I distinctly remember the first time I realized my own drinking cart needed its first upgrade in the quality department. I was a few years out of college, barely paying the bills, and I’d sipped the sweet, smoky nectar of Lagavulin enough times to develop an inclination for the good stuff. But Scotch was expensive and I’d be jumping from no bottle at all to a moderately pricey one. So I pulled the spoiled brat card and asked my parents to hook it up on Christmas. Frowning a little, they obliged.
How good it was! So good that a few weeks later, when my girlfriend threw me a birthday party at our apartment, I hid the bottle behind my writing desk where no one could find it. Except someone did find it — my own soused self. All that was left by morning was an empty bottle and memories of pouring great, big glugs into the plastic cups of friends, even if they still had beer in the bottom.
Here’s the problem with flippantly drinking the good stuff as an adult: it gets you nowhere as an enthusiast. Which — if you’re not ready to be one — is fine. But at a certain point, most whiskey drinkers make the leap beyond entry-level booze.
Unfortunately, that step up can feel like a financial cliff, especially when it comes to whiskey. Case in point: jumping from Jim Beam to, say, Pappy Van Winkle adds not just one but two extra zeros to the price tag. There is a middle ground, of course, but finding it can be a slippery enterprise. Clever marketers try very hard to get you to spend your hard-earned money on a bourbon or Scotch that’s not that much better than the well.
But if you’re ready to own up, consider something with a little history, a little weight. Here are a few ideas for your own upgrade, based on what you like drinking now. Choose wisely.
Longbranch Kentucky Straight Bourbon
