Everyday Drinking

Comments

• Master_Dahark

  December 2017 edited December 2017 Posts: 4,813

  https://www.blackwellswines.com/
  
  If I wasn’t in the middle of moving I probably would have bought 2. But as it stands I’ll probably drink it and keep the bottle to fill with regular Johnny Walker ;)
  
  
  * edit- shoot, it must be sold out- not showing up any more. But if you google Blade Runner whiskey several will pop up!
• Thunderfinger Das Boot Hill

  December 2017 Posts: 45,489

  Master_Dahark wrote: »

  https://www.blackwellswines.com/
  
  If I wasn’t in the middle of moving I probably would have bought 2. But as it stands I’ll probably drink it and keep the bottle to fill with regular Johnny Walker ;)

  
  Just don t drink and drive! And not on the job.
• 0BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"

  January 2018 Posts: 28,694

  Some_Kind_Of_Hero wrote: »

  !!!
  
  Where did you find that?
  
  And is that something you intend to actually drink or keep on the shelf until, say, the year 2049? (I do know whiskey unopened is supposed to keep for a very long time...)

  @Some_Kind_Of_Hero, you should know the answer to this already, shame on you. @Master_Dahark must do the only poetic thing possible with Blade Runner branded whiskey: order two bottles, one as a replicant for putting on the shelf and another for the drinking. ;)
• Agent_99 enjoys a spirited ride as much as the next girl

  January 2018 Posts: 3,108

  I was going to say "why did nobody tell me there was a Kina with a frickin' aeroplane on the label?", but I see @CommanderRoss mentioned it a couple of pages ago. I'll definitely be looking out for this.
  
  
  
  
• Agent_99 enjoys a spirited ride as much as the next girl

  January 2018 Posts: 3,108

  A reminder never to drink more than a litre of wine a day, for your health and sobriety.
  
  
• ClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns

  January 2018 Posts: 15,423

  Have Wine, Will Travel. ;)
• Thunderfinger Das Boot Hill

  January 2018 Posts: 45,489

  
• NicNac Administrator, Moderator

  January 2018 Posts: 7,571

  Thunderfinger wrote: »

  

  
  I’m a bourbon drinker but the mass produced Beam white label isn’t the best advert for the drink.
  
  So many better bourbons out there.
  
  
• Some_Kind_Of_Hero

  January 2018 Posts: 6,844

  NicNac wrote: »

  I’m a bourbon drinker but the mass produced Beam white label isn’t the best advert for the drink.
  
  So many better bourbons out there.
  

  
  My drink of choice. Which are your favorites?
• NicNac Administrator, Moderator

  January 2018 Posts: 7,571

  Some_Kind_Of_Hero wrote: »

  NicNac wrote: »

  I’m a bourbon drinker but the mass produced Beam white label isn’t the best advert for the drink.
  
  So many better bourbons out there.
  

  
  My drink of choice. Which are your favorites?

  
  Being in the UK kind of limits my everyday choice I must admit. I can’t get stuff off the shelf that they can in the US with it being their national drink.
  
  So off the shelf here it’s Eagle Rare and Old Forester. I send out for Elijah Craig 12 year and Blanton’s.
  
  There’s slot of good bottles I see my American friends on Facebook drinking that I’m keen to try.
  
  Any recommendations @Some_Kind_Of_Hero ?
• Some_Kind_Of_Hero

  January 2018 Posts: 6,844

  Thanks for the recommendations, @NicNac !
  
  I’m fortunate to be in the US and have access to a variety of bourbons. Even so, I admittedly haven’t tried that many. Of those I have tried, my favorites and my two regular go-tos are Woodford Reserve and Bulleit.
• NicNac Administrator, Moderator

  January 2018 Posts: 7,571

  Apparently Woodford double oak is a good drink - I want to try that one.
  I love the bulleit bottle - looks right out of a Western movie saloon bar
• RichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.

  February 2018 Posts: 13,055

  Following up on @Thunderfinger's Jim Beam connection with Connery and You Only Live Twice.
  
  There is also Suntory, well respected in Japan.
  
  
  
  

  You Only Live Twice, Lewis Gilbert, 1967.

  

  
• CommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea

  February 2018 Posts: 7,981

  But is it any good?
• RichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.

  February 2018 Posts: 13,055

  Oh, I'm not a whiskey drinker but Suntory is respected, gets good reviews. I've had it several times in Japan over the years, being polite over business, good enough for me.
  
  The use of the spelling "whisky" indicates they're following strict distilling protocols. In this case along the lines of Scotch whisky. International markets opened up in the 21st Century and Japanese whisky has won some awards of note for its quality since 2007 to date.
  
