Why I drink bourbon

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Why I drink bourbon

Unread postby Mike » Tue Feb 20, 2007 11:08 pm

I drink bourbon first and foremost because I like it! It has wonderful, complex, and interesting flavors made all the more alluring by the effects of the alcohol (this is obviously not to be taken as an invitation to abuse alcohol).

I also drink bourbon because I am an American. Bourbon seems to be very American to me. As baseball, jazz, blues, cowboys, generousity, humor, independence, and (unfortunately) violence define us, so too does bourbon whiskey. It has an edge lacking in other great spirits, a bold bite that seems so in character with being an American.

Taken too far that edge is rough, unpolished, unattractive, and even dangerous. Tempered and contained, it is creative, innovative, assertive without being assualtive, and self-assured. It struts like a peacock....... all the while with a smile on its face inviting you to come along for the adventure. 'Watch me, now,' it says, 'see what I am going to do next!'

The best bourbons mirror what is best in America and Americans. Good bourbons reflect what is good, and bad bourbons, well, they are as offensive in their way as are bad Americans.

It is no accident that Mark Twain, that most American of writers, was a prodigious consumer of bourbon, as was William Faulkner, another through and through American. It is impossible to imagine Twain or Faulkner drinking Scotch, or Cognac.

I have been coming to Bourbon Enthusiast now for about two years. When I came I was wet behind the ears, and, believe me, there is still some moisture behind them. But, in these two years, it has been my intent to learn about bourbon (I stated on day one that I was a student of bourbon) and I have tried many bourbons and reviewed almost all of them. It has been a learning process.

What I have learned about bourbon from this is a very modest amount. I do not know much about bourbon and know I will never be a particularly astute taster. But, if being an astute taster was ever my objective, it should not have been. While it is certainly worthwhile to utilize the experience and tastes of others as a guide (maybe a necessity), it is one's own tastes that must be cultivated and brought to life. A very wise man once said, 'You spend your life becoming yourself'.

As I look back on many, many, sips and many reviews I begin to see that there is no goal in drinking bourbon, nothing to be achieved beyond enjoying what is in my hand now. I need do nothing other than sip the bourbon before me now. And, if I am of a mind, record my impressions as to its qualities (I like to write reviews, it is a challenge to be myself, to be creative while being truthful, and to explore my own particular tastes, and, in the best of worlds, to be helpful to someone as they explore their own tastes).......no need for consistency with past comments or reviews.

Now, I must be judicious in my use of bourbon, since it is potentially a poison to me (as it is to everyone, only more so to me), making it all the more enticing. Still, I hope to enjoy bourbon a while yet and will give it up only when the moment is right, and, if I am most fortunate, I will give up everything just when the moment is right!
Last edited by Mike on Wed Feb 21, 2007 9:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
Do not go gentle into that good night,
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Rage, rage against the dying of the light. - Dylan Thomas
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Re: Why I drink bourbon

Unread postby TNbourbon » Wed Feb 21, 2007 12:12 am

Mike wrote:... 'You spend your life becoming yourself'...


Rabbi Zusya said, "God will not ask me 'Why were you not Moses?'; he will ask me 'Why were you not Zusya?'"

And, Mike, if you've not run across it before, I think you will appreciate the 1952 words of Noah 'Soggy' Sweat, erstwhile Mississippi legislator, judge and namesake of Ole Miss' judicial library/museum:

"My friends, I had not intended to discuss this controversial subject at this particular time. However, I want you to know that I do not shun controversy. On the contrary, I will take a stand on any issue at any time, regardless of how fraught with controversy it might be.

"You have asked me how I feel about whiskey. All right, here is how I feel about whiskey.

"If when you say whiskey, you mean the devil's brew, the poison scourge, the bloody monster that defiles innocence, dethrones reason, destroys the home, creates misery and poverty, yea, literally takes the bread from the mouths of little children; if you mean the evil drink that topples the Christian man and woman from the pinnacle of righteous, gracious living into the bottomless pit of degradation and despair and shame and helplessness and hopelessness - then certainly I am against it.

"But if, when you say whiskey, you mean the oil of conversation, the philosophic wine, the ale that is consumed when good fellows get together, that puts a song in their hearts and laughter on their lips and the warm glow of contentment in their eyes; if you mean Christmas cheer; if you mean the stimulating drink that puts the spring in the old gentleman's step on a frosty, crispy morning; if you mean the drink which enables a man to magnify his joy and his happiness and to forget, if only for a little while, life's great tragedies and heartaches and sorrows; if you mean that drink the sale of which pours into our treasuries untold millions of dollars which are used to provide tender care for our little crippled children, our blind, our deaf, our pitiful aged and infirm, to build highways and hospitals and schools - then certainly I am for it.

"This is my stand, and I will not compromise."


N.B.: Mississippi was the last state to formally ratify the repeal of Prohibition, in 1966.
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Re: Why I drink bourbon

Unread postby EllenJ » Wed Feb 21, 2007 12:29 am

Mike wrote:A very wise man once said, 'You spend your life becoming yourself'.

I believe another very wise man recently said, of bourbon and of Americans,
Mike wrote:... ..assertive without being assualtive... ..self-assured... ..struts like a peacock... all the while with a smile on its face inviting you to come along for the adventure...

BTW, remember... you don't need (or want) to swallow your t'bacca to enjoy it.
Professional whiskey tasters enjoy more bourbon than any of the rest of us.
They spit.
My friend Marvin can sit and enjoy (and describe every tiny flavor note of) a single glass of bourbon for hours, mostly noting the changes in its aroma as it evaporates and oxidizes. And at the end of a very intense evening of tasting, you'll notice he's only actually consumed maybe four or five ounces.
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Unread postby bourbonv » Wed Feb 21, 2007 8:20 pm

I agree with John. (Is that a first, John?) There are some times that it is just as pleasurable to sit back and enjoy a single glass of bourbon over an extended period of time, taking as much as 2, 3, or even more hours to drink it. It can actually be a real eye opener for the drinker as you watch and taste the changes in the drink over that period. If you are going to limit yourself to one drink every day or so, I would say pour something you like neat and taste over an extended period of time, one sip at a time.
Mike Veach
"Our people live almost exclusively on whiskey" - E H Taylor, Jr. 25 April 1873
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Unread postby LogicalFrank » Sat Feb 24, 2007 5:25 pm

Excellent thread!

*applause*

I agree w/ much of your sentiment and can't help but enjoy its unique American-ness. (When is Ken Burns going to make his bourbon documentary? Forget all this jazz and baseball!)

To me, it is also something new for me to try. I've tasted over a thousand types of beer (and taken notes) and it started to get tedious to me. Looking back on all those beers, I went about it all wrong. I just went and sucked down every new beer I could and would often buy things that I knew I wouldn't like just based on the fact that I haven't tried it. W/ bourbon and rye it's fun to go back and do it "right" and just enjoy it.

Plus, I must say that whiskey is much less fattening than beer. I've lost ten pounds by switching about half the beer I drink for whiskey. 8-)
Howdy Doody's past the House of Aquarius. Bring me more whiskey and rye!
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Unread postby cowdery » Sun Feb 25, 2007 12:31 am

- Chuck Cowdery

Author of Bourbon, Straight
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