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Try the 92 per cent weapons-grade whisky that will take your breath away. Literally
The London Times ^ | February 27, 2006 | David Lister

Posted on 02/27/2006 1:04:17 PM PST by Stoat

Try the 92 per cent weapons-grade whisky that will take your breath away. Literally


 
A 17TH-CENTURY firewater, more than two spoonfuls of which was said to be enough to kill a grown man, is to be revived by a whisky distillery in Scotland.

A single drop of the ancient drink of “usquebaugh-baul” was described by the travel writer Martin Martin in 1695 as powerful enough to affect “all members of the body”. He added: “Two spoonfuls of this last liquor is a sufficient dose; if any man should exceed this, it would presently stop his breath, and endanger his life.”

Twelve barrels of the world’s most alcoholic whisky, or enough to wipe out a medium-size army, will be produced when the Bruichladdich distillery revives the ancient tradition of quadruple-distilling today. With an alcohol content of 92 per cent, the drink may not be the most delicate single malt ever produced but it is by far and away the world’s strongest. Malt whisky usually has an alcohol content of between 40 per cent and 63.5 per cent.

 

 
With the first spirit run expected at lunchtime today, the distillery urged whisky lovers to tune in live on its webcams — “that is, if the distillery doesn’t blow up in the process”.

The US Secret Service admitted in 2003 that it had been monitoring the distillery because the difference between distilling a fine whisky and making chemical weapons was “just a small tweak”.

The finished product will not be ready for at least ten years, and even then drinkers will be advised to add perhaps a drop or two of water to their glass . . . and to avoid pouring the dregs over the barbecue.

Although it is impossible to say how much the whisky will sell for, the demand for limited edition malts is such that it is likely to command an exorbitant price. Demand from American and Asian whisky enthusiasts has pushed prices for rare single malts to record levels over the past few years.

Last August a bottle of Irish whiskey dating from the 1890s — believed to be the last surviving bottle from the Nun’s Island Distillery in Co Galway — was put up for sale for a record £100,000. Bottles of Dalmore 62-year-old malt, from the tiny distillery near Inverness, in the Scottish Highlands, have fetched more than £30,000.

Mark Reynier, Bruichladdich’s managing director, said: “We are doing this because we have this ancient recipe and therefore we can. It is unlikely that we will ever produce any more quadruple distilled malt again, so we expect it to become much sought after.”

Jim McEwan, Bruichladdich’s master distiller, said that the quadruple-distilled whisky would be very similar to the spirit sampled by Martin on Islay in 1695, which he later described in A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland, published in 1703. Most whisky is distilled just twice.

He said: “It will be very floral, but most importantly it will take your breath away.”

Bruichladdich has a reputation among Scotland’s distilleries for being one of the more eccentric and outspoken. After the American drinks maker Jim Beam halted production in 1994, the distillery was bought for £6.5 million in 2000 by a group led by Mr Reynier. It is seeking to establish itself as one of a small number of privately run distilleries.

WATER OF LIFE

  • Briuchladdich is one of eight distilleries on Islay

     
  • The term “whisky” derives from the Gaelic “uisge beatha”, or “usquebaugh”, meaning “water of life”

     
  • The earliest reference to a distillery in the Acts of the Scottish Parliament is in 1690, with mention of the Ferintosh distillery owned by Duncan Forbes of Culloden

     
  • In 1995, for the first time in 100 years, the tax on Scotch fell, from £5.77 to £5.54 a bottle (70cl)


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: alcohol; booze; bruichladdich; distillery; distilling; drinking; islay; scotland; wateroflife; whiskey; whisky
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To: Larry Lucido
"Okay, I'm no math major. Why would 2 tablespoons of 92% whiskey kill you, but 4 tablespoons of 46% whiskey wouldn't? "
Say, 92% stuff could send you into spasms and suffocate you, while 46% stuff would not. Verstehen?
21 posted on 02/27/2006 1:16:36 PM PST by GSlob
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To: Stoat
What's happening smeghead? LOL

Yeah, I'm working on getting the collection up. I'm only up to season 4.

22 posted on 02/27/2006 1:17:39 PM PST by lovecraft (Specialization is for insects.)
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To: Stoat
Kinda like Newfy Screech, super potent and taste horrible.
23 posted on 02/27/2006 1:20:42 PM PST by HEY4QDEMS (Learn from the past, don't live in it.)
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To: rarestia
Having had my fair share of firewater-that'll-put-you-on-yer-arse... this stuff sounds like a blast! It'll only took two shots of a local everclear/moonshine in Tallahassee to make me loopy beyond any loopiness ever experienced.

Then it had something besides alcohol in it.

100 proof whiskey is 50% alcohol, we used to chug 180 proof all the tiime.

