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A Great Philosophical Question.
August 27, 2015 at 9:55 pm
I have noticed that I can enjoy a modestly priced single malt Scotch or single malt Irish whisky or a rye, but when drinking Cognac, I find that I really do not care for those that are of comparable price to those tolerable Scotches and Irish whiskies and ryes. I find that I really like cognac, but only when it is a fairly good bottle (where I am, over $40 per bottle). Now, why is it that I can be okay with a rye that costs $20ish or a Scotch or Irish whiskey that is about that price, but the cognac must be more?
Just to be clear, I prefer more expensive Scotch to what I can get at $20-25 (and my preferred Scotch costs about as much as the Cognac I like), but I am okay with a single malt Scotch that I can get at that lower price of $20-25. But I am not comparably okay with a Cognac at that price, and would rather go with a Scotch, Irish whisky, or rye at that price.
Does anyone have any insight into this profound question of great importance?
For those who imagine that this is not a question for the philosophy section, everyone knows that every great philosopher drinks. There is not even one great philosopher in the entire history of philosophy who did not drink. Show me a teetotaler, and I will show you someone who is not a great philosopher. And is likely not even a second tier philosopher.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
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RE: A Great Philosophical Question.
August 27, 2015 at 10:16 pm
What if the cognac went on sale for $20? Would that bother you? Can you notice a huge difference in the two differently priced cognacs?
I've noticed with wine that there are huge leaps in quality from the $9 on up to the $20-$30 bottles (to be expected, I suppose), but anything past that- the leaps in quality are too small to justify the leaps in price.
I can't remember where this verse is from, I think it got removed from canon:
"I don't hang around with mostly men because I'm gay. It's because men are better than women. Better trained, better equipped...better. Just better! I'm not gay."
For context, this is the previous verse:
"Hi Jesus" -robvalue
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RE: A Great Philosophical Question.
August 27, 2015 at 10:46 pm
(August 27, 2015 at 10:16 pm)Exian Wrote: What if the cognac went on sale for $20? Would that bother you?
No, I would not be bothered by that at all. In fact, if my favorite Cognac went on sale for $20 a bottle, I would probably buy at least a dozen bottles to stock up, if they had them in the store. Maybe I would buy more if they had them.
In fact, I would be ecstatic if the Cognac I wanted went on sale like that.
(August 27, 2015 at 10:16 pm)Exian Wrote: Can you notice a huge difference in the two differently priced cognacs?
Yes. I rather wish I could not tell the difference between good Cognac and cheap Cognac, as it would save me a lot of money. Now, when it is used for cooking, the cheap stuff is fine. But drinking straight, it is significantly different. What I have found is that I need to spend $40+ on a bottle for me to like it. I can get away with a $25 bottle of single malt Scotch (though I prefer a $40+ bottle), but I do not care for what I can get in Cognac at that price. Courvoisier VSOP is just not as good as Hennessy Privilege VSOP. That level of Courvoisier is more than good enough for cooking, but for drinking straight, it is not that great.
Just to be clear, I have tried a variety of levels of Cognac and Scotch, and, generally, the higher the price, the more I like it. But I find that Scotch can be acceptable at a cheaper level than Cognac. And so is Irish whisky and rye (rye I can get probably the cheapest for something acceptable, but that may be because it is domestic).
(August 27, 2015 at 10:16 pm)Exian Wrote: I've noticed with wine that there are huge leaps in quality from the $9 on up to the $20-$30 bottles (to be expected, I suppose), but anything past that- the leaps in quality are too small to justify the leaps in price.
I agree that once one gets to a certain level of quality, going higher is not cost-effective. For me, the most I want to spend on a bottle of wine (at a wine shop; restaurants charge more for the same quality) is about $45, and that is for a good Champagne. Most of the wine I drink is less expensive than that. But other than one red that I have found that is remarkably good for its price, pretty much all of the wine I drink is over $10 per bottle, other than the wine used for making mulled wine (for that, cheap swill is fine, as the sugar and spices take care of any issues there are with it).
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
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RE: A Great Philosophical Question.
August 27, 2015 at 11:00 pm
Maybe it's because whiskey is a peasant's drink that you're better off pouring into a sword gash.
I'm sorry...the moon is almost full right now, so my troll blood is boiling and my wolf form is itching to come out.
Verbatim from the mouth of Jesus (retranslated from a retranslation of a copy of a copy):
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you too will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. How can you see your brother's head up his ass when your own vision is darkened by your head being even further up your ass? How can you say to your brother, 'Get your head out of your ass,' when all the time your head is up your own ass? You hypocrite! First take your head out of your own ass, and then you will see clearly who has his head up his ass and who doesn't." Matthew 7:1-5 (also Luke 6: 41-42)
Also, I has a website: www.RedbeardThePink.com
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RE: A Great Philosophical Question.
August 27, 2015 at 11:04 pm
I cannot answer your question Pyrrho but what I can say is that you have committed
not one but two major logical fallacies in your OP. Which all of the great philosophers
would have spotted immediately regardless of how drunk they actually were ha ha ha
A MIND IS LIKE A PARACHUTE : IT DOES NOT WORK UNLESS IT IS OPEN
A MIND IS LIKE A PARACHUTE : IT DOES NOT WORK UNLESS IT IS OPEN
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RE: A Great Philosophical Question.
August 27, 2015 at 11:26 pm
While I have to disagree with your assessment of Couvousier VSOP (don't even think of drinking VS anything - it's swill) - clearly the answer is that we're being price gouged on cognac in a way purveyors of whiskey have not yet conceived.
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RE: A Great Philosophical Question.
August 28, 2015 at 3:15 am
(This post was last modified: August 28, 2015 at 3:21 am by Alex K.)
I'm fine with peasant's drink, as long as it's peasants from Islay. They can almost do no wrong.
Maybe the baseline costs are higher because cognac is made from grapes...
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition
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RE: A Great Philosophical Question.
August 28, 2015 at 6:23 pm
(August 28, 2015 at 3:15 am)Alex K Wrote: I'm fine with peasant's drink, as long as it's peasants from Islay. They can almost do no wrong.
Maybe the baseline costs are higher because cognac is made from grapes...
You know, the grapes versus grain makes some sense. Also, the cheap Scotch I have right now that is okay is from Islay. It is quite acceptable. However, the better Scotch I have at present is from Kirkwall.
Do you find you feel the same way about cognac? That to be good, it is more costly than a satisfactory Scotch? (If you tell us that you do not drink cognac, we will all know you are not really German. Germans fought two world wars because they like French things and wanted to go to Paris. That is why the EU was formed, to keep Germany from starting WW III. This way, you know you can go to Paris when you want, and have easy access to French things.)
Maybe I should have made a poll...
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
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RE: A Great Philosophical Question.
August 28, 2015 at 11:43 pm
I'm a simple man. Pour me some ice cold gin. Preferably Bombay Sapphire.
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RE: A Great Philosophical Question.
August 29, 2015 at 4:33 am
Indeed, I don't really drink cognac. Maybe I should emigrate to England, sometimes I get the feeling that I have more in common with them.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition
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