  Ian Fleming must have approved. It actually gets frequent mention in the novel.
  

  You Only Live Twice, Ian Fleming, 1963.
  

  Chapter 4 - Dikko on the Ginza
  
  ...
  Dikko Henderson made a wide gesture with his left hand. Bond decided that Dikko was getting cheerfully tight. He had found a Palomar pony to run with. They must be rare enough in Tokyo. They were both past the eighth flask of sake, but Dikko had also laid a foundation of Suntory whisky in the Okura while he'd been waiting for Bond to write out an innocuous cable to Melbourne with the prefix 'Information-wise', which meant that it was for Mary Goodnight, to announce his arrival and give his current address. But it was all right with Bond that Dikko should be getting plastered. He would talk better and looser and, in the end, wiser that way. And Bond wanted to pick his brains.
  
  Bond said, 'But what sort of a chap is this Tanaka? Is he your enemy or your friend?'

  Chapter 5 - Magic 44
  
  DIKKO HENDERSON came to fetch Bond at ten o'clock next morning. He was considerably overhung. The hard blue eyes were veined with blood and he made straight for the Bamboo Bar and ordered himself a double brandy and ginger ale. Bond said mildly, 'You shouldn't have poured all that sake on top of the Suntory. I can't believe Japanese whisky makes a good foundation for anything.'
  
  'You've got something there, sport. I've got myself a proper futsukayoi - honourable hangover. Mouth like a vulture's crutch. Soon as we got home from that lousy cat house, I had to go for the big spit. But you're wrong about Suntory. It's a good enough brew. Stick to the cheapest, the White Label, at around fifteen bob a bottle. There are two smarter brands, but the cheap one's the best. Went up to the distillery some whiles ago and met one of the family. Told me an interesting thing , about whisky. He said you can only make good whisky where you can take good photographs. Ever heard that one? Said it was something to do with the effect of clear light on the alcohol. But did I talk a lot of crap last night? Or did you? Seem to recollect that one of us did.'

  Chapter 6 - Tiger! Tiger!
  
  ...
  Tiger pulled up a chair and faced Bond across the low drink table. He poured himself a liberal tot of Suntory and splashed in the soda.

  The sound of night traffic from the main Tokyo-Yokohama road came in from some way beyond the surrounding houses, only a few of which now showed doll's-house squares of yellow light. It was the end of September, but warm. It was ten minutes to midnight. Tiger began talking in a soft voice. 'In that case, my dear Bondo-san, and since I know you to be a man of honour, except, of course, in matters affecting your country, which this does not, I will tell you quite an interesting story. This is how it is.' He got out of his chair and sat down on the tatami and arranged himself in the lotus position. He was obviously more comfortable in this posture. He said, in an expository tone of voice, 'Ever since the beginning of the era of Meiji, who you will know was the Emperor who fathered the modernization and Westernization of Japan from the beginning of his reign nearly a hundred years ago, there have from time to time been foreigners who have come to this country and settled here. They have for the most part been cranks and scholars, and the European-born American Lafcadio Hearn, who became a Japanese citizen, is a very typical example. In general, they have been tolerated, usually with some amusement. So, perhaps, would be a Japanese who bought a castle in the Highlands of Scotland, and who learned and spoke Gaelic with his neighbours and expressed unusual and often impertinent interest in Scottish folkways. If he went about his researches politely and peaceably, he would be dubbed an amiable eccentric. And so it has been with the Westerners who have settled and spent their lives in Japan, though occasionally, in time of war, as would no doubt be the case with our mythical Japanese in Scotland, they have been regarded as spies and suffered internment and hardship. Now, since the occupation, there have been many such settlers, the great majority of whom, as you can imagine, have been American. The Oriental way of life is particularly attractive to the American who wishes to escape from a culture which, I am sure you will agree, has become, to say the least of it, more and more unattractive except to the lower grades of the human species to whom bad but plentiful food, shiny toys such as the automobile and the television, and the "quick buck", often dishonestly earned, or earned in exchange for minimal labour or skills, are the summum bonum, if you will allow the sentimental echo from my Oxford education.'
  'I will,' said Bond. 'But is this not a picture of the life that is being officially encouraged in your own country?'
  
