Ack - What to do with cheap whiskey?

[LaureltQ]

A forum that I'm on did a "sloshed santa" thing where members exchange regional booze. I unfortunately got paired with someone from Kansas and as such received the worst tasting whiskey I've ever experienced. And I LOVE whiskey. It's called "Most Wanted Pioneer Whiskey." I'd like to make another batch of the midnight bourbon balls, but I'm unsure whether this will ruin them. The last batch I did with Maker's Mark was pretty good.

We're having a gathering for New Years and was hoping to pawn it off on some of the people that are coming. Is mixed with coke the best way to mask it's flavor? Do you have any other suggestions for how to get rid of it short of pouring it down a drain?

Thanks for your help!!!!

[ROCKLES]

I would probably use it to make marinades, barbecue sauce and to steam beef ribs before barbecuing. It wont go bad so you don't need to dump it

[AbbyWis]

How about homemade Bailey's?

I got the recipe from a friend's mom. I think it's pretty old but I make a batch or two around the holidays.

14 oz. bourbon
2 cans sweetened condensed milk
3 TBSP chocolate syrup
1 tsp coconut extract
2 eggs

Mix all ingredients for five minutes, let rest for five minutes, blend for another five minutes. I use my stand mixer.

[scubadoo97]

Wouldn't Bailey's be made from Irish Whiskey?

[JMF]

Actually Bailey's hasn't been made from whiskey in a decade, it is made from neutral spirits, and tons of artificial ingredients.

[toodie jane]

how can one get a list of ingredients?

[JMF]

The whiskey mentioned above wouldn't work in this recipe. it doesn't have the flavor profile.

[yarm]

Prohibition-style recipes might work well. Like the Gold Rush -- a Bee's Knees with whiskey with a 2 oz spirit, 1/2 oz honey, 1/2 oz lemon juice recipe). Or a Brown Derby (2 oz whiskey, 3/4 oz grapefruit juice, 1 tsp honey). Honey works great in covering over rough booze.

Egg (full egg or egg white) drinks also work well. A good one that pops into my head is the Elk's Own Cocktail (3/4 oz whiskey, 3/4 oz port, 1/2 oz lemon, 1/4 oz simple syrup, 1 egg white).

http://cocktailvirgin.blogspot.com/

[cannedmilkandfruitypebbles]

I always keep the odder/poorer tasting booze on the back shelf. When I have people over, and after we've had a few drinks, I bust it out and pour shots for everyone (but myself). I'm always interested to see if someone will like it but I also enjoy watching everyone's face curl as they attempt to drink the swill I've dished.

[ciaob]

The Herter's Bull Cook Book circa 1960 suggests the following for bad whiskey:

"Add 1.5 ounces of port wine to the fifth and shake it up well. Let stand for three hours or more. You then will have as smooth drinking and tasting whiskey as any made in the world regardless of price. In fact, it will taste much like the famed Canadian made Canadian Club Whiskey that is so smooth and free of irritants that it can be drunk without diluting at all. Your American whiskey with the port wine added, you will find can also be drunk with no diluting at all and will have no bad alcohol taste or fumes."

If you are willing, give this a try and report back.

Happy New Year!

Bill

[jvanderh]

interesting! Has anyone tried this?

[ncyankee101]

I got rid of some crappy Scotch by using sugar and bitters to make old-fashioneds.

Didn't Mary Poppins say "A spoonful of sugar makes the crappy scotch go down"?

[DuchessNukem]

Whiskey-marinated cherries?

[melbedewy]

Mix it with coke, 7 up or ginger ale in a nice tall highball glass on the rocks. Most people will think its Makers if you keep the mix 4-1 or so.

[Tinfoilhat]

Keep it. Add it to your collection and offer it to other whisky lovers when they come over. Don't waste it on people who wouldn't know bad whisky from kerosene.

[LaureltQ]

You mean as a trick? I was planning on doing that anyway to some of my friends, but I don't see that making much of a dent in the bottle.

[davis_sq_pro]

I looked it up and it seems like a unique product; perhaps it's simply not to your taste? Many people don't have a taste for peaty Scotch, or batavia arrack, or London dry gin, or any number of other spirits. That doesn't mean that these spirts are "bad."

You're comparing the Pioneer Whiskey, which appears to be an attempt to approximate an "old west" style whiskey, with Maker's Mark -- one of the sweetest and least-challenging bourbons on the market. Some of your friends might enjoy trying less immediately accessible spirits. This wouldn't be a "trick," but rather a chance to share a product with them that they might not otherwise get a chance to sample.

That said, I've never seeen, let alone tasted this stuff. So I might be totally off-base. Have you thought to ask the person who sent it to you how he or she likes to enjoy it? By the way, you mentioned that the person was from Kansas and "as such" you received a bad tasting whiskey. Are people from Kansas known to make poor choices in booze?

[LaureltQ]

The average price that I've found it for online is $17/bottle. While this is not always indicative of the quality of the booze, it often reflects the time and effort put into the distillation and processing.

I enjoy lots of different types of whiskey, and the best way that I could describe this is cheap vodka that's been dyed, mixed with liquid smoke, and vanilla extract. I live for intense drinks, but I really cannot say that this has much flavor except for burning, and not in a good way.

The remark about Kansas was mostly in jest, as Kansas is not really known for any particularly good booze.

[JMF]

The price has nothing to do with the quality. They are selling it at a low price to get into the market. It is a family made, artisanal, farm product. It is a very young whiskey, that is only aged for a short period of time to give it color and add some vanillans and tannin. It still retains the 'white dog' qualities of an un-aged whiskey. This flavor profile may not be to your taste, but it isn't necessarily cheap in quality. I can't vouch for it, basically because I can't remember what it tastes like. But it was in a competition at an artisanal distillers conference a few years ago that I judged.