doubled_mystic

it was a 2 cigar day for me. Had a new favorite this afternoon, San Cristobal, which was amazingly good. Just finished a Rocky Patel Renaissance a few minutes ago, which was perfect. I have said this before and I will say it again, Rocky Patel is a cigar-making genius. Everyone of the cigars in the Rocky Patel line up is great and the Renaissance might just be the best of the best.

QUOTE (daveyt @ Oct 8 2009, 06:42 PM) enjoying a fine fuente gran reserva mmmmmmmm I have a couple of those in the humidor that I picked up on a whim at one of the local cigar shops, how are they? just finished a fine Perdomo Lot 23 Corojo churchill. excellent, all the way down to the nub, lots of spice at the finish.

QUOTE (syrinxpriest 2112 @ Aug 21 2009, 06:44 PM) C.A.O. ftw: Brazillia Gol: http://www.cigarinspector.com/images/cigar/cao-brazilia-gol.jpg Sopranos Edition: http://img.cigar.com/p/300/cs/s/cs-sqa.jpg they make some incredible cigars, I'm having one of theirs this evening, CAO America Monument, and it is almost as nice to look at as it is to smoke. My favorite from them though is the Anniversaire Cameroon, but I will also admit I'm a cameroon wrapper freak.

just finished one of my all time favorites, Camacho Triple Maduro. A beautiful, oily maduro wrapper, hugging, you guessed it, lots and lots of maduro goodness inside. A very full bodied smoke, with ample spice from the pre-light draw all the way through the slow burn. A hint of cacao at the toasty conclusion, just an absolutely amazing cigar. I highly, highly recommend it to anyone that likes their cigars big and bold and full bodied. And it goes excellently with a good single malt or bourbon.......

Shock Top is nothing special, but has been hugely popular since A-B started brewing it about 2 years ago. Oddly enough, it was only going to be a seasonal brew for the summer to go along with the jack's Pumpkin Spice (autumn) and Winter's Cask Bourbon Ale (absolutely disgusting- don't say I did not warn you), but because of its huge popularity, they decided to brew it all year long. The belgian white/wheat beers aren't my favorite by any means, but I can think of a bunch I'd take over Shock Top- Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat, Blue Moon, Sam Adams Imperial White, Harpoon's UFO White.

had a glass of Cameron Hughes Lot 35 Cabernet Sauvignon with dinner a bit ago. Absolutely wonderful. everything a good cab should be

Samuel Adams Imperial White. Interesting and good. Lot more character to it than their seasonal white ale, also packs a bigger punch (at 10.3 ABV). Liking it a lot actually. Saving the Imperial Stout for tomorrow.

One of my favorite beers overall, definatly my favorite Sam Adams year-round beer. Loved since I first tried it. I compare it with their Octoberfest and Double Bock,.

QUOTE (Gompers @ Jan 16 2009, 10:56 AM) QUOTE (doubled_mystic @ Jan 15 2009, 11:28 PM) cork/synthetic cork/screw cap does not reflect anything on the quality or taste of a wine. Crappy wine will be crappy wine with a cork in it, great wine will be great with a screw cap. The cork is a tradition, as it was at the time the best way to seal a bottle and keep air out, replacing the use of waxed paper stuffed in to the bottles for the same purpose. The screw cap is actually better for the wine as it keeps more air out, it is less expensive for the wine makers (which means the wine will be less expensive to purchase), and a metal screw cap is not as likely to grow bacteria as a cork (trust me, opening a case of wine and seeing what can grow on the corks is revolting. I've had to be the one to inform my boss we have to ship entire cases of wine back to the distributor because they all had funky green stuff growing on the corks- and the cases aren't always cheap either). Screw caps are the way to go. In the store I work in, I think 80% of the wines from Germany and about 50% of the Australian and New Zealand wines have screw caps, and many of them are excellent. Many of the domestics have started to trend to either using screw caps or synthetic corks. The point of the matter is, if you know what you want for a wine, you'll find great wines with screw caps and corks, and if you don't know, any person working in a store selling wine who is worth their salt should be able to help you find a very nice wine sealed in either manner if that matters a great deal to you. As to the Silverado Chard, it is quite excellent, one of the chards we recommend the most in the store I work in. Basically one point you are saying is the cork is old technology and the screw cap or synthetic cork is the new way. That is how I understood it. exactly right, as well as being bad for the wine potentially. The cork is antiquated, bring on the screw caps and synthetics. As to the question of whether the US is the last hold over, not so much. As I had said earlier, Australia and Germany have moved over to the screw caps, the wines coming from Italy and France are almost all actual cork, at least from what I see. The French will need an act of God before they start tampering with wine traditions.