  Tiger Tanaka's face darkened perceptibly. 'For the time being,' he said with distaste, 'we are being subjected to what I can best describe as the "Scuola di Coca-Cola". Baseball, amusement arcades, hot dogs, hideously large bosoms, neon lighting - these are the part of our payment for defeat in battle. They are the tepid tea of the way of life we know under the name of demokorasu. They are a frenzied denial of the official scapegoats for our defeat - a denial of the spirit of the samurai as expressed in the kami-kaze, a denial of our ancestors, a denial of our gods. They are a despicable way of life' - Tiger almost spat the words - 'but fortunately they are also expendable and temporary. They have as much importance in the history of Japan as the life of a dragonfly.' He paused. 'But to return to my story. Our American residents are of a sympathetic type - on a low level of course. They enjoy the subservience, which I may say is only superficial, of our women. They enjoy the remaining strict patterns of our life - the symmetry, compared with the chaos that reigns in America. They enjoy our simplicity, with its underlying hint of deep meaning, as expressed for instance in the tea ceremony, flower arrangements, NO plays - none of which of course they understand. They also enjoy, because they have no ancestors and probably no family life worth speaking of, our veneration of the old and our worship of the past. For, in their impermanent world, they recognize these as permanent things just as, in their ignorant and childish way, they admire the fictions of the Wild West and other American myths that have become known to them, not through their education, of which they have none, but through television.'

  Chapter 7 - The Death Collector
  
  Tiger Tanaka paused and poured more sake for Bond and more Suntory for himself. Bond took the opportunity to ask just how dangerous this Black Dragon Society had really been. Was it the equivalent of the Chinese tongs?

  
  'Much more powerful. You have heard of the Ching-Pang and Hung-Pang tongs that were so much feared in China in the days of the Kuomintang. No? Well the Black Dragons were a hundred times worse. To have them on your heels was certain death. They were totally ruthless, and not out of any particular political conviction. They operated strictly for cash.'
  
  'Well, under this doctor from Switzerland, have they done any harm yet?'
  
  'Oh no. They are nothing more than he says - personal staff, at the worst, if you like, a bodyguard. No. The trouble is quite different, much more complex. You see, this man Shatterhand has created what I can only describe as a garden of death.'

  Chapter 9 - Instant Japan
  
  ...
  'Tiger, you're a cruel taskmaster.'
  
  Tiger grinned with satisfaction. 'Bondo-san, you don't know the half of it. But now let us go and get something to eat and drink in the buffet car. All that Suntory you forced on me last night is crying out for the skin of the dog that bit me.'
  
  'The hair,' corrected Bond.
  
  'One hair would not be enough, Bondo-san. I need the whole skin.'
• CommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea

  February 2018 Posts: 7,981

  Do you have all the books digitally? I'm amazed about how easy you can quote the books. And the Dikko from the book is a blast, that's for sure. Should read that one again.
  Maybe later in the year I can get a bottle, we have a very good spcialised shop, then I can try for myself. As for now I've good as completely stopped drinking.
• Thunderfinger Das Boot Hill

  February 2018 Posts: 45,489

  I never drink...wine.
  
  
  But I bid you welcome to join me for other refreshments.
  
• RichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.

  February 2018 Posts: 13,055

  Yes, I definitely have most all the books on 1s and 0s, @CommanderRoss, to be able to quote what I do. There are some outliers like the Birds of the West Indies reference where I fat-finger a couple items of interest. Plus I've assembled some text files of cast lists, production information/dates, and film releases by country to be able to search dates quickly to feed the On This Day subject. That sort of thing.
  
  Notions I've taken on from this discussion had me trying Aquavit and Ouzo. I can report on those later.
• Thrasos

  February 2018 edited February 2018 Posts: 1,469

  In terms of scotch, ones I recommend are the Highland Park 18-year-old (pricy though); the Highland Park 12-year is more reasonably priced of course and still very satisfying. Those do not have much peat but are really well-balanced, a full and intense flavor-spectrum, and satisfying mouth feel. Talisker 10--I seem to recall that being a brisk scotch with saltiness and some peat-smoke; of course for peat-smoke, Laphroaig and Lagavulin are good names--also the Ardbeg 10-year! That is chunky. My personal favorite is (was) Famous Grouse 18-year-old, mainly a blend of Highland Park 18 and Macallan 18, though it's apparently discontinued in many countries. Another for everyday drinking is Johnnie Walker Black Label.
  
  My sister gave me some Maker's Mark for Christmas, and I'm enjoying that. I'm also more into rums these days--currently really liking Plantation XO 20th Anniversary...and previously, Ron Abuelo 7-year was tasty too. Both those rums can be drunk straight. For mixing with sodas, I have George Ocean White Rum.
• Agent_99 enjoys a spirited ride as much as the next girl

  February 2018 Posts: 3,108

  I don't think it's specified anywhere, but in my head this is the rum that Quarrel drinks for breakfast:
  
• CommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea

  February 2018 Posts: 7,981

  Could very well be. Maybe @RichardTheBruce can find a passage in Fleming?
• RichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.

