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Joined: 7/29/2009 From: Sweden Status: offline
quote:
ORIGINAL: wdolson
In the US there is both a federal tax and a state tax. The federal tax is difficult to compute because it is based on the alcohol content (they essentially tax only the alcohol in something), but the state taxes vary dramatically from $0 in Wyoming and New Hampshire to $35.22 per gallon in my state of Washington. California is only $3.30 a gallon and there is a giant liquor store on the California/Oregon border.
In a quick search I haven't been able to find a similar comparison country to country, though I did find some comments that the Scandinavian countries have some of the highest alcohol taxes in the world.
Bill
We have a fixed tax on pure ethanol. Its currently sitting at around 82 USD per liter of pure alcohol. So for a bottle of Ardbeg Auriverdes (90 USD) the tax would be 82x0,5x0,7= 29 USD.
Norway is even worse...and don´t get me started on petrol!
Price does not quality make....I was at a hoity toity scotch tasting for my b'thday a few years ago....$500/ticket. The star attraction was a bottle of 50yr old Bowmore worth $10k. Frankly there were many 18yr olds that were much better.
Don't have that much of knowledge, even if I love Whiskeys very much! At home I always have a bottle of Lagavulin 16 years and a Talisker 16 years. Last year I had Oban 14 and Gragganmore 12 yrs... but have to admit that the Talisker is the one I like the best
The Graggamore rings a favorable memory cell but the others I am unfamiliar with. Thanks for the suggestions. There are a couple of bars in Dallas that have a good range of single malts where I can try without investing in the whole bottle.
Update-- I tried the Ardbeg Uigeadail and it is a very very strong unique flavor. In comparison I prefer the Jura - to my palate with interesting notes that doesn't overpower like the Ardbeg (lightly peated in comparison).
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Joined: 7/29/2009 From: Sweden Status: offline
quote:
ORIGINAL: DanSez Update-- I tried the Ardbeg Uigeadail and it is a very very strong unique flavor. In comparison I prefer the Jura - to my palate with interesting notes that doesn't overpower like the Ardbeg (lightly peated in comparison).
I warned you about the Uigeadail didn´t I? Its the worst (IMO) of all the Ardbegs. Mix in a couple of drops of water and it might be a little easier on you.
Try the Corrywreckan next time! A lot smoother and probably one of the best Ardbegs you can get.
Posts: 1928
Joined: 11/24/2012 From: De Eye-lands, Mon Status: offline
quote:
ORIGINAL: JocMeister
quote:
ORIGINAL: DanSez Update-- I tried the Ardbeg Uigeadail and it is a very very strong unique flavor. In comparison I prefer the Jura - to my palate with interesting notes that doesn't overpower like the Ardbeg (lightly peated in comparison).
I warned you about the Uigeadail didn´t I? Its the worst (IMO) of all the Ardbegs. Mix in a couple of drops of water and it might be a little easier on you. Try the Corrywreckan next time! A lot smoother and probably one of the best Ardbegs you can get.
I think the two of you have it just right. It really is a matter of taste.
My personal preference is Lowlands or Speyside, because I like a more malty flavor that lets the honey and flowers through. Others, like the smoky peat of the highlands, or the concentrated intensity of the Islands.
It's a lot like wine. A Pauillac is different from a Saint Emillion or Saint Estephe (my all time favorite). And they are fundamentally different from Burgundies (which I love as well).
It is your tongue and your palate. Anything that crosses it should conform to your thoughts of good taste and enjoyment. Price and Internet hits are irrelevant. Taste and your enjoyment are the thing.
Ok, so if I have to say, it would be a Glenkinchie, followed real close by a Balvenie. I drink what I can get, so there's been lots of Glenfiddich in the cups.
Ciao. JWE
< Message edited by Symon -- 9/26/2014 6:35:29 PM >
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ORIGINAL: DanSez Update-- I tried the Ardbeg Uigeadail and it is a very very strong unique flavor. In comparison I prefer the Jura - to my palate with interesting notes that doesn't overpower like the Ardbeg (lightly peated in comparison).
I warned you about the Uigeadail didn´t I? Its the worst (IMO) of all the Ardbegs. Mix in a couple of drops of water and it might be a little easier on you.
Try the Corrywreckan next time! A lot smoother and probably one of the best Ardbegs you can get.
Yes you did. I should have written it down but when the call came, it was the one I threw down a lottery ticket on.
I will keep an open mind about the Corrywreckan. corrywreckan. corrywrecken. (if I repeat it three times it will lodge in a brain cell - I hope. thanks
ORIGINAL: Symon Price and Internet hits are irrelevant. Taste and your enjoyment are the thing.
Agreed. Price is often dictated by other things than taste - fad, rarity of the product and yes, very much so, commercial marketing drive the "going rate".
Thanks for the suggestions on Glenkinchie. Life is short and it is the sum of our experiences that tells the tale of our lives. I will try most things at least once -- except eating monkey brains or what is that coffee that is passed thru the intestinal tract of a cat??? Those are on the NO THANK YOU list.
< Message edited by DanSez -- 9/27/2014 5:04:19 AM >
Posts: 10398
Joined: 6/28/2006 From: Near Portland, OR Status: offline
quote:
ORIGINAL: DanSez
Agreed. Price is often dictated by other things than taste - fad, rarity of the product and yes, very much so, commercial marketing drive the "going rate".
