In my experience the only difference between a decent $20 bottle and a $200 bottle is your hangover the next morning. The most I've ever spent on a bottle was $120 for a 23 year old bourbon. Tasted like candy with zero hangover.
I've got a few years until I really have to start worrying about what's going to give me a worse hangover. I'm trying to think of the most expensive I've bought and honestly it was probably that time I bought the $15 bottle because they were out of the $10. This reminds me of when I accidentally went to a fancy restaurant because it was part of the Inn I was staying at that had $1000 bottles of wine and I ordered a Caesar. Clamato juice comes in 3 sizes: Why would I bother buying one this small (Small), Enough for myself ( Medium), and Enough to share with a few people(Party Size). This restaurant had the bottle so small I wouldn't even bother buying it for myself and they had it for the entire restaurant. It's a toss up between that moment and when I started googling things on the menu that I realized this place wasn't really my kind of place.
I thought we could be friends until I discovered you drink Caesars. I bought a bottle of Perrier Jouet Fleur de Champagne to crack open when my daughter was born. It was delicious, and we still have the bottle 'cuz it's gorgeous. I bought a bottle of cask-strength Macallan in July 2004 to celebrate Kerry's victory over Bush... and then didn't get to drink that shit until Obama was president. And it wasn't good. It was icky. I poured the last quarter of it out, I think. Macallan isn't bad scotch but that cask-strength shit was cursed or something. When I was dating the rich girl one of her rich friend's dads gave her a bottle of wine as old as she was (1976). When he found out we didn't drink it he cracked one open, had a glass, re-corked it and sent the bottle along so we'd be forced to drink it. It was French and delicious but not, like, crazy good. When I made it known to him that we welcomed champagne we tended to get five or six bottles at a time, always left over from parties, the cheapest being Piper-Heidsieck. Also good, but not good enough to not drink Freixenet. Or, lately, Barefoot because who the fuck pays $14 for Freixenet. The rich girl's dad used to drink vicariously through me so for my college graduation I scored a bottle of Hennessy XO. Also good, but not nearly as good as Kelt VSOP. The biggest bummer about Washington State is a $60 bottle of Kelt VSOP is $110 with taxes.
Well then, now I'll be drinking a Caesar as I finish my list of winter activities in Banff just to bother you. It's great so far. I'm sure one day I'll branch out and start drinking fancy alcohol however for now that will be when other people buy me shots. Or that random person who brings fancy champagne to the party.
Hang on... you didn't drink the cask strength straight did you?!? All whisky is watered down after it comes out of the cask. The point of cask strength is that you get to adjust the amount of water you add, to make different flavors bloom. Nobody is expected to drink it like that...
Black Maple Hill. It was back at my first real job as a dock worker for a wine and spirits distributor. I got the employee discount. That same bottle is going for like $400 these days. Not a bad first job; of course I'm an alkie now so... Beer, wine or liquor I think my point stands. It's like anything else in life: Cheap shit is cheap because it's often just a quick high with a shitty end. You buy the top shelf stuff with respect, and it respects you in turn. Then you've got the flamboyant purchases the 1% like to wank off to.
This stuff? I'd never heard of it. And to prove the point, I became immediately interested when I found out I couldn't get it. And I had a shot of Pappy back when you could still get a shot of Pappy for $14, and I continue to drink Woodford when I feel fancy. Your point absolutely stands, and I did not mean to question it. My argument was that a "cheap" bottle of wine is like $4 but a "cheap" bottle of scotch is like $18 so a $200 bottle of bourbon is expensive, but $200 is like Roederer Cristal.
Yeah I hear ya. The orange label "small batch" is crap. This is closer to the real good shite I remember. Blue label. Back then the company was just starting out I think. You are making me thirsty enough to see if I can find a decent bottle. Even a guy like me would save something that good for special occasions.
It's funny - two years ago Washington passed a craft distillery law that allows anyone with a permit to sell, like, 200 gallons of distilled spirits. I thought that sounded like an awesome business opportunity. Apparently so did everyone else. There is now no shortage of overpriced "craft" spirits that cost like Macallan and taste like Ballantine's. Maybe it'll be better in a few years, but...