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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: Lurker
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.

Talisker is distilled in Carbost on the Isle of Skye. Talisker is one of my favorites as well and I was just in Portree (about 5 miles away) a few weeks ago. Bought a few bottles for myself and friends.

61 posted on 02/27/2006 2:01:31 PM PST by slykens
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To: FreedomFarmer

Thank you.

At about $75/fifth here in NC, I don't buy Lagavulin too often.
When I do, it languishes in my cabinet for special occasions.


62 posted on 02/27/2006 2:01:33 PM PST by Constitution Day
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To: Stoat

Gentleman Jack over this crap any day. On the rocks.


63 posted on 02/27/2006 2:01:46 PM PST by JackDanielsOldNo7 (If it wasn't for marriage, I would not have this screenname.)
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To: Celtic Conservative
Ah, Cardhu. One man's smooth is another man's bland. It IS a pretty color.

Actually, I'm teasing, but odds are, the typical drinker Cardhu started out in single malts putting water or ice in glen fiddich, and useing a toe wedge from the rough.

64 posted on 02/27/2006 2:08:50 PM PST by FreedomFarmer (Push Me, Shove You - Oh, Yeah? Says Who? Push Me, Shove You -Oh, Yeah? Says Who?)
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To: Stoat

might as well be everclear. any oak character will be lost as your palate goes completely numb, or lost when you cut it with water to such a degree that it dilutes actual taste.

that said, bruichladdich has tried a lot of things since it was sold to MMcD, produces more official bottlings than anyone I can name, and if they want to try this, more power to them.

I am more interesting in trying Octomore when they finally start bottling.


65 posted on 02/27/2006 2:13:22 PM PST by WoofDog123
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To: Celtic Conservative

re cardhu - and available once again as a single malt after the 'pure malt' error.


66 posted on 02/27/2006 2:17:06 PM PST by WoofDog123
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To: putupjob

I work in an organic lab at a major Pharm. company and we get 500ml bottles of 100% (200 proof) ethyl alcohol. I forget the name of the company that makes it. Oh and it is tax free too!


67 posted on 02/27/2006 2:19:24 PM PST by ol painless (ol' painless is out of the bag)
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To: Stoat

In a pinch, you can put some in the gas tank and get your thirsty car to the closest gas station.


68 posted on 02/27/2006 2:21:53 PM PST by jonrick46
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To: feinswinesuksass
How can we forget Bacardi 151?
The shot that gets lit on fire....

A Zippo will run on 151. Discovered one night when my wingman and I left the ship without a full bag of fuel in our lighters.

69 posted on 02/27/2006 2:23:32 PM PST by magslinger (Cry Havoc and let slip the yobos of war!)
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To: Stoat

NOT FOR GIRLIE-MEN !!!!!


70 posted on 02/27/2006 2:28:27 PM PST by ronnied (we are the only animals that bare our teeth in greeting...)
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To: weegee
But that was for rheumatism...

LOL

71 posted on 02/27/2006 2:28:51 PM PST by mtbopfuyn (Legality does not dictate morality... Lavin)
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To: Stoat

We use Everclear for making tinctures of herbs as well.... notably, wormwood for making Absinthe. Everclear is outlawed in many places.... but I mostly used it for firebreathing and spinning practices! :D


72 posted on 02/27/2006 2:32:37 PM PST by Jhohanna (Born Free)
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To: GSlob

I haven't gone near 151 proof rum since I saw what it did to a college girl. She went into such horrible convulsions that two men and two women could not restrain her violent motions. Somehow we got her into the back of a station wagon and to the emergency room just in time.


73 posted on 02/27/2006 2:33:00 PM PST by elcid1970
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To: FreedomFarmer
Ah, Cardhu. One man's smooth is another man's bland. It IS a pretty color.
Actually, I'm teasing, but odds are, the typical drinker Cardhu started out in single malts putting water or ice in glen fiddich, and useing a toe wedge from the rough.

Hey, considering I was raised on jim beam, my tastes have matured. And when it comes to water or ice, I quote Barry Fitzgerald from the quiet man "when i drink whisky, I drink whisky, and when I drink water, I drink water"

74 posted on 02/27/2006 2:33:10 PM PST by Celtic Conservative (Billy Tauzin about Louisiana: "half the state is under water, the other half is under indictment")
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To: Stoat

We use Everclear as part of a formula (a very strong one) to clean oil paintings (extremely carefully).


75 posted on 02/27/2006 2:33:24 PM PST by skr (We cannot play innocents abroad in a world that is not innocent.--Ronald Reagan)
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To: feinswinesuksass

FLAMING DR. PEPPERS!!!!!!!!!!!!


76 posted on 02/27/2006 2:35:09 PM PST by Jhohanna (Born Free)
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To: FreedomFarmer

We call that bog people. Cuz it tastes just like the peat bogs. I love it. I have a very nice bottle of that that I got for my birthday one year. Have to drink it in very small amounts tho!


77 posted on 02/27/2006 2:36:12 PM PST by Jhohanna (Born Free)
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To: Ursus arctos horribilis
I seriously doubt if the author has ever slugged down a big jolt of Everclear (Alaskan antifreeze) straight from the bottle.

Doesn't sound like it does it? *smirk* I have though. They told me it was my beloved Peppermint Schnapps, and I didn't sniff it before downing. WOOOOOOOOO! Still, at least I wasn't the one barfing up chinese food in my shower!
78 posted on 02/27/2006 2:39:39 PM PST by Jhohanna (Born Free)
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To: elcid1970

From the "spiritual exercises" it is well known that one should proceed to 151 proof level stepwise: starting at 80 proof, one progresses to 100, then to 120 [and one should not forget to fortify one's spirit with flesh, or some other food], and finally to 151. Doing otherwise is akin to an attempt by a soft and not conditioned beginner to run a marathon. Nothing good would come out of either.


79 posted on 02/27/2006 2:39:56 PM PST by GSlob
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To: feinswinesuksass

Stolichnaya, frozen cold, served in ice shooters. My husband bought a bottle that came with the kit to make them. It's *perfect*!


80 posted on 02/27/2006 2:41:49 PM PST by Jhohanna (Born Free)
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