blog entry about it.

[OscarV]

The guy would fit in nicely with the P,R & C crew. He's got the name calling down.

[dbk]

David Driscoll of K&L preemptively discussed this very kind of rant here. Here's a relevant section:

I find that whenever Gary Reagan or Camper English write about new drinks around the town, the response is always a defensive backlash by someone who doesn't know anything about booze and is self-conscious about that fact, hence the need to post their "real" expert opinion. It's usually anger about the vast selection of booze available and annoyance that someone is actually trying to navigate it and enjoy it. "Why should I try all these prissy $10 mixologist cocktails when I can make myself a stiff vodka martini at home?" It's like growing up in a small town and wanting to move to the big city, but then hearing nothing but negativity from your friends or family who in reality are either jealous or too scared to do it themselves.

[mrt]

Ok, frankly I did not take time to read what comes after clicking that link in the first post. However, I have taken a look at the following comments and -by and large- I can understand the matter.

In my opinion, as a bourbon enthusiast who first met mint julep very late in his life relative to you in North America, I can say that it tastes damn good and I like preparing and drinking mint julep. I do not indulge in cocktails in general and I prefer my bourbon neat or on the rocks somewhat depending on the season of the year, but mint julep has its place for my palate.

Regards,

[TNbourbon]

Oft-posted, but worth repeating regularly, he'll never top this one:

http://www.rdrop.com/users/jimka/whisky.html

Nobody will.

(It's worth noting that the author's name now graces the University of Mississippi's law school library. Mississippi repealed Prohibition in 1966, 11 years after this speech.)