I ask for a bottle of good vodka for any sizeable PC job.  You would be amazed how many people believe that Smirnoff is good vodka.

Glens next time then?

I have *so* scored you down.

If you're going to make a martini it doesn't really matter IMO. OTOH, if drinking neat, slightly chilled, I'm rather fond of Grey Goose. Even if it is French (!)

What recommendeth thou?

Yup, Grey Goose or Belvedere.  Nothing else I've tasted approaches them, though I won't turn my refuse Absolut.  But then I won't refuse brake fluid.

And for me, it's always best straight from the freezer.

Grey Goose and Belvedere, shame they're now the brands of choice for weekend millionaire wankers across the land.

Indeed, but they were good vodkas before the wankers came along and they'll still be good vodkas after they've all fucked off.

I've still got some Koskenkorva 60% that I should get in the freezer. Potent stuff is that.

I came home from Jerusalem with one and a half litres of Kosher 95.  It was so volatile that the evaporation chilled your palate and tongue.  What taste it had was bloody disgusting.

Yeah, my dad recently fixed a PC issue for a guy he knows, just asked for a nice bottle of whisky in return. Received a small bottle of Jack Daniels. (fail)

Deary, deary me.  We're going to have to specify in future, which rather undermines our intended friendly exchange vibe.

This is spot on, years ago even ended up at a work colleagues house fixing their PC till gone 10pm on a friday night with just a, thanks Al, I'll get you a few beers. (Beers never turned up,  nd any way I'd rather have £30/40 quid for my 5hrs work)

Any suggestions for a decent (ish) bottle of whisky for my grandfather's 80th? Funnily enough the only person who's ever given me anything for working on his computer.

Laphroaig, or possibly as an alternative, Laphroaig.

 

Do you know if he likes peaty ones (like Laphroaig) or not? As if he doesn't, that one's a bit beefy. Balvenie is a safer bet perhaps, I like that lots too. 

I'm not a spirits fan, and as such am undoubtedly biased, but I've tried vodka and whiskys (whiskies?!) in the past and have only had an overriding feeling of heat and not much taste. Does one become accustomed to the taste eventually and can pick out nuances? I understand how people can do it with wine as it's gentler on the palate (well, red wine anyway), but never quite got spirits as they all taste acerbic and feel caustic.

I do like brandy though.

 

Hmm, no idea. I just know he likes whisky. Never noticed any difference between any I've tried, they're all horrible.

Any chance they would sell that in Tesco? Gonna have to pick something up on the way home, seeing him tomorrow. If not it'll have to be a Tesco value Whisky.

If it's a proper full-sized Tesco (as opposed to a Tesco Express) then there's a good chance it will stock both Balvenie and Laphroaig. They're both roughly 3x the price of a bottle of Value Whisky though.

If he prefers the more 'rounded' taste of a decent blended whisky then Johnnie Walker Black Label is very good (well I like it) (£20-£22ish) or Whyte & Mackay (which I also like). I do notice that Tesco are banging out a full litre bottle of the Whyte & Mackay for £18 but I don't know whether that's online only or available in store.

Thanks. I'll have a look on the way home. I can either do medium sized Tesco right by me which has a fairly decent selection of alcomohol or go super size slightly further to get a better chance of getting sommat.

I'm no vodka drinker but whisky certainly is something you can develop. There's a good many smoother blends you can use to ease in, perhaps a few drops of water added, maybe some ice. Definitely need to have dropped the ice before you get to anything good though, or a Scotsman will assault you without warning. I'm barely amateur at it I'm sure but there's as much tasting complexity as wine to go through, I'd wager.

Something like a Glenfiddich will taste hugely different to something like a Laphroig. Anyone not able to discern a change between the two is either already completely smashed or is drinking them many days apart.