  March 2018 edited March 2018 Posts: 13,055

  No labels for Quarrel's rum found in Dr. No or Live and Let Die. Overproof sounds perfect.
  (And while I love the character, not sure I'd trust his taste in rums. Better to go with Mount Gay.)
  
  
  

  Dr. No, Ian Fleming, 1958.
  Chapter V - Facts and Figures
  
  ...
  There was a double knock on the door. Bond got up and unlocked it. It was Quarrel, his left cheek decorated with a piratical cross of sticking-plaster. "Mornin", cap'n. Yo said eight-tirty."
  
  "Yes, come on in, Quarrel. We've got a busy day. Had some breakfast?"
  
  "Yes, tank you, cap'n. Salt fish an' ackee an' a tot of rum."
  
  "Good God," said Bond. "That's tough stuff to start the day on."
  
  "Mos' refreshin'," said Quarrel stolidly.

  
  

  Chapter IV - Reception Committee
  
  ...
  They swooped down quietly through the soft singing dusk into Kingston and turned to the left along the harbour side. They passed one or two smart restaurants and night clubs from which came the throb and twang of calypso music. There was a stretch of private houses that dwindled into a poor-class shopping centre and then into shacks. Then, where the road curved away from the sea, there was a blaze of golden neon in the shape of a Spanish galleon above green lettering that said 'The Joy Boat'. They pulled into a parking place and Bond followed Quarrel through the gate into a small garden of palm trees growing out of lawn. At the end was the beach and the sea. Tables were dotted about under the palms, and in the centre was a small deserted cement dance floor to one side of which a calypso trio in sequined scarlet shirts was softly improvising on 'Take her to Jamaica where the rum comes from'.

  
  
  
  So I did come across another item for the song list, though.
  
  
• RichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.

  March 2018 Posts: 13,055

  
  Following up, there's a nice writeup on the FlemingsBond site on Quarrel's tastes.
  

  May 26, 2017 Food, Jamaica
  Salt Fish and Ackee
  https://flemingsbond.com/author/admin/page/2/
  
  In Dr. No, in the morning following their night at The Joy Boat, James Bond and Quarrel reconvene at Bond’s hotel, the Blue Hills.
  
  ‘Yes, come on in, Quarrel. We’ve got a busy day. Had some breakfast?’
  ‘Yes, tank you, cap’n. Salt fish an’ ackee an’ a tot of rum.’
  ‘Good God,’ said Bond. ‘That’s tough stuff to start the day on.’
  ‘Mos’ refreshin’,’ said Quarrel stolidly.
  
  SaltFish and Ackee is Jamaica’s National Dish.
  
  The Ackee fruit was originally native to West Africa, and was introduced to Jamaica where it has become the national fruit of the country. The fruit grows on evergreen trees, in pods which ripen from green to red, and then split open when completely ripe. Even then, care must be taken to separate the yellow aril from the black seeds.
  
  The Salt Fish and Ackee dish is a common breakfast meal, as the edible part of the Ackee fruit when cooked, has the texture and even the taste, of scrambled eggs.
  
  In addition to the Salt fish, onion and various colorful peppers are usually a part of the dish.
  
  During my trip to Goldeneye, I was sure to eat Salt fish and Ackee each morning for breakfast.
  
  It is traditionally served with those fried dumplings, which complement the dish very well.
  
  I did not have the “tot of rum” with breakfast, however. Instead I stuck with the Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee.

  
• Thunderfinger Das Boot Hill

  March 2018 Posts: 45,489

  
• CommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea

  March 2018 Posts: 7,981

  Looks good @RichardTheBruce . As i understand it though the seeds are poisonous?
• Seven_Point_Six_Five Southern California

  March 2018 edited March 2018 Posts: 1,257

  Just opened a bottle of Jack Daniels Single Barrel and popped Interstellar into the Blu-ray player. This film always gets me a bit emotional, adding booze should make it a bit worse.
  
  
• Some_Kind_Of_Hero

  March 2018 Posts: 6,844

  How did pairing Interstellar with Jack Daniels go? I love that movie ridiculously and wouldn't mind trying it with booze some fine day.
• NicNac Administrator, Moderator

  March 2018 Posts: 7,571

  Don't mind a bit of JD single barrel myself. Good choice.
• j_w_pepper Born on the bayou. I can still hear my old hound dog barkin'.

  March 2018 edited March 2018 Posts: 8,701

  Can I also have some whiskey without having to watch that pretentious something again?
• Torgeirtrap

  March 2018 edited March 2018 Posts: 17,297

  How does the Jack Daniels's Single Barrel compare to the regular Old No. 7? Not really a JD guy, myself.