Southern Host?

[wadewood]

I saw some bottles of this recently on the shelf down in Portland, OR. It was next to Southern Comfort. 100 proof, $11 a bottle, Bardstown (so assuming a HH product). Anybody ever try this?

On a side note, for Portlanders, the liquor store on Bunside in Gresham has 4 bottles of George T Stagg, 2005 spring release, 131.8 proof for $57.80 each on the shelf.

[cowdery]

Never had it, but it definitely is a Southern Comfort knock-off, of which there were many at one time. A surprisingly popular product, Southern Comfort, the liqueur that thinks it's a whiskey.

[contrarian]

On a side note, for Portlanders, the liquor store on Bunside in Gresham has 4 bottles of George T Stagg, 2005 spring release, 131.8 proof for $57.80 each on the shelf.

Thanks very much for the heads up, wadewood! There's still one left there....:grin:

This Southern Host intrigues me even less than Jeremiah Weed (which is to say almost not at all and certainly not enough to buy). Damn OLCC won't carry Old Forester BIB, but every store has at least three bourbon liqueurs. :smiley_acbt:

PM me next time you're coming through Portland. If you insist on buying Southern Host, I reckon I'll trade ya some Stagg for a taste.

Jeff

[Virus_Of_Life]

Jeff, I am up in the Portland area every few months and always take something for my best friend in Canby, maybe one of these trips sometime down the road we could meet up for a pour? Where abouts in Portland are you?

I just recently shipped him ORVW15, among a few others, so when I am up most likely in August he and I could do a Van Winkle tasting (he's got Pappy15 already and I plan to take Pappy 20 and Rip 10).

Oh also if you are in need of any Buffalo Trace Santiam Liquor in Albany carries it, yeah I know, I couldn't believe it myself!!

[contrarian]

Sounds good, Christian. I'm at Beaverton Creek, west of the city on the Max line. I'd be happy to host or meet up with you guys for a drink.

I'm fairly new here, so Canby is just a place I've heard of, and Albany wasn't even that (I had to Google it)! Fortunately. my local store almost makes me forget that OLCC runs the show here, so I probably won't have to go that far to get good whiskey. Of course, if I'll go to Gresham for Spring Stagg, a road trip to a more appealing part of the state for something hard to get is a given.

Jeff

[boone]

I saw some bottles of this recently on the shelf down in Portland, OR. It was next to Southern Comfort. 100 proof, $11 a bottle, Bardstown (so assuming a HH product)

You assume right, Wade :grin:

[chperry]

We used to drink this alot in college. It was cheaper than Southern Comfort. I managed to get real sick on it somewhere around 1987 and I still cannot stand the smell of it or Southern Comfort.

Really cheap bourbon became my drink of choice after that. I mean REALLY cheap stuff. WV state liquor stores used to carry dozens of really cheap bourbons.

[smokinjoe]

We used to drink this alot in college. It was cheaper than Southern Comfort. I managed to get real sick on it somewhere around 1987 and I still cannot stand the smell of it or Southern Comfort.

Really cheap bourbon became my drink of choice after that. I mean REALLY cheap stuff. WV state liquor stores used to carry dozens of really cheap bourbons.

Has there ever been any beverage that has made as many people sick as Southern Comfort? Well, maybe besides cheap tequila. How many times have you heard..."When I was (fill in young age), my friend and I (took/stole/borrowed) a bottle of Southern Comfort from his dad's liquor cabinet...We drank half the bottle mixing it with (fill in the blank)...Boy did we get sick. I must have thrown up for (fill in the blank)!!

JOE

[cowdery]

Very true. When I worked in marketing for the brand (for six years), we constantly complained that our biggest challenge was the fact that most people had tried the brand, had a bad experience, and rejected it before we were legally allowed to talk to them about it.

For much of its history, Southern Comfort was viewed as a transition from beer to whiskey.

There was a very funny essay written by someone who was in marketing for the brand before Brown-Forman bought it. It was a commentary on the brand and some of its characteristics. I wish I had a copy of it, but the funniest line was when he described it as, "the old leg-spreader."

I worked on Southern Comfort right after Brown-Forman bought it and for about six years thereafter, so I had contact with some of its heritage from the previous owner, a St. Louis company whose name escapes me at the moment. They owned a large park-like property outside of town where they used to hold company picnics and where we held a couple of marketing meetings in the early days, before Brown-Forman sold all of the St. Louis operations and moved everything to Louisville. This was in the early 1980s.

[ratcheer]

Yes, now I remember. When I was a young man (late 60's, early 70's), Southern Comfort was always 100-proof and it seemed to me to have a much richer character than it does now. I also remember the label saying it was from St. Louis.

Fortunately, I don't remember ever getting overly ill on it. I bought it occasionally until I grew up. :grin: If I could get some of the old stuff, I would probably still enjoy it.

Tim

[Gillman]

I recall reading that Janis Joplin did a lot to stimulate sales in the 60's and the effect carried on into subsequent decades. The same is happening now to a degree with cognac, as chronicled by Nicholas Faith in his revised history of cognac released last year. The hip-hop and rap communities are partisans of the drink and have done a lot, at no cost to the companies, to restore its cachet. Faith quotes a major rap star singing, "you can give me the Cris [Cristal Champagne] but pass the Courvoisier". One should never underestimate the influence of stars on social fashion and especially consumables. Pete Townshend sold unintentionally umpteen pairs of Doc Maartens. I think he rues to this day he never took shares.

Gary

[cowdery]

The affection in the African-American music community for cognac pre-dates hip hop. Most African-American musicians who grew up in the South were bourbon drinkers, but those who grew up in the northern cities were mostly cognac drinkers, typically Hennessy and Martell and, somewhat later, Courvoisier (rarely Remy). In blues, the older guys drank bourbon, the younger guys (like Buddy Guy) drank cognac. I think it was pretty much the same regardless of musical preference. It was mostly an age thing. Old Grand-Dad BIB was primarily consumed by old black men from the South. I have it on good authority that Muddy Waters preferred Old Fitzgerald.

I remember riding with a liquor representative on the south side of Chicago, probably in 1980 or 1981, and asking him if he was ever worried about his safety. His reply, "no one's going to hurt me, I'm the Martell guy."

Yes, Janis Jopin sold a lot of Southern Comfort.

Re Tim's recollection, it was only available at 100 proof until BF bought it in 1979. They initially offered both 80 and 100, then dropped the 100, then reinstated it. I think it's still available. The 80, however, is now 70. They can do that since it's a liqueur, not a whiskey.

The fruit concentrate that gives it its flavor (the rest is just GNS and sugar) is made in Puerto Rico. The main ingredient is apricot concentrate.

[smokinjoe]

I recently read that rapper Jay-Z has called on all other hip-hop artists to boycott the Cristal as their premium drink of choice. Apparently, the manufacturers of Cristal did something for JayZ to term them "racist". Recently pardoned Atlanta resident and music producer Dallas Austin, didn't get the message. At a coming home party from his 8 week incarceration in a Dubai prison for a drug charge, he toasted his return with--Cristal. Don't know if anyone poured it out. I guess they don't carry Vibe in the prison library.

Cheers!

JOE