I dunno, there are plenty of cheap spirits that taste perfectly fine. The less expensive (but not cheap swill) gins I see in my local markets (Beefeater, Tanqueray, Gordon’s), and the whiskeys or scotches (like Teachers, Jack, etc) are all under the equivalent of 20 pounds, and they’re easy enough to drink.
Or maybe the UK just has expensive spirits? I know in Australia you can’t get a bottle of literally any spirits for much less than $50-60.
I’ve had plenty of stuff I consider better than what I listed. I actually prefer peaty scotches and whiskeys and ryes with smoke and bite. I’ve had amazing single barrels. I also like really piney gins.
But my point about the ones I mentioned were that they’re all smooth, inoffensive, and miles away from the rotgut shit I was drinking in my college days. Definitely does not taste like “crap” by any sane measure (ok except maybe the Jack. I can’t vouch for that because I haven’t actually had it in awhile and I couldn’t remember any of the non-Japanese stuff that my local market has).
I prefer smooth Islay or Highland whiskys that aren’t smokey or peaty, that already eliminates a number of them for me. But bringing commercial low grade drinks into the drinkscussion and claiming they’re “smooth” is just plain disingenuous. They’re not smooth. Far from it.
The only drinkable Jack is Gentlemen’s Jack, or the single barrel select, but even those are just pish for mixing cocktails. Tanqueray is similarly a gin I’d never drink in a “pure” cocktail (G+T and kinds, where the focus is on the gin flavour), but it’s fine for, say, a Long Island.
I dunno, there are plenty of cheap spirits that taste perfectly fine. The less expensive (but not cheap swill) gins I see in my local markets (Beefeater, Tanqueray, Gordon’s), and the whiskeys or scotches (like Teachers, Jack, etc) are all under the equivalent of 20 pounds, and they’re easy enough to drink.
Or maybe the UK just has expensive spirits? I know in Australia you can’t get a bottle of literally any spirits for much less than $50-60.
Sorry, I do not consider anything you listed even remotely near the category of “taste perfectly fine”.
Drink some quality spirits and you’ll notice the cheapness immediately. Quality alcohol is actually pleasant to drink, even in itself.
I’ve had plenty of stuff I consider better than what I listed. I actually prefer peaty scotches and whiskeys and ryes with smoke and bite. I’ve had amazing single barrels. I also like really piney gins.
But my point about the ones I mentioned were that they’re all smooth, inoffensive, and miles away from the rotgut shit I was drinking in my college days. Definitely does not taste like “crap” by any sane measure (ok except maybe the Jack. I can’t vouch for that because I haven’t actually had it in awhile and I couldn’t remember any of the non-Japanese stuff that my local market has).
I prefer smooth Islay or Highland whiskys that aren’t smokey or peaty, that already eliminates a number of them for me. But bringing commercial low grade drinks into the drinkscussion and claiming they’re “smooth” is just plain disingenuous. They’re not smooth. Far from it.
The only drinkable Jack is Gentlemen’s Jack, or the single barrel select, but even those are just pish for mixing cocktails. Tanqueray is similarly a gin I’d never drink in a “pure” cocktail (G+T and kinds, where the focus is on the gin flavour), but it’s fine for, say, a Long Island.