Gin Lane!

[Beef Oven!]

Spirits - Whisky

Winner
Lidl Abrachan Triple Wood Blended Malt Whisky

Had a bottle of that, wasn't impressed.

[Serial_Apologist]

Had a bottle of that, wasn't impressed.

Wasn't conscious.

[Beef Oven!]

Wasn't conscious.

I always maintain dignity

[Serial_Apologist]

I always maintain dignity

[umslopogaas]

Cant resist quoting Michael Flanders:

Have some madeira m'dear
You really have nothing to fear.
Now if it were gin you'd be wrong to say yes
The evil gin does would be hard to assess.
Besides, its inclined to affect me prowess,
So have some madeira m'dear!

I've never been in a position to find out if that's true, but I can see that it might be.

[Pianorak]

The libation was first introduced to British life in the seventeenth century when England’s military joined forces with the Dutch to battle Spain. The soldiers found that Holland’s juniper-flavored drink raised their ardor, and when they returned across the Channel, they took its recipe with them. Gin then got a royal boost during the late seventeenth century when William III encouraged his subjects to drink it instead of the cider they were fond of. The monarch hoped his decree would discourage the British from drinking imports from countries that retained ties to the Catholic Church.

Apparently, the people took the king’s message hook, line and tankard. Within 50 years of his ascent to the throne, gin drinking was so prevalent it became problematic. Parliament feared it would cause society’s collapse. In an attempt to curb consumption and restore order, several Gin Acts were passed between 1729 and 1751. Commoners responded the way people deprived of their favorite drink have done for centuries. They established bootleg stills.

http://www.somamagazine.com/the-good-the-bad-and-the-gin-a-brief-history/

[Dave2002]

I'm not advocating reckless and wanton drunknness!

[Dave2002]

For me its the things that can be added to it, rather than the spirit itself, that I drink it for: orange juice, tomato juice, vermouths, bitters etc. (Same goes for vodka).

Some of those additives might swamp any flavours in gin, so might just as well use laboratory alcohol - if you can get it and be sure it doesn't contain benzene. On the other hand, a recent taste test with a less powerful masking liquid (tonic water) convinced me that the Silent Pool offering is much better than some cheap gins, and its flavours can come through. I'll try with some others for comparison over future weeks, and maybe I'll try the Aldi offering too. Silent Pool is not cheap in comparison with Lidl and Aldi offerings, but it does seem to have qualities which others do not. I will also try the as yet unsampled SP premium drink.

[Old Grumpy]

Some of those additives might swamp any flavours in gin, so might just as well use laboratory alcohol - if you can get it and be sure it doesn't contain benzene.

Laboratory alcohol...


...ah, them were't days!

OG

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Laboratory alcohol...


...ah, them were't days!

OG

I've worked in a couple of schools that had "Music Room Alcohol" available.

[umslopogaas]

Laboratory alcohol ... stick to Analar grade and you should be OK. Make sure it isnt laboratory meths, which is colourless and doesnt contain purple dye or an emetic like the stuff you can buy in hardware stores, but it does still contain methyl alcohol and will make you very ill indeed.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

laboratory meths

I've worked in a couple of schools that ....

[umslopogaas]

Ah, I've never heard it called Music Room alcohol before. What do you do with it in the music room? Clean the instruments?

[Dave2002]

Laboratory alcohol ... stick to Analar grade and you should be OK. Make sure it isnt laboratory meths, which is colourless and doesnt contain purple dye or an emetic like the stuff you can buy in hardware stores, but it does still contain methyl alcohol and will make you very ill indeed.

Methyl alcohol and benzene to be avoided at all costs. Spectral tests can be used to detect benzene. Best to avoid altogether if not sure.

Sadly, in some parts of the world, even in civilised countries there can be problems of adulteration. In Sweden some people made some form of hooch. That actually might have been OK (though illegal) but further down the distribution chain some "enterprising" people started mixing in really cheap forms of alcohol. I'm not sure whether people died or became blind or otherwise ill from the incidents I read about, but some perpetrators were jailed for a long while - quite rightly IMO.

Also remember the wine anti-freeze scandal.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Ah, I've never heard it called Music Room alcohol before. What do you do with it in the music room? Clean the instruments?

Well - the instruments certainly sound better after it's been used!