(September 2, 2015 at 12:33 am)Lemonvariable72 Wrote: I would like to weigh in that I think make is more important then price. For example there two whiskies I like, one is blended and the other a scotch. The scotch is Glen fiddich, and the best stuff is actually the cheaper 12 year. Beautifully smooth. The other I like is called dark horse, its smooth with a hint of sweetness and will kicked your ass at nearly around 95 proof. Now the absolute shit whiskey called Royal reserve( I'm not sure if the US has these brands) is like about 25 a bottle and I wouldnt let yahwrh himself drink it. But the dark horse is about 3 dollars more. So I say experiment as not all cheap booze is created equal.
I agree that it is not the price, per se, that makes the difference. (Usually, though, more money allows one to get better quality.) And I agree that some cheaper things are acceptable. However, after trying a variety of options (though obviously not everything possible everywhere in the world), I have found that inexpensive cognac is not something I want to drink. Right now, the most expensive beverage in my house (per ounce, not per serving) is cognac. The less expensive cognac that I have, one of which is at least as expensive as the least expensive scotch that I have, I find I do not like. But I like the scotch at that price. Really, from what I have tried thus far, for something I personally find acceptable to drink in a whisky, rye works best for me, if I am wanting to be cheap. Then I can get scotch and Irish whisky for just a bit more that I like, and then at more than twice the price of the rye, I find a cognac I like. Now here is the strange thing. I very, very much like the expensive cognac, enough to justify the price. But I do not like the cognac that costs the same as the rye, scotch, or Irish whisky that I can enjoy. Still, I am willing to pay more for better scotch and so forth, and enjoy the better whiskies more, but if I had to keep to $20 per bottle, I would never, ever, buy cognac, except for use in cooking. I would be drinking rye at that price. If I had to keep it to $30 per bottle, I would mostly be drinking scotch. (Irish whisky I like, which, to me, seems like scotch but without the smoky flavor [which I believe is from the peat that is used in making scotch]. Irish whisky is good, when one gets a single malt.)
As for the specific brands you mention, I do not recall ever seeing any Dark Horse or Royal Reserve whisky. I presently have a 12 year old single malt Glenfiddich, which I have not yet tried. They have some cheaper stuff that they make that is swill, but I hope that this will be worth drinking. It is one of my cheaper scotches I have at present (to be exact, it is my second to cheapest of five scotches that I presently have), so it will not have to be great to be satisfactory for its price. If it is a little better than the cheapest one I have, I will be okay with it and not terribly regret buying it.
Right now, I am drinking some of my expensive cognac, which is something that reminded me of this thread.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
