Thread by @amandanat

A fun thread for the weekend!

I've been drinking whiskey for 8 years now. I'm not an expert, but I like geeking out on it.

Time for a stiff drink and the casually serious enthusiast's guide to whiskey. 🥃

What's the best whiskey?

It's the one *you* like.

There are no wrong answers. The best thing to do is develop your own preferences.

As an unassuming enthusiast, here's what I look for in a whiskey:

• Taste is smooth 🥃

• Flavor is smoky or not smoky 💨

• A classic or one I've never heard of 🤔

• Affordable (relative to the occasion) 💰

Smooth taste. 🥃

The criteria for whiskey is that it's aged at least 2 years.

But for me personally, I've found that whiskeys aged at least 10 years better suit my palate. It's young whiskey that has a sharp bite and makes me react like this:

Smoky or not smoky 💨

Lots more flavor profiles: peaty, floral, fruity, woody, etc.

But on the broadest level, I think of whiskey as smoky or not. And I like both. My favorite smoky one is Ardbeg Uigeadail. My fave non-smoky ones are most Japanese whiskeys.

Classic or new-to-me 🤔

The classics in my home bar: Balvenie, Ardbeg, Hibiki, Aberlour.

Newer to me: Iwai, a non-smoky Japanese whiskey.

These cover a wide variety of flavor profiles. I drink them neat or on rocks.

If I see a ~$40 whiskey I've never heard of, I usually buy.

Affordable (relative to the occasion) 💰

My occasions or categories are:

• Cocktails $
• Weekend $$
• Fancy $$$

Cocktails: $20-30 per bottle

My faves:

• Old Grand-Dad Bourbon
• Bishop Rye Whiskey
• Bulleit

These are my go-to's for making cocktails. Since I'm cutting or enhancing the spirit's flavor with a mixer, I don't like to spend a lot.

Weekend sipping: $35-55

My faves:

• Suntory Toki
• Aberlour 12yr
• Generic: (!) Kirkland or Trader Joe's, 10yr

These happen to be my faves that I sip neat or on rocks. I like to store Suntory Toki or other Japanese whiskey in the freezer and sip neat.

Feeling fancy: $60-80

My faves:

• Balvenie 12yr
• Ardbeg Uigeadail
• Hibiki Harmony

Given the price point, these are ones I'll have a bottle of and slowly finish throughout the year. Or they're ones I'll share if a fellow whiskey enthusiast comes over!

And I’ll end on a miscellaneous tip:

If you’re budget-savvy and curious about an expensive bottle — like an 18yr or older — try the 10yr first. If you like that, you’ll probably like the older pick.

Curious to hear from you! What are some of your fave whiskeys?

Added some recommendations to my Bevmo cart and got this message: "Looks like you're having an event!"

Lol nope, no event. Just me. O_o