It’s a gin distilled on the island of Islay (“Ee-lay”) in Scotland, where they also make the best single malt whiskeys in the world.

My stepson told me about it, and I picked up a bottle. It’s smooth enough to drink neat. Whereas most gins should just be used as a base liquor for cocktails. They usually have an unpleasant bite to them.

The Botanist. Highly recommended. Pick up a bottle.

My wife and I have enjoyed running through Hendricks and the various iterations of it. We’re not too fancy, but once
We bought a bottle of something from Isolation Proof (Bloomville NY) called “Spring Gin,” and it’s pretty horrid. And not cheap. Many herbal ingredients, but chiefly ramps, leeks, green onions…. I haven’t found anything to mix it with that doesn’t burn my nose trying to sip.

"time" in the bottle. When I say time I don't mean years I mean days or weeks. Most of us would never drink Bacardi rum neat because it would kick in the gag reflex. But if you go to Puerto Rico and buy a bottle of Bacardi at a local place you can sit in the shade, I speak from experience, and drink your Bacardi neat. When real fresh it has a pleasant silkiness. Time in the bottle and travel take their toll it seems. Because the difference between the "fresh" stuff and what you get from a bottle in a liquor store or a bar in the US is very noticeable. I recall the store owner looking at me oddly when I wanted to buy Coke to go along with the Bacardi. It also had the same kick so it's not an ABV thing.

Gin I can't attest to but I would find it interesting if someone has an opportunity to experience drinking top shelf gin from near the distillery and then sampled the brand from some place far across the globe that's been in the bottle for awhile. I would be interested in smoothness, off flavor notes etc.

Beefeater, and similar gins from several decades ago. It’s a fine sipper.

Anything to blot out the shit-ton of shit that is happening in the country right now.

I haven’t started day-drinking yet like I did Election Week 2020, but I’m close…

They don’t care about deportation, loss of rights, global chaos, and worse. But increase price of their alcohol, big trucks, bullets, and worse, and they’ll upset.

I figure it might last as long as 4 years because I can't drink much.

Enjoy!



Hope the tariff and its instigator don’t last much longer.

But, the G I issue has decided to act up today. So, I am stuck with milk and a pop tart, assuming I feel like I can eat said pop tart.

Enjoy.

What’s your favorite flavor of Pop-Tart? Mine is frosted raspberry.

I prefer unfrosted, as I am diabetic and should not be eating them at all. But, the stomach wins out on this one as I don't wish to lay around in extreme discomfort just because I should not push my sugar levels up to 200 for a time.

My favorite is blueberry.

I like them fried. 🍗 🍳

I started googling and found this

https://www.thebotanist.com/en-us/pages/our-spirit

and then ran across a book titled The Drunken Botanist, which also sounds interesting:

https://www.cocktailemporium.com/products/the-drunken-botanist-the-plants-that-create-the-worlds-great-drinks-10th-anniversary-edition

Much cheaper on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Drunken-Botanist-Amy-Stewart/dp/1616200464

I mean, sometimes I’ll slam a shot of gin, and hurriedly chase it with something more palatable. But I can sip The Botanist like a fine single-malt.