What are you thinking about?

[MWil23]

7 hours ago, naptownskinsfan said:

Verizon is trying to bait and switch me.  My old Triple Play plan has been chugging along with gigabit internet and what comes out as their enhanced sports package at $177/month.  A couple weeks ago, my price dropped $20, but I lost many of the sports channels- including the Orioles.  

I went online to try and figure it out, and it costs me an extra $6/month to get a channel package back.  However, that changes when you go to check out to $250 the first month, followed by $204 after that.  From what I’ve gathered, other people in our area have had to pay $30 more a month to get the Orioles/Nationals game channel back.  You can not get a subscription just for them, and I enjoy college football so I am fine keeping cable.  

Comcast has a three year package at $124, and then $140 after that, for the same stuff I got at $177 that they now want $204 to get.  Anyone think Verizon is going to match or beat that offer?  

Pro tip:

Call cancellations and very kindly leverage that price and name, stating that you want to stay but the price and loss of those games is a deal breaker, and the way it was handled was a surprise, because you expect better from them and how they’ve done business with you in the past (positive).

If they won’t match, very kindly ask them to drop you immediately. They’ll refund the monthly difference, then call Comcast.

People In cancellation are the nicest and most agreeable people who have the most resources at their disposal because their job is to keep you as opposed to other departments.

I have done stuff like this on and off for 10-15 years. It’s annoying but it works. Be nice, be positive, be firm.

[MacReady]

So I acquired a taste for Scotch and I’m 100% in.

Started with J&B. Moved on to Johnnie Walker.

I’ve gone from beer to vodka to gin and now scotch.

I think I’ll try 3 more brands before I decide on brand loyalty.

I went with Tito’s Vodka, Bombay Sapphire Gin.

I’m fine with spending above the crap brands, but staying away from the F you money brands.

What should I try next?

[MWil23]

10 hours ago, MacReady said:

So I acquired a taste for Scotch and I’m 100% in.

Started with J&B. Moved on to Johnnie Walker.

I’ve gone from beer to vodka to gin and now scotch.

I think I’ll try 3 more brands before I decide on brand loyalty.

I went with Tito’s Vodka, Bombay Sapphire Gin.

I’m fine with spending above the crap brands, but staying away from the F you money brands.

What should I try next?

@ET80 is the scotch expert here. IMO it sounds like you prefer blended as opposed to single malt.

[MacReady]

11 minutes ago, MWil23 said:

@ET80 is the scotch expert here. IMO it sounds like you prefer blended as opposed to single malt.

Don’t even know the difference. Yet.

[Tugboat]

10 hours ago, MacReady said:

So I acquired a taste for Scotch and I’m 100% in.

Started with J&B. Moved on to Johnnie Walker.

I’ve gone from beer to vodka to gin and now scotch.

I think I’ll try 3 more brands before I decide on brand loyalty.

I went with Tito’s Vodka, Bombay Sapphire Gin.

I’m fine with spending above the crap brands, but staying away from the F you money brands.

What should I try next?

Stolichnaya.

[ET80]

4 hours ago, MWil23 said:

@ET80 is the scotch expert here. IMO it sounds like you prefer blended as opposed to single malt.

I haven't drank in about 9-10 months, but can always provide insight...

[ET80]

14 hours ago, MacReady said:

So I acquired a taste for Scotch and I’m 100% in.

Started with J&B. Moved on to Johnnie Walker.

I’ve gone from beer to vodka to gin and now scotch.

I think I’ll try 3 more brands before I decide on brand loyalty.

I went with Tito’s Vodka, Bombay Sapphire Gin.

I’m fine with spending above the crap brands, but staying away from the F you money brands.

What should I try next?

Now are we specific to scotch? By definition, scotch is ONLY made in Scotland. Anything made outside of Scotland is typically whiskey or bourbon (bourbon is made in the USA).

If we're sticking to scotch:

- Glenmorange Nectar D'Or was my go-to for a while. Runs $75/bottle, so not cheap. But it's a clean and easy drinking bottle.

- Pretty much everything Balvene is great. I'm partial to the Caribbean Cask, but even the baseline Balvene 12 is a good buy. Ranges from $80-$100.

- Oban 14 usually runs about $100, but it's a quality sipping scotch.

If we're venturing to whiskey:

- Hibiki Harmony out of Japan is my personal gold standard. It's about $120/bottle, a blended whiskey. But... goodness gracious. Magic in a glass.

- I was gifted a bottle of Penderyn Madera Cask whiskey; It's a Scottish whiskey, holy moly it was incredible. Drank nearly half the bottle in one sitting. Not too expensive at $70ish.

[ET80]

4 hours ago, MacReady said:

Don’t even know the difference. Yet.