Thanks for the suggestions on Glenkinchie. Life is short and it is the sum of our experiences that tells the tale of our lives. I will try most things at least once -- except eating monkey brains or what is that coffee that is passed thru the intestinal tract of a cat??? Those are on the NO THANK YOU list.
I have a friend who said there are only two foods he won't eat. One was kim chee. I forget what the other one was. Then he saw a geoduck and said there were now three things he won't eat.
Agreed. Price is often dictated by other things than taste - fad, rarity of the product and yes, very much so, commercial marketing drive the "going rate".
Thanks for the suggestions on Glenkinchie. Life is short and it is the sum of our experiences that tells the tale of our lives. I will try most things at least once -- except eating monkey brains or what is that coffee that is passed thru the intestinal tract of a cat??? Those are on the NO THANK YOU list.
I have a friend who said there are only two foods he won't eat. One was kim chee. I forget what the other one was. Then he saw a geoduck and said there were now three things he won't eat.
Bill
kim chee has a broad range of flavors - some mild and some are pretty rough form a Westerner taste perspective. Yes, now that you mentioned it, the developed chick egg thing would have to be a survival situation.
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Joined: 2/21/2012 From: LI, NY Status: offline
quote:
One was kim chee.
Its an aquired taste. At first I shunned it, then I aquired the taste when I was stationed in Korea. I loved it. Alas, I can't eat the spicy stuff any more, unless I want to be up all night.
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Ok, so if I have to say, it would be a Glenkinchie, followed real close by a Balvenie. I drink what I can get, so there's been lots of Glenfiddich in the cups.
Ciao. JWE
Balvenie has always been a favorite. Tried the 21 yr at a friend's wedding once. Wanted to drink it by the drop.
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Joined: 7/4/2003 From: Seoul, Korea Status: offline
If any of you single-malt fans shows up here please send me a message. I'll be happy to take you to the British Embassy on a Friday night. They have an excellent lineup of scotch, and even a welch, at very reasonable prices. Thank God the Scots didn't disunite or who knows what would have happened?
1. Macallan 18years or Macallan 1984 Signatory 2. Talisker 1990 Signatory 3. Laphroaig Quarter Cask (I have also a 1996 Signatory Version, but I have not opened it)
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Joined: 12/23/2010 From: St. Louis Status: offline
quote:
ORIGINAL: wdolson
quote:
ORIGINAL: DanSez
Agreed. Price is often dictated by other things than taste - fad, rarity of the product and yes, very much so, commercial marketing drive the "going rate".
Thanks for the suggestions on Glenkinchie. Life is short and it is the sum of our experiences that tells the tale of our lives. I will try most things at least once -- except eating monkey brains or what is that coffee that is passed thru the intestinal tract of a cat??? Those are on the NO THANK YOU list.
I have a friend who said there are only two foods he won't eat. One was kim chee. I forget what the other one was. Then he saw a geoduck and said there were now three things he won't eat.
Bill
I've heard that soldiers stationed in Korea cannot live without kim chi stateside. It's just boiled cabbage with some really hot paprika. Apparently it's so addictive there's a Surgeon General's report on it (just looked, couldn't find it).
Does your friend eat haggis? Call the FDA and the CDC immediately and give him up.
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Joined: 6/28/2006 From: Near Portland, OR Status: offline
As I understand it, kim chee is fermented cabbage. My friend said Koreans had this body odor from eating it that was putrid. He was on the Juneau and the ship went to South Korea at one point. They were there a few weeks for maintenance and he hated it.
I grew up in an Asian community and I've smelled kim chee, it does smell awful IMO.
He's never talked about haggis, but one of his favorite whiskey's is Sheep Dip.
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Joined: 12/23/2010 From: St. Louis Status: offline
I'm going to wander off topic here, but how does everyone feel about lemon grass? Everyone I know thinks it's great but it seems to me like opening a bottle of Mr. Klean ammonia and snorting it. I can't even be in the same restaurant with that stuff.
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Joined: 12/23/2010 From: St. Louis Status: offline
That sparked a memory. My parents would get something called "Finnan Hadi" and bake it. It was Finnish and salt cured or smoked, I'm not sure. When baked it was far worse than lemon grass, phosgene or mustard gas. My brother and I would be forced to evacuate the house. My parents would be acting like they were insane and jumping around, running around like I never saw them otherwise behave. Were the Soviets putting mind control drugs in it or what?
edit: Finnan Hadi is a kind of preserved fish of what species I know not.
< Message edited by geofflambert -- 9/30/2014 3:40:01 AM >
Posts: 10398
Joined: 6/28/2006 From: Near Portland, OR Status: offline
quote:
ORIGINAL: geofflambert
I'm going to wander off topic here, but how does everyone feel about lemon grass? Everyone I know thinks it's great but it seems to me like opening a bottle of Mr. Klean ammonia and snorting it. I can't even be in the same restaurant with that stuff.
We all have differences in senses. There is a component if male sweat most men can't smell at all, but most women find it smells musky. Many men tend to see colors less vibrantly than women.
Individuals vary too. My eyes are unusually sensitive to blue which makes blue and white LEDs very annoying. I can also taste raw and undercooked onion and mushroom easier than most people. Tiny amounts of either and its the only thing I can taste.
I'm OK with lemongrass, but you may be more sensitive than the average person.