Well It Is About Barrels At Least

Again, not a directly gun related post but I couldn't pass this up.

A maker of whisky on the island of Islay will make 12 barrels of 184 proof whisky this year. That's 92% alcohol.

Now this is nothing new. In fact the recipe for said spirit dates from the 17th century. Even today Everclear is available in 190 proof (95%) & 151 proof (75.5%) versions. By contrast most bourbons, ryes & Tennessee whiskeys as well as vodkas run at about 80 to 90 proof (40 to 45% respectively). But this run of whisky will pack a punch. A fine scotch should be sipped, not guzzled & that goes double for this batch.

Now I mention this for 4 reasons. 1; being that even though I lack the time to drink much nowadays I appreciate a finely made liquor (beer never did it for me & my patience for wine is slight). 2; Drinking satisfying spirits has been & will be a part of our history & heritage. After all, how many beverages are named after Marx? None right? Yet some folks get a gentle reminder of one of our most outspoken revolutionaries every time they down a bottle of lager. Therefore I felt this post had some educational merit. 3; Because the name of a very decent whiskey is also the name of a very popular shooting event. 4; Because I wanted to point something out which I might mention again in another post I'm working on.

That thing is found at the bottom of the article about the 184 proof whisky. it says simply:

"Full Coverage: Alcohol and Alcoholism"

I'll not argue that alcoholism is a terrible problem for those who fall prey to it. But certain diseases are also uncool yet you don't see a header like the following:

"Full Coverage: Beach Report & Skin Cancer"

Sometimes it's the subtle things that have the biggest impact. By linking the two words (alcohol & alcoholism) the nuetral one (alcohol) starts to have a reflection of the negative one (alcoholism). It's much the same way the MSM uses "gunman" in association with an immoral crime (yes; there are crimes that are not immoral) instead of merely someone who has some skill with a gun. I assume most of you here would like to turn this country back into one filled with riflemen? Reflect upon how much harder that is since the word brings up a similar image to most people as "gunmen" does to the MSM.

Pay attention to the little things like the linking of alcohol & alcoholism. It's where we lose a lot of ground not just as connoisseurs of fine spirits, but as riflemen, gun nuts or simply as people who prefer truth, freedom & choice to the alternatives.

Another thing I should mention is the title of the article itself:

"A 184-proof whisky, and that's no blarney"

That's just sloppy. An article about a scotch whisky using a reference to an Irish landmark. But what do you expect? I mean after all they're journalists, not bloggers. :)

Perhaps I'll contemplate all this over a glass of something that tastes expensive...and is.

Posted by Publicola at March 1, 2006 06:37 AM | TrackBack