Honest fellow idiots, there's really very little of consequence going on at the Shillery worth mentioning, which is exactly why you see so little about this commercial club, or the Frozen One's wolf den in these here parts. But it has been well said that if you give a billion monkeys keyboards, one of them will type the Gettysburg address.
This may just have happened. A new poster who goes by the handle (1%) recently posted a rather intelligent piece of advice about tasting overproofs. Mind you, the usual monkey scenario regarding overproofs is to sip 'em full strength, then exclaim what a hair raising experience this is and finally, to advise the beta monkeys to be forewarned, and to avoid the OP except for mixing.
Of course we -and apparently "1%" - know this is simply nuts, er bananas and accordingly he/she held forth quite nicely...
This is actually pretty good and sensibile information, but not at Zoo World. This creates the kind of confusingly unteneable situation that is a call for the Big Kahuna, The Preacher, The Prophet - His Holiness himself - to stride down the mountain into the midst of the monkey pit, where he counters the interloper and spouts his prevailing wisdom...1%": "Goslings is worth a try, just don't be foolish like some people and try and drink it full strength your taste receptors will go on strike if you try drink any thing over 50% even lower. I dilute my over proof's down to between 42-48%."
In other words, he completely ignores the newbie, and simply repeats the same old mantra. But "1%" isn't having any and confronts the BK (Big Kahuna) thusly...Preacher:"Overproof spirits definitely add a lot of flavor to drinks, but they aren't made to drunk neat. Our senses just aren't designed to appreciate alcohol at high levels more than once.".
1%: "Although I agree to an extent that OP's aren't made with straight sipping in mind, some can easily be enjoyed straight. They must be diluted with water but never the less carry a lot of flavour in the high proof and are basically cask strength or sometimes a little higher than normal cask strength. The basic difference is they haven't yet been diluted to normal bottle strength.
A few great over proofs that can be enjoyed straight with water are
Pusser's
*Super over proof 75%
*The 54%
Smith and Cross 57%
Scarlet Ibis 49%"
This is seriously good advice and entirely accurate from a guy or gal who probably has a good single malt background. And "1%" doesn't stop there...
Uh-oh! I wonder if "1%" realizes he's stepped directly on the Preacher's treble-blessed, silk and ruby slippers? The revived Lemonhart - no real comparison to the original - is the Preacher's baby, and "1%" has bad mouthed it as good for mixing only. The beta's gasp in astonishment, drop their bananas, and begin to get woodies. The "1%" goes on...1%: "Lemon hart could of been added here but unfortunately the producers decided to caramelize the hell out of it and smother the Demeraran aspect from it. Lemon Hart is good in cocktails but that's about it.".
Now those are fightin words at the Shillery! The notion of "style"s led to my own confrontation with The Prophet, culminating in my resignation and establishment of The Rum Project, which is organized entirely on this concept. And that is exactly why the Preacher only rarely mentions the S-word (styles), and then only for big suckers. Further, the concept that "most rums (are) overpriced sipping sugar water" is sure to put primate panties in a serious bunch at the ."...it's all good" corral.1%: "These are fantastic rums for those who enjoy pot stilled flavor from 3 distinct styles. They are in my opinion much much better than most of the fancy bottled over priced dedicated sipping sugar water that passes for rum these days."
Whoa Nelly! This guy or gal "1% has got a real pair, and if history reminds, some of the alpha monkeys - desperate to impress their master - may sideslip their way in to contradict and repremand the interloper.
I can't wait...
*******
Capn'sLog: The "1%" ends with some interesting advice countering what he/she claims is the myth of needing to "rest a spirit to which you've just added water". "1%" claims that "As long as you add water to the spirit and not spirit to the water then you can add water,stir and drink straight away. ". He adds that target for adding water ought to be between 42 and 48% to find what he calls the "sweet spot". He's got it entirely right.
I tend to agree with the "1%", and especially with his use of the term "styles", to the point that his/her greatest risk is that the Preacher will believe that "1%" is me. I'm not, but I wanna be...