Blended - as the name suggest - is when a distiller mixes several barrels into a single bottle. The idea is that it will deliver a consistent flavor across bottles, one bottle of JW Black is going to taste like the next bottle. Consistency is key. Downside is that unless you're buying $300 bottle stuff, it's all tasting relatively the same. 

Single malt is derived from a single batch of barrels, so flavors can vary from bottle to bottle. The good stuff is usually REALLY good, but a bad bottle can ruin this. I'll say that the bigger distilleries (Oban, Glenmorange, Balvene, etc) can usually keep the variances low, but it's a notable point to consider.

This is a good read on the subject:

https://www.liquor.com/single-malt-blended-scotch-differences-8383341#:~:text=Single malt Scotch whisky is,barley from a single distillery.&text=Blended whisky is made from,grain whiskies from multiple distilleries.&text=Blended scotch makes up the majority of Scotch whisky production.

[MacReady]

1 hour ago, ET80 said:

Now are we specific to scotch? By definition, scotch is ONLY made in Scotland. Anything made outside of Scotland is typically whiskey or bourbon (bourbon is made in the USA).

If we're sticking to scotch:

- Glenmorange Nectar D'Or was my go-to for a while. Runs $75/bottle, so not cheap. But it's a clean and easy drinking bottle.

- Pretty much everything Balvene is great. I'm partial to the Caribbean Cask, but even the baseline Balvene 12 is a good buy. Ranges from $80-$100.

- Oban 14 usually runs about $100, but it's a quality sipping scotch.

If we're venturing to whiskey:

- Hibiki Harmony out of Japan is my personal gold standard. It's about $120/bottle, a blended whiskey. But... goodness gracious. Magic in a glass.

- I was gifted a bottle of Penderyn Madera Cask whiskey; It's a Scottish whiskey, holy moly it was incredible. Drank nearly half the bottle in one sitting. Not too expensive at $70ish.

What’s different between the taste of scotch and other whiskeys? What do they do that others don’t? Because I really liked the two scotchs I drank, but I don’t think I’d enjoy sipping that Canadian whiskey I used to have cocktails with.

I just liked the taste, so if others taste like that it doesn’t have to be scotch.

I’ll try both that you suggested, but there’s an Irish whiskey I keep seeing at my liquor store that’s calling my name, too.

Edited May 20 by MacReady

[Forge]

Never been a scotch guy. Never been much of a liquor guy in general. Mostly Vodka or Soju

[MWil23]

17 minutes ago, MacReady said:

What’s different between the taste of scotch and other whiskeys? What do they do that others don’t? Because I really liked the two scotchs I drank, but I don’t think I’d enjoy sipping that Canadian whiskey I used to have cocktails with.

I just liked the taste, so if others taste like that it doesn’t have to be scotch.

I’ll try both that you suggested, but there’s an Irish whiskey I keep seeing at my liquor store that’s calling my name, too.

Aside from the “how it’s made/ingredients” process, bourbon typically is more of a sweeter spiciness and scotch is a lot more Smokey and has a lot more malt, albeit there are some similarities if you like rye bourbon/whiskey.

[Bonanza23]

3 hours ago, MacReady said:

What’s different between the taste of scotch and other whiskeys? What do they do that others don’t? Because I really liked the two scotchs I drank, but I don’t think I’d enjoy sipping that Canadian whiskey I used to have cocktails with.

I just liked the taste, so if others taste like that it doesn’t have to be scotch.

I’ll try both that you suggested, but there’s an Irish whiskey I keep seeing at my liquor store that’s calling my name, too.

I’m a big scotch fan, but an even bigger Irish whiskey fan. Bushmills is my favorite brand.  Even their $20 bottle is really good. But I highly recommend Bushmills 16, it’s straight up great. 
 

Also Japanese whiskey is pretty great. 

[Heimdallr]

Scotch is the worst type of whisky. 

Rye / Bourbon / Irish / Japanese > Tennessee / Canadian > Scotch

[adamq]

 

[MacReady]

I love my current boss and job, but it’s in Nebraska. Nothing against Nebraska as it’s a fine state, but I moved here originally to help my mom with her parents. The plan was for me to stay a single year and that single year turned into 6 years now (because of the job and my boss).

Lately though I’ve been getting more and more restless and just feeling the need for a change.

I need to get back to somewhere with legitimate wildlife, legit nature. Midwest wildlife just doesn’t do it for me.

I plan on living in my house one more year so I don’t have to pay capital gains taxes, but this is about to be the hardest life move I’ve ever had to willingly make.

Thinking somewhere inland Florida. Coastal living I found overrated as far as a wildlife perspective, but I still enjoy the ocean, so I’d like to live about an hour or two away from beaches. Best wildlife experiences I’ve ever had were in Phoenix and Leland, NC.

Should have clarified… I’m almost ready to retire. I ain’t doing no dang cold and I’m not doing any population bigger than 200,000.

Any suggestions on where I should start looking?

Edited May 22 by MacReady