my two favorites are Anchor Steam Merry Christmas Happy New Year and Otter Creek Raspberry Brown. The second is an unusual one for me, as I don't really like brown ales at all, and I'm not huge on fruit flavors in beer, but it works so well. Harpoon makes a great one (Winter Warmer), and Sam Adams Winter Lager still holds a special place this time of year. It's not truly winter until I have my first one of the season.

cork/synthetic cork/screw cap does not reflect anything on the quality or taste of a wine. Crappy wine will be crappy wine with a cork in it, great wine will be great with a screw cap. The cork is a tradition, as it was at the time the best way to seal a bottle and keep air out, replacing the use of waxed paper stuffed in to the bottles for the same purpose. The screw cap is actually better for the wine as it keeps more air out, it is less expensive for the wine makers (which means the wine will be less expensive to purchase), and a metal screw cap is not as likely to grow bacteria as a cork (trust me, opening a case of wine and seeing what can grow on the corks is revolting. I've had to be the one to inform my boss we have to ship entire cases of wine back to the distributor because they all had funky green stuff growing on the corks- and the cases aren't always cheap either). Screw caps are the way to go. In the store I work in, I think 80% of the wines from Germany and about 50% of the Australian and New Zealand wines have screw caps, and many of them are excellent. Many of the domestics have started to trend to either using screw caps or synthetic corks. The point of the matter is, if you know what you want for a wine, you'll find great wines with screw caps and corks, and if you don't know, any person working in a store selling wine who is worth their salt should be able to help you find a very nice wine sealed in either manner if that matters a great deal to you. As to the Silverado Chard, it is quite excellent, one of the chards we recommend the most in the store I work in.

Just finished reading Apocalypse in Retrospect. a collection of short stories written by Kurt Vonnegut and put together by one of his sons. Most of the stories deal in some way or other with World War II (and the set opens with the letter Vonnegut wrote to his family informing them he had been a prisoner of war). At turns darkly humorous, at times very sad, I'd highly recommend it to anyone, especially any fans of the late great writer.

QUOTE (daveyt @ Dec 8 2008, 01:57 PM) QUOTE (goose @ Dec 6 2008, 09:12 PM) QUOTE (ozzy85 @ Dec 6 2008, 11:07 PM) I like Canadian blends more than American whiskeys like Black Jack, etc. Canadian, scotch or irish for me. American bourbon makes me gag. my uncle swears by CR (so do i with a cigar and a coors light) but this weekend he picked up some wild turkey. some someone elaborate on this move of his? Wild Turkey makes a few rather tasty bourbons. Their 101 proof is just a half notch below Knob Creek (which is 100 proof), quite nice with just a splash of water. The Rare Breed and Russell's Reserve are also quite nice, much mellower and quite smooth, despite relatively high alcohol content (108.2 and 90, respectively). Absolutely nothing wrong with switching up to a good bourbon every now and again, or to a good rye or Scotch, or Irish whiskey for that matter. All a matter of tastes and trying new things really. Just like wine or beer, just because someone swears by one type, doesn't mean there aren't a whole bunch of other really good ones out there, or preclude that person from trying new things.

QUOTE (Broncos730 @ Dec 2 2008, 02:46 PM) QUOTE (doubled_mystic @ Nov 9 2008, 01:14 AM) I tried it, I thought it was pretty awful. In fact, it tasted just like regular Bud, it just costs more. Sure you weren't trying a Bud Select instead? That stuff is just plain old bud to my taste. It's the old duff light/duff/duff dry trick.. (obscure simpson's reference anyone?) Anyway, I'm not a budweiser fan of any sort but I tried the American Ale and ... it doesn't suck. It's actually quite tasty with a good balance to it. Give it a shot. It's not bad. quite sure, as I had taken the bottle out of a six pack when I broke it up at work in order totake one home to sample. I've tried the Bud Select as well and find that also tastes exactly like regular Bud. The only product from A-B I have tried and been able to tolerate was the Shock Top Belgian-style white, and that's not all that great either.

some good suggestions already, and I'll add a few that I like. I'm a riesling fan, and plan on grabbing a couple bottles of Coppola Encyclopedia riesling for Turkey Day. Tried it a couple of weeks ago at a wine tasting and really loved it, one of the better rieslings I have tried thus far. Sweet, but not overpowering as some rieslings can be, nice fruit of pear and apple up front, finished very nicely. Saint M and Polka Dot, both from Germany, would be other suggestions on that front. The other style I'd probably lean to for Thanksgiving would be an unoaked chardonnay. Four Vines Naked is excellent, soft and buttery up front, bit on the drier side as chard tends to be, finishes well. Pinot grigio could also do well, but isn't my favorite variety of white, and I'm hesitant to even speak about sauvignon blanc as all I can think of is the typical grapefruit and grass taste from most of them (not exactly what you want with turkey). Just a few suggestions, but which ever way you decide to go for wine on Thanksgiving, enjoy, and have a happy Turkey day everyone.

