I'm going to try to elaborate in areas others haven't covered as fully.
Jägermeister: I disagree that this tastes of black liquorish if only because of the next few. It's closer to cough medicine or similar with a mild aniseed (liquorish) flavour, but sweeter than that sounds. I actually kinda like the flavour. Usually taken in shots at the start or end of a long night.
Sambuca: Italian liqueur flavoured with anise, star anise and liquorice. That is to say, stronger liquorice flavour than liquorice itself. Usually drank in shots, usually on fire. Similar but sweeter and slightly rarer in my experience, is Ouzo from Greece. Ouzo might be more popular in up-scale cocktail bars or restaurants, even Italian ones, as sambuca often has a worse reputation.
Absinthe: Traditionally French and Swiss, these days the nastier stuff comes from the Czech Republic. Got a bad reputation for making people go insane, but that's partially lies. Traditionally does contain a hallucinogen (wormwood), but at such low levels that the alcohol content (usually between 60 and 90% ABV, 120-180 proof) would likely kill you before the hallucinations kick in. At least the wormwood caused ones. It was subject to widespread bans until relatively recently, and only one brand is produced in the US today. Tastes strongly of anise/liquorice, with variations depending on origin and style, as well as method of preparation. Often drank in shots, but more traditionally either with water (after elaborate ceremonies involves specialist spoons and burning sugar) or in cocktails.
Scotch: You got some decent details on bourbon so lets do similar for Scotch. Firstly, when talking about Scotch it's whisky, not whisk
ey. There are two main classes people are actually bothered about;
Single Malt - Pretty much what it says on the tin. Produced from malted barley at a single distillery and then aged and bottled. Tends to produce a distinctive flavour based on the malt, local water, distillery method and ageing process (notably the type of barrels, usually old oak used for sherry or bourbon ageing previously). There are a wide range of single malts, with various levels of rarity and price. I can't really talk about all the variations so I'll just mention my favourites and the more notable.
The Islay (pronounced eye-la) whiskies are notable for their powerful tastes. The big two are Laphroaig (la-froyg) and Lagavulin ([i
lahk-a-voolin[/i]). The region has a lot of peat and this comes across in the flavours. In particular Laphroaig has a very strong and rich peat taste. I've had it's 10 year and Quarter Cask varieties. The QC has a more traditional taste that is, IMO, milder than the regular but still significantly stronger than most comparable drinks, as well as a slightly higher ABV. Lagavulin seems more popular with the wider whisky drinking crowd for its more rounded flavour with an arguable better balance. It's also aged to 16 years as standard. Those two see significant export and enjoy a strong reputation worldwide.
Lowland whisky is rare now, with only three active and available distilleries, a fourth ageing but not yet sold and a few others with bottles on shelves but no more being made. Traditionally they are the opposite end of the scale to Islay, milder in flavour. You are unlikely to find them anywhere now but they tend to form the opposite end of the scale to the Islay's.
Highland/Island and Spayside whiskies are too numerous to review or summarise. They include a range of famous and fairly widely available types such as The Glenlivet, Talisker, Glenfiddich, Glenmorangie and Dalwhinnie. These tend to be somewhere on a sliding scale between the power (but rarely the peat) of the Islays and mildness of the Lowlands, with some surprises.
As a rule all are at least half decent and somewhat substitutable for each other depending on age and strength (of both whisky and drinker). Stronger flavours can and should be watered down slightly (ideally with water similar to that used in the distilling), while a few of the weaker ones (IMO) taste really nasty watered further. As a rule I'd add two ice cubes to a finger of whisky and drink slowly, adding chilled water only if needed.
Blended whisky - These are a mix of both malt and grain whiskies. They have mild, smoother flavours compared to single malts that tend to be more prominent in certain areas. They also tend to be more stable to variation across batches, as well as being far cheaper. If you ever drink whisky with coke it's going to be a blended. Common varieties include Bells, The Famous Grouse, Johnnie Walker and Dewar's (which I actually think is more popular in the US than here). There is variation, but frankly not a massive amount and they don't hold up fantastically on their own anyway. Use in mixes and cocktails.
I could start on beer, but would need to know what sorts are around. Don't want to start talking about Belgian Trappists if you haven't got a single one.
So, people keep on asking me vague alcohol questions, like "it was a sweet red wine int he $10 category". Is there a good way to go about figuring out what they were talking about, or do I have to go and show them every red wine we have? (At least 60% of the store is wine)
Generally the labels of wine bottles have enough to categorise them in that sort of range. I'd recommend learning at least the main variations.
Wine tends to be mainly defined by it's grape and region. Learning the basic variations on each for
white and
red will carry things a long way. I'm afraid that you mostly need to taste wines and compare to descriptions to understand how those descriptions work, as things like "light, crisp acidity and a bold flavor" don't make much sense without a reference point. That said, only the broad strokes really matter. A lot of the accents and details are hard to pick up on and/or entirely in the drinkers head. Getting into the broad catagory of sweet/dry, fruity/citrus, etc, is normally more than enough.
Author
Topic: learning about wines and other liquer (Read 5122 times)