I still remember the worm and thump keg my uncle kept in the barn, till those pesky revinuers learned to track down sugar sales to find the stills.

24 posted on 02/27/2006 1:25:37 PM PST by itsahoot (Any country that does not control its borders, is not a country. Ronald Reagan)
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To: WilliamWallace1999
I caught that too. What a ridiculous statement.

However, if it comes from the Isle of Islay I'll bet it's pretty tasty.

The author also seems to compare Scottish Whiskey with Irish Whiskey. There are worlds of difference.

I will admit to a fondness for one particular product from the Isle of Islay. That's Talisker. It's by far and away one of the finest single malt Scotch Whiskeys I've ever tried.

L

25 posted on 02/27/2006 1:26:25 PM PST by Lurker (In God I trust. Everybody else shows me their hands.)
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To: Stoat

92%? Like my father would say, "That would make you throw rocks at your own house."


26 posted on 02/27/2006 1:26:59 PM PST by paddles
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To: Stoat
The term “whisky” derives from the Gaelic “uisge beatha”, or “usquebaugh”, meaning “water of life”

"Many men have tried the Water of Life."
"They tried and failed?"
"They tried and died."

27 posted on 02/27/2006 1:31:09 PM PST by wyattearp (The best weapon to have in a gunfight is a shotgun - preferably from ambush.)
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To: Stoat
I'll drink to that!

28 posted on 02/27/2006 1:32:02 PM PST by evets (God bless president Bush!)
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To: Stoat

When I was a college student, I have to admit that I got into the 95% pure Ethyl Alcohol (190 proof) from the organic chem lab. Pure as pure gets. 95% is the max out, for it is so absortive that it extracts the final 5% as water vapor out of the atmosphere.

Mix it with something 50/50 and you got 100 proof!

Tasteless stuff, that organic chem lab stuff. Never went over 100 proof with it. It can be dangerous above 150 proof.


29 posted on 02/27/2006 1:32:24 PM PST by putupjob
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To: lovecraft; Stoat

They just realeased season 7 for the US. I've got 1 through 6. Need to buy 7. The last season wont be available in the US until November, IIRC.


30 posted on 02/27/2006 1:32:40 PM PST by wyattearp (The best weapon to have in a gunfight is a shotgun - preferably from ambush.)
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To: Stoat

I have had Smirnoff Blue Label vodka at 100 proof and that is undrinkable without a mixer. That is only 50% alcohol....can only shudder at what 92% is like. ICK.


31 posted on 02/27/2006 1:33:18 PM PST by Feiny ("Muslims are the only people who make feminists seem laid-back." Ann Coulter)
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To: Stoat

What a bunch of wimps. Everclear is 95% alcohol.


32 posted on 02/27/2006 1:34:48 PM PST by Paleo Conservative
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To: GSlob
Verstehen?

No. Double the amount at half the concentration should = same amount of alcohol. I never died yet from 4 tablespoons of 46% (by volume of alcohol) vodka.

Though I felt like I was gonna die after 5 or 6 glasses.

33 posted on 02/27/2006 1:35:55 PM PST by Larry Lucido
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To: Stoat

How can we forget Bacardi 151?
The shot that gets lit on fire....


34 posted on 02/27/2006 1:36:13 PM PST by Feiny ("Muslims are the only people who make feminists seem laid-back." Ann Coulter)
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To: Stoat

In the Navy during WW2 this alcohol was used for cleaning the search light reflectors. However, it was under the control of the pharmacist. The bravest among us would try an occasional tiny nip and it was dynamite.


35 posted on 02/27/2006 1:36:41 PM PST by hgro
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To: lovecraft; Stoat

Rimmer you smeghead!!


36 posted on 02/27/2006 1:38:04 PM PST by Irish_Thatcherite (~~~A vote for Bertie Ahern is a vote for Gerry Adams!~~~)
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To: Constitution Day

184 proof Islay!


37 posted on 02/27/2006 1:39:47 PM PST by Tijeras_Slim
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To: feinswinesuksass

Everclear is cool for setting on fire too.


38 posted on 02/27/2006 1:40:54 PM PST by MplsSteve
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To: Stoat

Uncle Ted will be wanting a wee sample.


39 posted on 02/27/2006 1:40:55 PM PST by OrioleFan (Republicans believe every day is July 4th, DemocRATs believe every day is April 15th. - Reagan)
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To: edcoil

.....Just mix it with Coke like Jack Daniels......

Heresey, heresy I tell you.

You don't mix Jack Daniels with anything. You sip it just as poured from the bottle.


40 posted on 02/27/2006 1:41:56 PM PST by bert (K.E. N.P. Slay Pinch)
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