I tried it, I thought it was pretty awful. In fact, it tasted just like regular Bud, it just costs more.

well it being the early fall, I recently found myself some time to go through my stock of beer, wine, and liquor, and discard what had gone past it's best-by date (mostly seasonal beers) and things that had just been sitting around for a very long time (sadly some McEwan's and other really good beer went the way of last week's left over meatloaf....). Of course as I did this I took the time to get a proper inventory of my stock on hand done... and I'm below the two cases of beer mark, so that's a good sign, now if I could get the liquor in the house under control (unfortunately seems no one drank any of the stuff I bought for the summer, at least it'll be good next year) current stock as of 10/9/08 Beer Fisherman's Brew- 4 Guiness Extra Stout- 1 Harpoon Laviathan Imperial IPA- 4 Harpoon 100 Barrel Series Firth of Fourth Ale- 1, 22 oz Harpoon IPA- 6 Lindeman Framboise Lambic- 1, 25 oz Moosehead- 1 Newcastle- 1 Rogue Dead Guy Ale- 1, 22 oz Samuel Adams Imperial Pilsner- 4 Samuel Smith India Ale- 1, 22 oz San Miguel Dark- 1 Stone IPA- 3 Stone Ruination- 1, 22 oz Tsing Tao- 1 Victory Golden Monkey- 1 Victory Prima Pils- 1 Wachusett Green Monsta Pale Ale- 4 Woodpecker Cider- 6 Liquor Lucid Absinthe Dekuyper Apple Pucker Godiva Chocolate Liqueur Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur Kaluha Landy VS Cognac Triple Sec Malibu Coconut Rum Goslings Black Seal Rum Mt Gay Gold Rum 10 Cane Rum Jose Cuervo Gold Gran Centenario Anjeo Espolon Anjeo Stolichnaya Christiania Grey Goose Jim Beam White Label Bourbon Jefferson's Bourbon Jameson Jim Beam Yellow Label Rye Jack Daniels Single Barrel 2007 MacAllan 10 Year Fine Oak MacAllan Cask Strength Glenlivet 12 Year Glenlivet 15 Year French Oak Reserve Glenlivet 16 Year Nadurra Cask Strength Glenfiddich 15 Year Ardbeg 10 Year Wine Andretti Cabernet Sauvignon, California Mirabooka Cabernet Sauvignon, Australia Stock Dry Vermouth Mission Hill Five Vineyards Ice Wine Dom Brunet Pinot Noir, France Warre's Warrior Porto Polka Dot Riesling, Germany Sauvion Vouvray, France

QUOTE (-D-RocK- @ Sep 22 2008, 11:25 AM) Bud-------------> beer flavored water. I think this is an insult to beer, and to water actually..... could be wrong though

QUOTE (MULTIPLIED REACTION @ Sep 24 2008, 05:38 PM) Is it available anywhere in New England? I know it is available in MA, although not at the store I work at (we don't deal with their distributor). If you go online to the Stone website, you should be able to figure out where in your area yo can get it. Haven't had the Arrogant Bastard Ale yet, but I love their IPA, my favorite IPA bar none, and second on my ranking of all beers.

last night I broke in to my box of Gurkha G3's. I forgot just how much I enjoyed them. Looking at them, with their dark maduro wrapper you'd think it would be a very bold, full-powered smoke, but not so much. It opens with notes of cedar, nuts, and toast, and as it burned, started to get notes of chocolate and light pepper, especially at the end. Slow burning, nicely constructed, so very very nice. I highly recommend it.

to make a mint julip, you'll need.... 4 mint sprigs 1 tsp simple syrup 2 tsp water 2.5 oz bourbon muddle mint sprigs, simple syrup, and water in glass you intend to drink from. fill glass with crushed ice, add bourbon. top off with a little more ice, garnish with mint sprig. I'd recommend a bourbon along the lines of Woodford Reserve, or similar small-batch bourbons. Hope that helps, and happy drinking

what a great performance last night. the offense served notice but on a clinic, and Matsuzaka was solid for 6 for the win, and the Sox have a share of the lead in the division again. Let's hope they didn't waste their offense all in one game...